Meyer Lemon Newbie

12 years ago

Hello there, I recently bought a 1-2 year old Meyer Lemon tree. When it arrived, it had a few damaged leaves (cracked and the tips of some looked a little yellow) and seemed a little stressed from the trip, but mostly healthy. After checking the soil about an inch and a half down, I gave it a good watering and allowed the water to drain for about 15 minutes. Then I let it sit in the sunniest window I have. However, the window probably wasn't as sunny as the tree would like. About a week later, I began to notice some more yellowing of the tips of the leaves. I thought that maybe the plastic container (that was falling apart anyways) was maybe not draining properly and was causing the issue so I repotted it into an orchid potting mix made by Miracle Gro and a new pot. The tree seemed to perk up a little bit after this, but the yellowing did not completely subside. When I repotted it, I also mixed some fish fertilizer (5.1.1.) in with the water. This didn't seem to bother the tree or cause any notable improvements. Now, to supplement the light situation, I have a grow light on a timer positioned approx. 1.5 ft away. I've had the grow light set up for a few days now and I believe some of the yellowing is beginning to turn around. There's a tiny bit of brown on the tips of some of the leaves though. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions?

Here's quick info in case I forgot to mention it earlier:
I've been watering it once a week.
I'm considering fertilizing every other time I water but I'm up to suggestions.
It's probably warm enough for the tree to be outside, but the people that live near me like to watch the world burn and would probably terrorize the poor thing.

I'll also post pictures.

Thank you in advance. As you can probably tell, I'm pretty new at this. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

-Adri

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Comments (5)

adribean16
Original Author
12 years ago
The leaves on the far right in the previous image are not yellow, the light is just playing tricks in that image.
adribean16
Original Author
12 years ago
Poor lighting, but here's the whole tree.
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meyermike_1micha
12 years ago
Your tree looks perfectly normal and just fine.

That could possibly be fertilizer burn from previous care.

Nothing can compare to sunlight. But supplemental will help although the light should be more more than a few inches away from the canopy. Without burning the leaves of course.
You will loose center leaves and those not close enough too the light of course but the tree may hold on.
Over time it respond to the light as long as it s strong and you rotate your tree often.
If you find you are getting remarkable growth, I would fertilize often.
If barely any , I would go light on fertilizer.

How your tree responds to being held captive indoors all year will be dependent on the source of light you use and it's strength.

Many here have true success with lights but I'm not sure if it's an all year type of thing or what they use. Maybe they will chime in )

Good luck with your tree. I always say true success is in the mix in the pot.

Mike
adribean16
Original Author
12 years ago
Thank you very much.

The light is 6500k CFL I believe. I do plan to have it outside soon. As of right now, I live in a college neighborhood and I just can't trust people to not mess with it when they are walking by. In a few days I'll be moving and the neighborhood is very quiet and I have a fenced in back yard where it wont be disturbed. I've heard citrus trees are sensitive to light changes. Do you have any recommendations for acclimating the tree to being outdoors? Once again, thank you for your response.
meyermike_1micha
12 years ago
Yes. You can either just stick it right out there in full sun and watch the leaves burn off and new ones quickly come back. Many do this.

Or you could do what I do and find a tree or bush and let the tree
acclimate to sunlight. Believe it or not but it will get more sunlight under a tree than anything indoors. Do that for a couple weeks. Then try the sun. Should be just fine.

YW)))

Mike