I know that there are postings all over the place for similar issues, but I just felt the need to post my own.

my husband and I seem to have green thumbs. Everything we plant seemes to grow out of control, both in our sunroom and outdoors. So, we decided to try our hand at some citrus.

We bought a dwarf improved meyer lemon and bearss lime tree sometime in Jan/Feb to plant in containers for the sunroom (about 3 months old). The lemon immediately began to flower like crazy...the lime was not as aggressive.

Now, my lemon tree is beginning to shed leaves daily..maybe 3-5 a day. The veins of the leaves are beginning to turn yellow and then fall off.

I've also noticed one or two tiny lemons turned black and fell off.

I'm not sure if I'm watering it enough because I'm so afraid of overwatering it.

I water it maybe once every 10 days or so. The top of the soil feels moist, but if I stick my finger down a couple of inches, it feels dryer; the soil doesn't stick to my finger. I've failed to find a moisture meter in my area stores so I am awaiting on one I ordered online.

This weekend, my husband noticed tiny greenhouse millipedes (a guess) in the shavings we had on top of the soil (shavings came with the plant). He removed the shavings and sprayed down the tree with a houseplant and garden insect spray (containing 0.01% pyrethrins and 1.00% canola oil).

To add to this, the weather here in Massachusetts has pretty much been nothing but rain for the past month. Needless to say, the plants have not gotten much sun in the sunroom.

SO far, I am planning to do/have done the following:

-will test moisture when I receive moisture meter

-will fertilize soil once I receive my order of Schultz Citrus Food (it's hard to find these things in MA!)

-sprayed off the leaves and removed shavings off top of soil

The sun is finally out here, so I'm hoping the rays will help it as well.

I have a lemon the size of a grape tomato, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed I can figure out what is wrong with my tree.

The lime seems ok so far. It's right next to the lemon (maybe I should separate them?). It just has yet to bear any fruit. It seems it's a bit behind the lemon.

SO, my ultimate question is: what do you think is causing it to "die?"?

the soil?

the bugs?

the watering regime?

the lack of sun?

i know the answer will probably be 'all of these!'

But I wasn't sure if anyone may be able to narrow it down and offer some suggestions.

It would kill me to lose this beautiful tree.

Much thanks

Denise