Hello and welcome)

Are you willing to change that mix and stop using coffee grinds A.S.A.P.?

That would be a start if you would like to see any significant improvement at all....

Your tiny white insects would seem to be Springtails; you can google that and get lots of help. Springtails are a sure sign that your soil is too wet, which is a common cause of leaf drop.

I am certainly willing to change my fertilizer/coffee mix! Would you have any recommendations as to what I should use instead? Also, I was under the impression that citrus trees preferred moist soil?

The moisture tends to build up at the bottom and saturate.

high N fertilizer is for growth. Your tree looks plenty tall. I would cut back a little on the fertilizer.

i see you have more room, start yourself some other citrus seeds, no extra work, lots of enjoyment.

Look into 5:1:1 soil mixtures and variations and foilagepro fertilizer on the forum.

Can I ask you a few questions?

Do you out your tree out in the summer? How much direct sun does it get then? How do you know when to water it? Do you ever flush you mix out?

You are right, there are a few things going on creating issues for you. There are many things working against its vitality, and in fact vigorous growth..

First and most important is that the ROOTS must breath..If you have bugs in your mix, and it is staying wet too long, your mix needs to be removed completely from the roots and a much more porous mix should be used since your old mix has probably compacted or collapsed about the fine hair roots..

Too, that kind of mix is going to hold way too many salt deposits which will combined with too much of a damp mix cause cyclonic root death..You tree is staying green because it has yet to die, it's holding on my repairing and regenerating roots day after day until you open up that mix and get rid of those bugs..

Stop fertilizing...I would also get my hands on a good porous mix, one that forces you to water more often without root rot or make one..It's very easy.

That is a first..Do you think you can do that? I must admit it's not the best time of the year considering winter is coming, but a must if you want to give that tree a chance to survive the winter..

Do you know how to do a bareroot? Do you know what kind of mix to use?..

Ask away!

I have left my tree outside during the summer months before, allowing full sun, but it always seemed to damage the tree (leaves browning and falling off). Moving it into partial sun never see me to do any good, so I would usually just end up moving it back inside. This past summer was a particularly cold and rainy one with little humidity, so I mainly kept it inside (with a couple exceptions on warm sunny days).

I do flush my mix out every other month or so, & ill water it whenever the soil seems to be getting dry. I do keep mulch at the top of the pot.

You are correct that this is a difficult season to be messing with the soil, but not impossible! I will do just about anything to give my tree a fighting chance. Answering your question directly without doing any research, I am not familiar with the concept of a bareroot. Is this growing a plant in water without soil for a short time, similar to the concept of hydroponics? I did change out my soil in mid spring but see no reason why i cannot do it again. Is there a porous soil that is good for citrus plants, or would any porous soil do?

You might have spider mites too. I see some webbing.

I'm with Pip here. See if you can mix up a batch of 5-1-1 (it's pretty easy), and stick it in that. If you do your bare rooting soon, make sure you hit the rest of the tree with a strong water jet at the same time to keep the mites in check, because I see that webbing too. It might sound funny, but water jets actually kill them. So do raindrops... not a very safe life, is it?

As long as your tree gets ample light and warmth, bare-rooting now won't be an issue. I've done it in the fall too.

-Tom

I have been calling around/visiting several plant nurseries near where I live in search for pine bark fines for the 5-1-1 mix. So far, no luck. The nurseries all tell me that they have pine bark mulch and/or a potting bark mixture. Would an alternative for pine bark fines work with the 5-1-1 mix, and if so, what should I look for?
From what I have read, I need to let the mix sit for roughly 2 weeks prior to planting my tree to let the lime do its thing. I have obviously been able to fine pine bark fines online around $10 per quart, but wanted to find something and make my mix right away before the season changes. Would this just be the better option?

Also, how long should I keep my tree barerooted for?

I would buy fir bark from "Orchids by Hausermann Inc" when I lived in Chicago. Their address is 2N134 N Addison Rd, Villa Park, IL 60181.

Also, I would use the 5-1-1 the same day I mixed it up, but I would let the fir bark soak in a water-filled bucket for an hour before I mixed the perlite in with it. Never had any issues with it. Just make sure you water frequently (like every day) for the first two weeks or so. When you bareroot, try to minimize the time the roots are exposed to the air. Have a spray bottle full of water nearby and spritz frequently (like every couple minutes). And of course, have the mix ready before you bareroot!

-Tom

jdorsz, you can buy a product in Pet stores called "Reptibark" which is actually reptile bedding but is well suited to 5-1-1. I know that Petsmart carries it. I think most people actually use this product, not something that is found at the garden store!

I use reptibark, it's expensive but beautiful, especially when you use cherry stone for grit in the gritty mix.

Splitting hairs here, but your photos look like this is a lemon tree, not a kumquat? (thorns, leaf shape).

Kumquat top, Meyer lemon bottom.

When I bought it, the tree tag said it was a kumquat. Did it have the wrong tag? Perhaps. It has never grown fruit, so I just go with what I think i know.

When you get it to thrive, you'll know! But don't be surprised if its a lemon tree!

Hahaha thanks for the heads up. I will just be happy that it's alive!