I live in zone 5-6 Ohio. It's in MG soil with lots of perlite since I got it. It's never been outside. I use Citrus Tone every month. I water every 3-4 days. It drains well. It's receiving about 4 hours of sun now but a few weeks ago about 6 hours a day.

Season, why is your tree never outside? Unless you have no option, the more time that tree spends outdoors, the better off it will be. Citrus trees are not meant to be houseplants. I am no expert, but your tree looks thirsty and underfed, and likely has mites. Mites thrive indoors and what you are treating it with may not be effective enough. I would not prune it now, but would buy some neem or horticultural oil (or both) and apply it liberally. You may have root issues going on also because of the mix. I would suggest changing the mix in the spring to the 5-1-1 or gritty mix. I would also stop using the Citrus Tone and buy some Foliage Pro and start feeding it that regularly (although a lower concentration in the winter).

I am not an expert but the leaves look awfully dehydrated, could there have been a point that it didn't get enough water? or actually come to think of it could there have been a point it got too much water? like the soil wouldn't dry out for longer than usual? My very first Meyer lemon I had 6+ years ago I had no idea what I was doing and watered that thing like crazy every time the soil at all looked dry it got more water because the leaves looked just like that "dehydrated/almost crunchy" needless to say I ended up drowning the thing to death. I don't think that's completely the same in your case since the soil in your picture doesn't look sopping wet but over and under watering can give a similar effect on leaves. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. But if it were my tree and I had no further insight I would check the soil level 2-3 inches down towards the root ball before I watered to make sure its not wet (almost dry is what I go for) and make sure that its on a good watering schedule. MG soil can hold a lot of water towards the roots so the top may seem dry but the roots could still be wet. And if your not already I'd do a foliar spray on the leaves with a weakened concentration of fertilizer (whatever your brand recommends) every few days on the leaves, it may help them perk up.

Good luck, I am sending good thoughts for your tree!

*Edit* I know a lot of people are going to comment on you MG soil, a lot of us haven't had success with it and I personally would recommend a faster draining mix like the 5-1-1 when you can in spring/summer, but many people do successfully grow citrus in MG soil. I haven't figured out how to do that so I am not able to help with tips for working around its water retentiveness (though the perlite certainly helps) All I know is a lot of problems with it are easily solved with the 5-1-1 in my case. Hopefully you get some good tips and don't think that we are giving your tree a death sentence because of its mix. To me it just makes caring for the tree much harder having it in soil and I personally have lost too many plants because I wasn't able to figure out the right method of care. I may be wrong but I think the people who have success with soil mixes live in warmer climates where it helps it dry out faster, being in a more northern zone probably increases the challenge.

I am happy to hear it drains well. The perlite helps.. Miracle Grow potting soil is not the best formula to have your tree in since it breaks down quickly and stays wet longer, so for your zone and location I would look up gritty mix and the 5-1-1 potting mix on this site, and in the early spring you should bare root your tree and put it in the fresh potting mix. I would also leave it outside all spring and summer where it would get full sun.

In the meantime, do you let the top three inches of soil dry completely out before watering your tree? Do the finger test, put your fingers (or a dowel) down into the soil about three inches and check to see if the soil is still moist or dry. Only water when the soil is on the dry side. Your tree is not getting enough light. I would put it in a sunny location, (away from cold windows and drafts), and where it gets the most light. Your tree should be getting at least ten or more hours of light each day. You might need to add supplemental lighting, with LED daylight bulbs.

In the meantime, you can use Miracle Grow plant food for Azalea, and Rhododendron. It is water soluble and has the micro and macro nutrients your citrus need. It is easy to find it in the stores. I would feed it at half strength starting out, every time you water. Good luck.

Thanks sammers, Laura, and Jinnylea! I do dig my finger a few inches into the soil to test it. I think I will get a light, because here in Ohio we don't have much sunlight in the winter. Thank you for all the advice!!

sounds to me that it may be over-watered and over fed.

Just a few things you might consider.

If it is indoors it probably isn't getting enough light to actively grow at this time of year.

Unless it's right next to a dehydrator, watering every 3/4 days is possibly far too often. They sell some cheap moisture meter probes at the hardware stores I would recommend getting one of those. That will allow you to get deep in the pot and see if it's still wet at the bottom (which I'm thinking it might be).

I use Miracle Grow for some of my citrus as well, and I amend it with additional perlite. I still find it retains water quite a bit more than a 5-1-1 mix. Even with my citrus that I have under lights (6 X 48" T5 HO grow bulbs) I'm only watering my (miracle grow soil) Satsuma about once every 3 weeks or so..... and it's still a bit moist at the bottom.

I find the problem with the miracle grow mixes is that it's hard to evenly water, and if it isn't evenly watered, then they don't evenly dry out. This is just something to keep in mind, and what I've observed with my plants. it's best to slowly water them... like very slowly in a sort of distributed way if possible. like a very slow , spread rain fall.

One more thing is that Miracle grow often has fertilizer already added. Many people in this forum will recommend that you don't fertilize in the winter. If you're MG already has fertilizer included and you're adding Citrus tone every month, it by chance might be over fed.

good luck

Soil moisture meters are very unreliable. I check to see if a tree needs water by digging
a couple of inches into the soil mix to see if it is damp. Alternatively,
you can shove a shishkabob skewer or a wooden dowel halfway between the tree and the wall of the pot and
all the way to the bottom. Pull it out and if you see particles on it, then it does not need watering.

Thanks!

As for fertilizing. I would not until you see active growth for fear the cause of your root damage in the first place could be salt toxicity...Do you water so that water flow freely from the bottom or in sip? When was the last time you flushed out that mix?

As for light..The reason why we put our trees outside is to allow them to develop a good strong root system to give them the energy to survive indoors for weeks on end..Even mine start to decline by spring because of a lack of true sunlight or strong light..Is there any way you could give it intense light at this time of a full sunny window with more than 5 hours of warm sun?

I too would do a full re pot cleaning out all that old mix until the roots are bare and re pot into a good mix such as the 5.1.1 mix..I would do this some time right around fathers day, when our trees are growing at their full potential and not early spring after our trees are just coming out of the worst time of the year in an already weekend state..This will only cause further undue stress..

Can you share with us how long that mix is holding water so we can help you to understand how to wick that mix out to get you through the winter?

Mike

I water every three to four days. I stuck my finger a few inches into the soil See if it's damp/wet/dry. When I water it I see water coming out the bottom after about thirty seconds of watering.

here in Ohio we don't have that much sun in the winter, so do you think an LED light will work!

thanks Mike, Laura, sammers, Jinnylea, Vladimir and bmelz!!!!!!!!!!

@Vlad: My moisture meter has always been reliable. Maybe you've have bad luck in your experience but mine has served me well.

I should have mentioned that reliability of moisture meters depends on soil mix. They work better with mixes like Miracle Grow potting soil but not so well with mixes that have larger air spaces like 5-1-1 and gritty.

Thanks.