If anyone thinks their soil is staying wet to long I like to show this picture of a vacuum cleaner pulling fresh air though the trees root base.

If your tree dries out fast just water it more. If your plant take a month to dry out as my tree does I use a vacuum cleaner to pull in fresh air. This tree will need watering 1 time a week in summer. Once each month I flood flush this tree and feed, drip dry and use a wet vac. to pull excess water out. I pull 15 seconds fresh air 2 times a day for the first week then 1 time daily till next flood flush. If you know what your soil weighs when its dry you can feel when your tree needs water. This tree sits upright like this at all times so I don't have to waste time setting it up each time I pull air.

6b Steve

So right now I have the tree planted in a mix of miracle grow cactus/palm/citrus potting mix that had some fertilizer added to it. Would the 5-1-1 mix be better for the tree? I haven't taken the plant out yet but I dug down a bit and the deeper soil (6-7 inches) seems to be still damp. I suspect that the potter doesn't drain as well either; would putting gravel at the bottom help at all? Should I continue to water the plant or just let it's soil dry? I'm pretty new to this whole gardening thing so pardon all my questions. Thanks!

The 5-1-1 mix would be better but, assuming you are in the northern hemisphere, this is the wrong time of the year to repot unless it is an emergency situation. Some people would say wait until spring to repot just be careful and don't over water. I say repot now. Wash all of the old soil off of the roots making sure to keep the soil moist at all times. Do not put gravel at the bottom of the pot. That actually makes thing worse. It is a myth that it helps to drain better.

Soak it well once you are done repotting.

Every once in a while, check to see if it needs water by digging
a couple of inches into the soil mix to see if it is damp. Alternatively, shove
a wooden skewer 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.

Gavin, the 5-1-1 would be much better. As for when to make the switch...I guess it depends on how bad the tree looks. If you can reduce the watering, you may be able to get it through the winter and then repot.

Vladimir, I think that I can go ahead with the repotting since the tree lives entirely indoors and the temperature remains constant. For the 5-1-1 mix, that is "Tb" for garden lime? I'm going to try to buy the products for the mix tomorrow and want ot make sure I have the right amounts. Will pouring water from a cup be gentle enough for removing the soil from the roots?

Laura, thanks for the input! The tree hasn't changed much from the pictures posted yesterday. I'm wondering if I should let it sit a few more days before attempting repotting.

Additionally, do you guys recommend having a pot with more drainage in it? What would be considered sufficient to keep the soil draining properly? Thanks!

Tb is table spoon. Remove soil from roots by dunking the roots up and down in a pail of water. If necessary, stick a screw driver into the root ball and pull it down to remove whatever soil did not come out by dunking.

I think about a 1 inch hole is sufficient. I doubt that the drainage hole size was your problem or contributed to your problem, so don't be concerned about that.

Vladimir, thanks for the clarification. Is it critical for the pine bark mulch to be 1/2" or smaller? The only sifter I have is a 3/4" one. Also, when you say soak the bark how well soaked should it be? Enough to be dampened or submerged in water?

Gavin, I don't sift, I buy reptibark....much easier.

Zoo Med Reptile Bark Fir Bedding, 24 Quarts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F9AMW6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_WUXvybN8PGRSE

And it's on sale!! Yippe! I just ordered three bags to stock up.

The size is critical. Submerge the bark.

Laura, thank you for the heads up on that! Do you still need to submerge the reptibark like you would the pine bark? Vladimir, thank you! You saved me from making a costly mistake.

It looks like amazon can get the bark to me by Tuesday which means Friday would be repot day. The tree lost another three leaves today, I'm a little concerned that it can make it till then...

Gavin, yes, you should soak the reptibark also.

Great! Thanks! Also, here might be a dumb question but for my own edification, what happens if you don't wait two days before repoting in the 5-1-1 mix?

Gavin, Vladimir does things more "by the book" than I do. I try to soak the bark at least a few hours - ideally longer. My first few batches of 5-1-1 this summer I did not soak at all and the trees were fine. Keep in mind during the summer I was able to soak the trees like crazy with the hose. I soak only the bark, not the whole mix. I scoop it out of the bucket dripping water and mix with the other ingredients. The reason for soaking the whole mix for two days is to allow the lime time to begin breaking down. I did it once and it made such a mess I decided to go back to only soaking the bark. My trees are absolutely fine.

Laura, thanks for the info! I've got the bark soaking now. I figure I'll give it 4 hours or so, maybe a tad longer. Then I'll get the mix together and start repotting. So it strikes me as odd not to be using soil to pot the tree; what makes the 5-1-1 mix work so well if it doesn't have the nutrients usually found in soil? Any ideas?

The peat and bark decompose and provide nutrients. Additional nutrients are provided when you fertilize but do not fertilize until the tree starts to put out new growth.

Vladimir's right. It seems weird at first, but is incredibly great for the trees. All my trees are in it and thriving (except for a few in the gritty mix - that one is even weirder...seems like you are planting your tree in granite ;-).

Vladimir/Laura, I've repotted my tree and am hoping for the best now! With the mix all together it looks more like soil! Thanks so much for your help! What type of watering regimen should I follow with this soil mix/situation?

Check to see if it needs water by digging
a couple of inches into the soil mix to see if it is damp. Alternatively, shove
a wooden skewer 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.

In winter I find I don't need to water but every 1-2 weeks, but I keep them in a pretty cool environment in my garage. Average temperatures of about 50 degrees. So you may be closer to once a week with your room temps. Almost all of my experiences with leaf drop in Meyers has been due to over watering/soil retains too much water and temperature control. Once I got my regime figured out they slowly put on more leaves.

Initially Gavin, it will drain very quickly, but the water may not soak into the bark enough. If you can use a very slow pouring watering can - I have a tiny one that has lots of little holes so I can pour it over the entire top of the mix without it overflowing or draining into the saucer below (most times). I agree with Vladimir's suggestion, just be careful that the water soaks into it.

Vladimir had it right!!!

I have been dying to come here all day to say that I forgot it's winter time..

He's right...The worst time of year to bare root is this time of the year and that needs to be done when changing entirely different mixes...The 5.1.1 would of been best used when you could bare root since it does stress a tree already stressed this time of the year.

What many due id gently clean off the older mix without disturbing the roots too much and re pot into a mix that almost matches the one you are using in just a pot size up of the root ball just to hold the plant over in a fresh mix until the beginning of summer...My bad

I have a question. I brought my Meyer Lemon tree and
Lemonade Blue Berry Bush in for the winter. They are in a south facing window.
When the sun is out they receive a lot of sun light. But with winter time in
Central Ohio, that isn't to many days.

I want to supplement the light with some CFL bulbs. I have a
lamp with both a 6400K 100 watt (23 watts) bulb and a 2700K 100 watt (23 watt)
bulb.

My question is do I really need the 2700K bulb? The plant
isn't blooming / flowering but I do still have lemons on it.

On cloudy days I use the bulbs anywhere from 7 to 10 hours a
night in addition to being in front of the window.

Also, I have some small Lemon and Lime trees that I started
from seeds. Should I just use the 6400K bulb for them too? They sit in the
windows also. They are about 4 to 5 inches tall.

This is my 1st season trying this.

I saw on youtube that both the 6400K and 2700K bulbs
together are more representative to natural light. But I don't want to waste
eelectricity if using both bulbs together really don't help.

Your lemonade blue berry should be left to go dormant for the winter. The 2700 should be replaced with 6400K

Thank you.

I wasn't sure if Blueberry bushes went dormant. So should i just set it aside or just not give it any extra light? It is still growing new branches and leaves.

So for the Lemon Trees use 2 6400K 100watt (23 watt) bulbs? or just 1?

So a few days later and the tree seems to look happier than its been in awhile, additionally the rate of foliage loss has dropped. That being said, it is still losing a leaf every day or so; these leaves seem to be fairly healthy to me. Is there any reason for that? Is the tree losing leaves in an attempt to save itself?

I read in another blog that WLD can also be happen if the soil temperature is to low for the amount of light that the plant is receiving.

So a quick update to everyone that helped. The tree lost ALL of its leaves in the intervening weeks after it was repotted. That being said, there are three new leaves and a few more looking like they will sprout. I'm using the method outlined above for checking soil to see if it needs watering. I'm hopeful the tree will make a recovery. Thanks for your help everyone!

That looks very promising. I wish you luck.

Good luck! If it is sprouting, then that is a very good sign. Keep us updated!