Meyer lemon trees need about 1.5 time the feed of other citrus trees. to grow in size. You can leave your Meyer ouytside 24 hours a day under those condition. I leave my citrus outside when the temperatures drop into the 30's rather than expose the tree leaves to rapid temperature changes caused by bringing the trees in and out in the super cold morning. If the temperature drops into the 20'sF I'll put a bag over the tree. bring it inside or out, and remove the bag 20 minutes later ts the leave will adjust to the new temperature slowly.

6b Steve

I have found that my Meyer grows in spurts. It does bloom heavily in winter, but it grows and blooms throughout the year also. I love my Meyer trees!

Here are two pictures of the plant taken today. As you can see, it's still in the barky mix that Four Winds delivers their trees to nurseries in. I'll be transplanting the plant when temperatures start to warm up and I can put it outside in full shade for a couple of weeks to start to acclimate it to brighter light.

Oddly, I gave it fertilizer for the first time in well over a month - I don't fertilize much during the winter unless the plant is growing or flushing with blooms. So, I fertilized after the plant prepared a huge wave of blossoms. Over the week since I watered, it's dropped most of the blooms (unopened) and two or three leaves? Any idea why it would drop in response to foliage pro and water?

The plant is in the brightest spot I can give it, just inside from my roof deck, with a grow-lamp pointed at it from above. Temperatures up there tend to stay in the low 60s this time of year, but it can get quite a bit warmer on a sunny day.

A few followup questions, especially for johnmer given your experience with Meyers:

1. Given that citrus roots hate it below about 60F, should I be taking it inside at night during the summer or can I leave it outside? Overnight lows are usually in the mid 50s for much of summer. Obviously, I'd prefer to leave the plant outside if I can.

2. As a follow-on to the above question, when would be the earliest that I can put the tree outside full-time? I'd like to begin the transition to higher light as early as possible to maximize the time the plant can enjoy the warmer months.

To answer the question about leaving it outside or bringing it in, you have to measure the soil temperature during the day.

Your tree has dropped most of the flowers for two reasons, the small size and young age of the tree; and the fertilizer. If you give a Meyer too much Nitrogen when it is flowering, it will drop the flowers and make more leaves. We sometimes do this intentionally for small/young trees to encourage growth.

Thank you for the reply. If the plant dropped blooms to push new leaves then I'll be a happy grower!

RE: bringing the plant outside, how many hours per day with the roots above 55F would you consider to be the bare minimum to be able to leave it outside?

I imagine the roots will cool below that each night and likely for some of the morning and evening until summer is here, but if I wait until June to acclimate the plant to the outside then it will only get a month or two outside before I have to drag it back in again.

If the roots are above 60F for even a few hours during the day. new roots will grow ; cooler temps at night will not damage the new roots, they just won't grow during that time.

Ok last question, but naturally the plant knew I was asking questions about it and so it has been dropping a leaf per day. Is this just preparation for a spring flush or should I be concerned?

I've attached a photo of what the typical fallen leaf looks like - mostly normal with slight yellowing around the veins.

Leaf drop is partly due to water/fertilizer overage or underage; it will make new leaves.