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First off, as far as watering, doing so on a set schedule is the worst thing you can do. Plants use different amounts of water at different times of the year. Water as the plant needs it.

The brown crispy leaves are a good indication you’re over watering.

In addition to what Dave said, these are full sun plants and should be right in front of your brightest (preferably south- or west-facing) window. Even if the room appears bright or well-lit to human eyes, the light our plants need just isn't available in the interior of the average room. You may have moved it for the photos, but I wanted to mention this since I've seen countless blogs and online home tours that show plants staged away from windows, which makes people think their plants can/will be healthy that way, and that just isn't the case.

Good catch. I didn’t see that last pic. It’s essentially placed in a dark corner.

I'd like to chime in and agree with that. No matter how "brightly lit" that room is, or how "big" the windows are, that last picture shows a plant that is much farther away from its light source than it would like to be.

Insufficient light, in turn, can exacerbate over watering issues.

left is west facing and right is east. the tree gets blasted with early morning and late afternoon sun directly. it's pretty overcast today so the picture isn't helping me. Def not trying to convince or argue and want what's best for it, I measured and it's 11 feet pretty much exactly from each window. I realize it's not up against a window... but i don't have a ton of options and some better options have a vent right there where it would fit or near the sliding door where it would definitely get a draft. I didn't realize it would take 2 months for it to tell me how unhappy it is :( guess no one things the scale is even an issue? as for overwatering... it's very hard to out my finger in because it's so root bound. can I wait til the leaves droop just a tad then use that as the sign to water? I've read a lot of people do that. it sounds silly also maybe but I have an open floor plan and the tree is right where I can always see it. another room doesn't have a much better situation and would never see it. best option I can think of is my daughter's nursery :(

Definitely needs more light. What may seem bright to you if nothing for that tree. It would do best right up in front of your brightest unobstructed window.

Dont wait until it droops to water. That’s just stressing it for no reason.

Use a sharpened wooden dowel and stick it in the soil to the bottom and immediately pull out and inspect.

Dark, damp with soil clinging to it = don’t water.

Clean and dry = water.

Check every couple days. And don’t worry, you won’t damage any roots.

If you are worried about the vents, re: moving it to a better location, could you close one vent without significantly affecting the air flow?

yes perhaps I could get a vent cover. just bummed because I love it where it is. I'll ask my husband about air flow!

Photo load diminishes by the square of the distance from source. If your tree is 10 ft away from the window, the light it gets is 1/100 of what it would get at the window, which is a significant difference. Too, a plant that is growing in high light can tolerate a high level of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil solution. A notably reduced photo load affects the plants ability to tolerate the same level of salts it would otherwise tolerate in brighter light.

I'm thinking you must have a collection saucer under the pot to catch water that exits the drain hole. It's important that your plant not be allowed to sit in the effluent that collects in the saucer. That effluent is high in dissolved solids/salts, and any water that makes it to the saucer should have no pathway by which it can make its way back into the soil. This is one way of preventing the plant from sitting in the waste water, and the effluent from getting back into the pot.

You've received good advice so far, but it's important that you are able to water correctly - so you're flushing salts from the soil. Over-watering and/or a high level of dissolved solids causes the symptoms made manifest in your plant, so it's important to get your watering under control and limit the amount of excess water the planting can hold.

This will help you deal with an overly water-retentive soil.

and

This will provide you enough information to get you out of almost any jamb you might find yourself in. You might have to ask additional questions that are brought to light by what you read, but the outline is there. There's lots more to learn if you have a mind to, but no sense in overwhelming you all at once.

Al

thank you. you've all been so helpful! I will do. my best to find a new home for it in my home. for the watering, it's still in the plastic pot I came in and definitely a fast draining soil. I give it 2 full mason jars ever 10 days. very little drips out, I give it a few minutes and empty it immediately. it's definitely not sitting in water. it's aso really dry every 10 days. I don't believe I'm over watering at all. I just stuck my finger deep into the soil and it's bone dry. normally I water in the morning but I held off from advice and ironically one of the leaves JUST started to droop. no one thinks there are scale in the dirt?

quick update to show how much water always drips out at end of watering. I do 2 of those glasses. the droopy leaf is already on its way back up.

I'm going to guess that there are high enough levels of soluble salts built up in the soil to be doing some damage, between the controlled release fertilizer visible in the pot, and the fact that your watering habits won't result in any flushing of the soil.

Did you stick your finger all the way down to the bottom of the pot? Often the top few inches do not tell the whole story, in regards to how wet or dry the (entire) container is.

Elizabeth, scale would be on the plant, not in or on the soil. I can't see any in the pictures you've posted, but that doesn't mean there isn't any. It usually, but not exclusively, appears along leaf veins and on tender stems. Sometimes honeydew on leaves is the first sign the owner notices. Can you put up a picture of what you think is scale?

I am hoping you guys will still see this. I know you all believe I have been over watering my tree. since I last posted I moved my tree to the left from where it was shown in the photos above and is now next to that big west facing window. I last watered it 2 full mason jars of room temp water on Feb 27. since I got it it Dec 10th I've had my calendar set to remind me to water every 10 days to avoid over watering. 8ts been 5 days and I checked and the soil feels dry. I stuck my index finger all the way in. leaves aee not drooping. lost a 4th leaf today though. I always thought brown spots and yellow leaves are the sign for over watering. I have no yellow... just brown spots on the edges and middles of too many leaves now. but the internet and forums have made me terrified of over watering. I know climate changes how frequently it needs water. can you guys chime in?

Um, have you followed the advice you have been given so far?

It sounds like you are giving it the same amount of water each time you water - but you were told that one problem may be the accumulation of salt in the soil from the fertilizer. The best way to address this is to water excessively at least once, as Al mentioned, to try to "flush" those salts out.

I am an adult male, and my index fingers are only 3 and a half inches long. There is no way you stuck a finger all the way down to the bottom of that pot. If you did, that pot is WAY too small for that plant. The only reason I previously asked if you had done this is because I was hoping it would get the reaction of "I can't reach a finger all the way to the bottom of the pot!", at which point hopefully you would reread some of these comments and see the suggestions to use a wooden skewer or wooden dowel instead of your finger.

You have some good advice in this thread. I think moving your plant closer to the window was a great start, but the rest of what was suggested was just as important, if not more so.

haha poor choice of wording on my part. I stuck my finger as far as it goes... certainly not the bottom. if I'm being completely honest, it was all amazing advice, I just get overwhelmed when it's a lot, 8 tried reading as much as I can. I will do the wooden skewer to the very bottom and then flush the soil well in my shower. sorry for the repetition!

Good luck! Your plant of course will not "repair" the leaf damage that's already occurred. You're looking for no new damage + healthy new growth, which may take some time.

I know that's what kills me! will do my best! thank you so much!

If you just do your part and get your plant back on track to an elevated level of vitality (health) and come back in June (unless you have additional questions before then), we can show you how to get rid of all the spoiled foliage and replace it with fresh flush of pristine leaves. Working WITH your plant's natural rhythms is part of being a proficient grower, but it requires patience and sticking to a well considered plan. We often talk about 1 'dog year' equaling approximately 7 "people years", but a "tree year" is equal to at least 7 "people years". Slow down and enjoy the journey. You'd be amazed at how fulfilling it is to add to your store of knowledge while you're 'waiting for things to happen'. Instead of trying this and that and maybe learning a little from your mishaps, focus on how you can provide cultural conditions in almost any plant's sweet spot. I promise you'll leave those still learning by trial and error standing in your slipstream.

Al