This is the tree by the way

Watering is location specific. Your plant looks hungry: yellow leaves. Find a local nursery, talk to them.

Hello Michael, looks like a Meyer lemon and the tree is chlorotic and underfed. Can you give us some more details about where you are? What grow zone are you in? Looks like you may be in the desert southwest by the DG color and shoe string acacia tree I can see in the background. How often and how long is the tree getting watered? “A few minutes every evening” is very vague. If you want this tree to thrive help us out with those details so we can better help you.

Evan

I agree it looks like a Meyers Lemon, and it also appears under fed, Meyers are heavy nitrogen feeders. I would suggest starting off with a quick acting nitrogen source like blood meal, if you want to stay organic, perhaps about 3 ounces scattered around the base then check back in a few weeks to see if it has greened up, along with a general broader range lawn fertilizer. This is not ideal, but is a good start for now until you can get things roughly in line.

Also tell us what climate you are in

I am in Palm Springs, CA. It is planted in a desertscape yard. The top of the ground is mostly small pebbles, soil is not visualized.

Ok, given your region and and soil visibility, i would use a water soluble fertilizer, mix with a gallon or so of water and hand water. Again something heavy on nitrogen for a Meyers, and supplemental fast acting Nitrogen at first until it greens up. I don't know how much you know about fertilizers, but they have 3 numbers, here in Louisiana with very different soil conditions I use a commercial 14-4-9 commercial citrus fertilizer, because I have about a dozen in ground citrus trees, and I can buy it in the 50 pound sack for about $11. When reading fertilizers the first number if the amount of Nitrogen.

If you are not concerned about growing organically I would suggest Ammonium Sulfate for your quick acting nitrogen source it is cheap, and water soluble, it is also somewhat acidic which should not be an issue with your local soil type, as most soil in your region is highly calcareous. Here is an Amazon link https://smile.amazon.com/Hi-Yield-Ammonium-Sulfate-AMMONIUM-SULFATE/dp/B000OV85BQ/ it may be cheaper locally. You don't need much, maybe half a pound per year to supplement your standard fertilizer blend. Mix up 1 or 2 table spoons per gallon of water and pour around the drip line every couple of weeks until it greens up, if it has not greened up in a month or so, come back and ask for more advice. Also feed a good water soluble Citrus / Palm or Cactus fertilizer from March - August something like Miracle Grow All Purpose water soluble fertilizer https://smile.amazon.com/Miracle-Gro-1001233-Purpose-Plant-Food/dp/B000P6QYJK/ this is not perfect, but should be fairly close, and again it is cheap, and commonly available

I'm not familiar with the CA soils, but have you had a soil test, to determine acidity (related to nutrient uptake) and nutrients (NPK, trace minerals), plus inert/organic material composition (helps determine water retention). You can of course, dig a hole put a gallon of water and see how quickly it drains to determine. Your local extension service will normally take ziploc bags sent to them, or sometimes local nurseries will carry prepackaged kits to send it.

Michael, I am in Indio about 15 miles east of you so we are in similar climates. I suggest going to HD and grabbing a bag of Arizona’s Best Citrus food and feeding your tree according to the directions on the bag, you could probably even add a little extra, lemon trees are heavy feeders. A single 5 lb bag should feed your tree for probably the whole year. I’d also make sure that you tree is getting deep infrequent waterings at this time of year and gradually increasing the watering time as our temps get warmer. Once you fertilize you should see your tree start to green up within a couple weeks and those older yellowish leaves will start to fall off and get replaced by new leaves. Hope this helps.

edit: Ken, if he’s in the Palm Springs area his soil is draining quickly, the entire area is built on wash like granular soils. Another reason why feeding that tree is crucial to give it enough nutrients.

Evan

I will defer to the local advice on Citrus fertilizer blend, but would still add supplemental Nitrogen since it is a Meyers lemon. Out of my dozen in ground citrus trees, the only one that routinely needs supplemental Nitrogen is my Meyers lemon, the others survive just fine on my standard local commercial citrus blend.

Evan Why do you use ammonium sulfate. I use a 32-0-4 grass feed because it is 1/3 the cost of ammonium sulfate. Do you find that Ammonium works better. Can you get ammonium at a much better price. I can buy ammonium for about $3 a pound but the grass feed goes for about $0.7 per pound. I now have 3 lemon (NZL) trees on C35, US897, and Seville sour. My standard feed is Miracle Gro all purposes 24-8-16.

Steve

Steve I buy 50 lb bags of ammonium sulfate for $24 so about .50 per lb. This is what I use.

No advice, just jealous. I would love to grow lemons, limes, and avocados outside year round.

The cheapest I have found 50 pounds of A.S. is around $70. I have found a 46-0-0 feed 50 pounds for $20 but it doesn't say what it is.

I would like to grow year round outside too.

Steve

I suspect a 50 pound sack would be a 10 year supply in this situation, also I suspect the 46-0-0- would be a Urea fertilizer and I would worry about Biurate toxicity in citrus.

Michael you are getting some good advice; but if you give a Meyer too much Nitrogen when it is blooming, it will drop all the flowers in favor of making more leaves. We often do that intentionally for young trees to encourage growth. If you let a Meyer keep too many fruits when it is small; it will "forget" to grow.

Not sure why my picture of the product i use didn't show up in my post above. Steve, here is a link to the J.R. Simplot ammonium sulfate bag that i buy for about $24 at my local turf store. You should find out if you have a distributor near you where you can buy a bag.

Ike, yes that would be a bit much for Michael in this situation, I have 18 citrus trees though so i go through a lot more, this bag has lasted me almost a year.

John, that's why I suggested the Arizona's Best, it's cheap and works very well in my yard, I think it would be a good choice on this smaller tree.

http://partners.simplot.com/product/Ammonium-Sulfate-2100

Evan

Whatever fertilizer you use, be aware you also need micros. Az Best appears to include them.

By the way,there are pictorial guides that will help you determine which nutrient deficiency you have. Im a little disorganized at the moment so I don’t have a link handy.