My brother lived just out side of Phoenix in Down town metropolitan Waddell. Az just east of the white tank mountains. Move your tree so its sun end by 11:AM. You may have to soak the entire pot to make sure the entire root ball is wet. In your temperature root rot from wet root not drying will not be a problem.

Steve

Thanks Steve!

I live just a little south of Waddell, also on the east face of the White Tanks. How cool.

I'll reposition the pot so it gets less sun exposure. Is that going to help with the yellowing, or the drooping, or both?

What yellowed will eventually drop but it should help.

Steve

Arg! this poor tree is still drooping. I tried double-potting it, now I buried it. It is still struggling. Should I try putting up a shade cloth? Root temps are in the mid-80s. Do I need to just take a step back and let it be? I've been keeping the soil moist (not wet), but it's fast draining and with high temps. Tree perks out in the evening so I don't think it's an overwatering issue.

@CA Kate z9 are you suggesting I bury the pot more (add another layer of mulch or rocks), or affirming that putting up a shade cloth will help?

What you need to do is get the pot itself out of the sun. You could put somethng in front of it , around it, or, as you have done, bury it. I have all my plants in pots: trees, veggies, flowers, you name it. The one thing I've learned is that the pots can't sit in the sun all day and get roasting/streaming hot; the plants will die. Mostly my pots are bunched together so they provide shade for each other, as well as a cool-mass; others have afternoon shade... hottest part of the day. I find that terra cotta gets the hottest, but considered the best because it breathes. My trees are in huge pots; all my plants are in pots much larger than what would normally be considered acceptable. I suppose that helps too.

That's interesting what you say about terra cotta being the hottest. I picked a terra cotta pot because it was affordable in the big size I wanted, and I thought they were good for hot environments (probably because of the porosity you mentioned). Maybe I'll revisit wooden planters.

You can paint the pot white and it will solve your problem.

Steve

That is easy to do! Will be done tonight or tomorrow.

The plastic composite pots are better, they won’t transfer heat.

if it were me I’d lose the pot and just bury that sucker in the ground. My Meyer on standard rootstock is only 6’ tall after being in the ground for 3-4 years. If someone from your HOA asks you any questions just say “what tree? That’s a ficus.....don’t mind those yellow ornaments hanging from it.”

You could hide this right?

Meyer lemon tree · More Info

Meyer lemon tree · More Info

Evan

That's a fabulous looking tree Evan, I'd love to hide that in my yard!

I buried the pot last night and it looked awful today. I think I need to pull it out of the sun and give it shade for a few days, it's obviously stressed and none of my efforts to keep it cool and still get some direct sun have worked. I've lost about half of my baby lemons and several leaves in the last 4 days or so.

I put it back under my porch tonight and will keep it out of direct light. Then maybe I can put it in a cooler pot (don't want to disturb it's roots though) or devise a way to effectively keep the current pot cool.

Meanwhile, the grapefruit tree in a matching pot doesn't seem to care that it's gotten hot this week.

Meyers are finicky in pots, you may be better served to try a Lisbon or eureka lemon, they do well out here in the desert. I lost my first Meyer that was in ground, I think it may have been scion incompatibility mixed with being planted too deep in the ground. I’ve learned a lot since then. Your grapefruit tree will love the heat, they need it to make sweet fruit. I’d leave your Meyer in the shade for a few days and let it get used to the weather and slowly move it into the sun. According to the container gurus here on the forum the more you move meyers around and change it’s sun exposure the worse it is for the tree.

Evan

Thanks Evan. I've been worried about all the movement. I think regardless of outcome, I'm going to leave the pot be for several days in the shade of my porch.