Hi there,

Last year, we were gifted this lovely Eureka lemon tree; it was tall, full of foliage and lots of buds, and we placed it in our very bright solarium where it received full sun for 6+ hours a day during the summer (Vancouver, Canada). We were told by the garden centre to repot it immediately but I did wait about two weeks and then repotted it into a larger container with 1/2 garden soil and 1/2 potting soil (Miracle Gro which I didn't realise was garbage soil to use...live and you learn I suppose). We also fertilised it with two Jobe citrus sticks for container citrus plants as per the instructions for the size of the container. The tree had one bout of mealybug infestation and for days upon days, I handpicked off mealybugs and sprayed the tree down with neem. During the first month, the tree lost all its leaves and all the initial flowers and little lemons which I was told would be expected as it got used to the new surroundings. As it got warmer, we moved it over a few inches on to the patio and it was having the time of its life. It recovered very quickly and had tons of new growth, buds everywhere, and 17 lemons!!! This was a very hot summer so I was watering it about a litre of water a day but it was flourishing so I figured it was all fine.

Then winter came around so we brought the tree indoors into our living room which had less sun but was warmer than the solarium as we were told by the garden centre that the tree won't be able to tolerate the cold. Here is where everything went wrong (a lot of it was my fault, too). It dropped all of its leaves but the lemons all ripened. We figured perhaps this would be a good time to prune it down a bit too because it was pretty gangly looking. I know I overwatered it because I was watering it about twice a week and later found out that was wrong. The tree was miserable and I was sure it was dying. But it seemed like it was pulling through somehow so I kind of left it alone.

At the start of April, we moved the tree back to the solarium and we had a wonderful two weeks of very warm weather and lots of sunshine. During this time, the tree just exploded with new growth! There were new little branches shooting up everywhere but mostly closer to the base of the tree. Because it was so hot, I watered the tree once every three days and allowed for it to drain completely and also thought it might like some fertiliser so I added one of the Jobe's sticks as well. But suddenly in the past two weeks, the majority of the little new growths shrivelled up, turned black, and fell off. Now some of the branches that seemed to have been okay after the pruning sessions have turned brown. I thought maybe I overwatered and now I check with a water metre which still reads "wet" so I have not watered the tree for over a week and a half which works out because we've had some gloomy days anyways. I then thought maybe it's the fertiliser so I dug that up and tossed it. I have not touched the actual roots of the tree but I have dug deep a bit to check and see if there is potential root rot but I don't think there is because there is no slim or smell - nothing. There were some spider mites that I treated and it looks like they are gone. There is no new growth.

I would love to get some advice on what I could do to bring back my tree from this weird phase or death potentially. Do I cut the browning branches even if there is a somewhat healthy-looking green stem poking out? Also, the branches do seem like they were grafted so is pruning that a no-no? I would be terrified of repotting my lemon tree as this poor thing has had so much stress already - I would feel like that might just kill him off entirely. It is not dropping any leaves and it doesn't seem like the leaves are curling up, but as you can see from the photos there are some weird spots that turned up on the older new leaves but not on the newer new leaves if that makes sense.

I have included here some before, during the winter, and recent photos of the tree. The tree is in a well-draining pot and is elevated so that water does come out completely. When I water him I do wait for it to drain and then I just use a turkey baster to get rid of the water at the base of the saucer.

Before: When the tree first arrived, it dropped its leaves and little fruit but then flourished again.

During the winter: Leaves drop, lemons ripen, sorrowful tree.

Now: Back to the solarium area. Browning branches, loss of cute new growths, leaves with some weird spots, overall depressed (or am I imagining it and it's actually fine?).

This tree is so loved. I would do anything to have it flourish once more.

Thank you for reading this essay. I appreciate any and all advice!