Helpful advice for my lemon tree?

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I, er, well, my daughter, has a meyer lemon tree. She got it two Christmases ago.

 

When I got it for her, it was beautiful and lush and full of blossoms. Sadly, that didn't last long. We kept it inside in the plastic pot it came it and did our best. We watered it, got it a humidifier and a grow light. We spoiled it. It didnt' really respond, though, and while it stayed alive and produced, out of all those blossoms, three lovely lemons, it doesn't exactly thrive. When the weather was warm enough, we moved it outside thinking it would do better. It didn't and if anything, got worse.

 

It's still hanging on, though.

 

It has been inside now since somewhere around November. It's looking better and better everyday. It has lots of new growth and is covered over with blossoms again. It's still twiggy but is really improving.

 

One thing we never did was transplant it to a clay pot. All the references said a clay pot is best for air circulations and moisture control. I know nothing about these thing and accept that at face value. So, we're thinking of repotting it. I saw an affordable clay pot at Lowes and would like to get it.

 

However, is this the time to repot? now, with all that lovely new growth and blossoms? We don't want to kill it ever and we don't want to send it into some kind of trauma now. But, we want to encourage this new growth and all these lovely blossoms.

 

What do we do?

[Stacia]

I have no idea, but am curious for replies because I would love to get lemon & lime trees.

 

Is there a gardening or botanical club in your area that you could call?

[merry gardens]

Here's the tips and advice link from the place where we got our Meyer lemon tree. http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/tips-and-advice.html

 

If anyone is looking to get a citrus tree, Four Winds Growers has great trees! The website has suggestions for which citrus does better for indoors vs. outdoors. They sell both smaller trees in pots and larger trees bare root. I bought a couple bare-root trees that I put in pots indoors, and I simply LOVE them. Ahhh, the smell of citrus blossoms!!!

[Kebo]

There are awesome forums for both citrus and container gardening on the Gardenweb site. If you can't find the answer you need by searching, I'm sure you could post a question and get some good info.

 

I have citrus in the ground, but this year I am adding 3 citrus trees in pots. I'm going to use a fast-draining mix with a wick through the drainage hole, and water whenever the wick is dry. Some soil mixes keep the roots too damp near the bottom, and the roots suffer because of it.

 

If the pot is small, it may be that the tree is starting to get rootbound and needs repotting. Again, there are helpful post on how to do this on gardenweb. I'm no expert so I won't try to tell you how to do it. Plants in pots may need more frequent fertilizing than those in the ground, but be sure not to overdo it. I've heard it's best to fertilize weakly, but more often.

 

I wish I could tell you if it's okay to transplant it now. I hate losing a year's worth of fruit, too! Again, I would ask the citrus folks on gardenweb.

 

Good luck!