I suggest you remove all the flower buds and the peduncle (stalk) each is attached to in order to conserve the tree's energy. Just pinch them off with your fingers.
I know. They smelled great. I think I see a few tiny leaves! Anything you can think of that I can do to encourage?
It does not appear to be new growth. New leaves will be delicate and light green in color. There is nothing you can do but wait. There are more flower buds developing; remove them as well.
There's a photo of the type of growth you should expect to see in this external thread: Newbie citrus person with question. The photo appears in a post by dbarron following the text "On the small branch near the label...".
It's actually not looking too bad considering. Note there isn't much difference between the photo in the post on the 25th of the lower stems and the first photo in your latest post. Also, it looks like a number of leaves have survived the ordeal. I think it's just a matter of time before the tree begins to make a comeback. The soil appears to be dry. Don't let it go completely dry but do maintain minimal moisture level. How much light is the tree getting? Has it stopped producing flower buds?
The tree is by a northwestern facing window and I’ve put a small light by it to give it a little extra light during the grayest days. Today I put it outside as it was finally warm & sunny out. I put it on the porch not in direct sun. I thought I saw some new growth starting a few days ago but don’t see it now. It gave another blossom today but it had been bursting w/ them before so that seems to be (almost) over. I’m watering when I feel it dry for a few inches- is that correct?
Although there has been a bit of dieback, the tree appears to be holding its own. I suspect there's not enough light behind that window. You'll have no choice but to put it outside if there isn't a spot indoors with more light. It's probably all right to give it full sun but slowly acclimatize it to that just to be safe. Continue to remove flower buds as they appear. Your approach to watering sounds fine. It wouldn't hurt to remove the dead branches with pruners.
I’ve been putting the plant out on the porch to get more light during the day. It still seems unhappy. I pruned some of the dead branches off. I check the moisture with my fingers because it often seems really dry at the top where you can see the visible roots. Before this picture I sprayed a fine mist just at the top soil. When I check out the soil at the bottom though, it is moist & sort of heavy the way I remember it being early in this post. I snapped a pic of some of the soil that came out of the drainage hole. Definitely very different than soil at the top. You can see some of the poor surviving leaves are getting brown. Any other thoughts on this plant? Fertilize? Thank you!
It does look unhappy, judging by the increase in dieback. Check the moisture level with the skewer stick and water as necessary. As before, make sure the water that you add is being absorbed and not simply draining away along the sides. The soil at the bottom is wet probably because of a lack of roots in that region. It may not be porous enough to begin with. Continue to give the tree as much light as possible. Do NOT fertilize.
It wouldn't hurt while the tree is inside. Place it close to the stems that are still green. Be careful with the heat if it's an incandescent light.
As an aside, the stippled appearance of the leaves suggest there is or has been a presence of spider mites. You may want to blast the stems with jets of water while the tree is outside. You can do this as long as there is no new growth that can be damaged in doing so.
Hello-here’s an update on this little struggling plant. I’ve kept it outside so it’s gotten a lot more light- and I’ve taken the suggestion of washing the stalks to be sure there are no bugs. I also repotted at some point Earlier this summer because It looked so very miserable. It does seem like the soil is draining better & not getting stuck & heavy at the bottom of the pot. Since then, it put out more blossoms, which I’ve again removed but in doing so I noticed what looks like new growth. I’m posting some pics. Any suggestions for how to encourage? Thank you!
Thanks for the update; I was worried the tree had taken a turn for the worse. Leafy growth can be seen in a couple photos (BC2A... and 4BEF...) so I'd say it's on its way to recovery, slow as it has been. I would wait for the appearance of more such growth before fertilizing and then only at half of recommended strength to start. The remaining bits of dead stem can be removed. At some point down the road, consider pruning away some of top growth to give the tree a more compact, rounded shape. By the way, is your friend aware of what has happened to the tree?
With regard to the fertilizer, use one that closely matches a 5-1-3 NPK ratio, if possible, and which also contains micronutrients.
There’s some little leaves coming out of the buds now. Do you Think I should refrain from removing them?
An update- the tree is super happy- there’s a lot of new growth. I haven’t fertilized yet, but think maybe it’s ok to do so now- do you agree? I live in baltimore so the temperature is already starting to drop- at what point & how can I transition it back inside?
The tree can be fertilized as suggested before, feeding at half of the recommended strength. It should be moved back inside in the fall before the first frost.