Hi - We bought a dwarf improved Meyer Lemon in November and promptly repotted it. It flowered, seemed well, and we left 5-6 fruits on it. However, it was left in the dark for 4 days while we were on vacation in early April, and it started losing its leaves. It has 3-4 leaves left, is starting to flower again, has kept its lemons, and is losing a leaf every 2-3 days. There's minor yellowing on the leaves, it used to have spider mites but those are now gone, and we're not sure exactly what to do with it. It has a S-facing window it's in front of, and we've tapered off its water because of its leaf-loss. Any ideas how to get it back on its feet? Thank you so much.
No - we didn't spray it with chemicals. We just washed its leaves for several days with water and compost tea and dried them, etc. There was one web, but it went away, along with the stippling on the leaves. But while there are flower buds and some blooming, it's not putting forth any more leaves. I wonder too, if there's some issue with the quality of light (we're in western Oregon, where it is almost perpetually cloudy).
Then my next guess would be water stress. Please keep in mind that I'm no expert on these trees, but understand that overwatering can cause what you are seeing.
I couldn't tell you... I haven't seen the tree, but the odds are pretty good it will. If it's not dead, then proper watering is how you will keep it alive.
Sounds familiar, make sure the tree is out of direct sun if the roots are below 60F, I have a meat thermometer to measure. Sure it will come back once it starts to grow again, I would take all the fruit off so that 100% goes into growth rather than fruit.
I checked it - and the roots are around 75-80 degrees (we're leaving it in full sun right now). The leaves are still dropping, but from reading other posts on the site, it seems like all the leaves that were exposed to sun when the roots were still cold (and we brought it out earlier on sunny days) would drop, correct? Then, besides waiting and not watering it and keeping it either outside or in filtered S or W light, is there something we can do? And should we check the roots for root rot? Thanks,
Yes the leaves would drop if the roots were cold. Would not hurt to check for root rot, the roots must be cream coloured and not brown. When my tree's stress I put them in the north facing bedroom for a few months till they recover.
