Yes the bloom will likely fall off which is just as well. When growing in containers, long term, you should plan on replacing the growing mix. How often will depend on the mix you are using. The organic material in the mix will begin breaking down as soon as you start using it. The longest lasting organic in the mix is usually fir bark, but this should be carefully sized to match the other ingredients. For this purpose I prefer to make the gritty mix which will last the longest. What ever mix you use read the list of ingredients and make a note of when the mix will need to be replaced. In California citrus labeled fertilizer is available everywhere and should be used monthly for container citrus. A three foot high tree would benefit from about a tablespoon of most brands of citrus fertilizer. Al

First, don't despair. Your Meyer, which by most standards is a bit sensitive when grown as a garden tree, has suffered from probably being too long in the same pot, from being moved to new light conditions, and then transplant shock being planted inground. The good news is now that it is in the ground, and in one place, it will recover nicely. FYI, since you planted it in the ground, the roots have been growing; first the roots grow, and after that the leaves and branches grow. Have a little patience, water it deeply about once per week in the Summer, and give it some good citrus fertilizer 3 to 4 times per year per label instructions. Keep us posted as it grows and produces blooms next Spring and fruit next November... yes, I actually know when it will bloom in Northern California, unlike many other latitudes and altitudes.

Gman, products like "Earthjuice Microblast" (which I never even heard of), "Superthrive" and the whole lot of "Miracle Cures" (which there are many) are as you probably already suspect, never ever used, nor are they even recognized as valuable resources by commerical citrus producers nor by the citrus industry in general. They are never used by them, and the reason is they don't work. A MOST intreguing aspect of your tree, is that for a tree going through some sort of stress resulting in leaf drop, the tree still looks rather healthy. I must admit it has me puzzled. As you live in California, a citrus producing state, there is always the chance that the tree has a foliar disease. However, I think the tree's problem had something to do with the growing medium. The tree had a lot of roots, but out of all the root structure I only seen one (1) new little white root tip. Only one! All the roots were only the older roots, having the light tannish brown coloration. There has not been any new growth. I believe if you had not transplanted the tree the leaf drop whould have continued. Here is what I think will happen (I hope will happen). The leaf drop will continue for a little while longer, then stop. New root growth will develop due to the high aeration, excellent drainage and natural pH afforded by the CHC/peat moss medium. A new general flush will restore the tree's folage after the roots have generated some new growth tips. I would not fertilize for a while, then keep any fertilizer application below 200 PPM, 150-PPM might be better. Good luck to your tree. Drop me an e-mail using "My Page" I would like to know of the tree's progress. Regards - Millet

I may be wrong about this, but I was told the flowers have to be pollinated in order to set fruit. I had a Meyer indoors that kept dropping blooms, and when I moved it outdoors, it started setting fruit. And indoors it was in a bright room with a huge east-facing window, and it thrived other than no fruit. That was years ago- these days my Meyer (the same dwarf tree I got 8 or 9 years ago!) is in a very large pot (about 36" across and 30" tall) on a dolly in my yard. If it's going to freeze or frost I roll it into my garage until it warms back up. I got a sturdy furniture dolly from Tractor Supply for $15 and it is a lifesaver! This was in central Georgia; I recently moved to the Florida Panhandle and have no concrete on which to roll the dolly, so it's now living next to my well house, I drape a tarp over it and the well house when it's going to frost/freeze. So far the warmth from the well house, water tank, and heat lamp in the well house has kept it fine. I get literally 100+ lemons per crop off this tree now, and the tree itself is maybe 3 feet tall by around 4 feet across. It often has mature fruit (HUGE lemons often as big as a baseball!), green growing fruit, blooms, and buds at the same time. About every 3 years (it starts doing poorly when it needs it) I pull it out of its pot, shake all the soil out of its roots, repot in fresh citrus potting mix, and pray I didn't kill it! I do it when the tree has no fruit on it, because doing it while there are blooms or fruit causes it to drop the blooms and fruit. I also only prune as needed to control unwanted growth. I just nip a branch or bud occasionally, never a lot at once. I thin the lemons it sets. I wait till they are marble-sized, then remove any that are scarred or misshapen. Then I remove some if it has what I decide are too many in one spot, because leaving too many on the tree results in smaller fruit, and I like BIG lemons! I fertilize pretty haphazardly- usually I toss a handful of 10-10-10 on it when I'm fertilizing something else. I have used "citrus fertilizer" as well. Finally- I have accidentally left it out in the freezing cold, and the result was it dropped all the leaves the frost killed. It also dropped all the blooms it had and buds that were forming. However, I took better care of it the rest of the winter and in the spring everything grew back. Meyers can be tricky to get the hang of, but are totally worth it!! I have fresh lemons 9 months out of the year most of the time, thanks to its habit of setting successive crops of fruit throughout the year if it's happy.