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

I would like to post a followup regarding my lemon tree... First of all, while I think all the advice I got was excellent, it was of course impossible to take everybodies, so in the end I heeded the wise words of Johnmerr, who had so helpfully informed me that I am the one who has to live with the tree, and I did what my instincts told me, which is to re-pot it. I thought that re-potting a tree would take at MOST and hour, but it ended up taking around four, and I'd like to post my experiences there, in case someone is going through the same thing. 1) Timing: It was cold enough so that I couldn't work in a t-shirt and shorts, which would have significantly cut down on the laundry afterwards 2) Materials: I'm a pretty cheap person, so I went for another plastic tan pot, and in the absence of the materials required for a homemade potting mix, I went for a commercial mix. 3) Location: If I had carried the tree down to the common area, instead of trying to re-pot it on my balcony, I would have saved myself hours of misery, because a balcony just doesn't have enough space, and if you're outside, you don't have to clean up as much. So, now to the general experience. I went up two pot sizes to accommodate the tilt I wanted to use. After pruning, the pot looks much too large, but I still prefer the tilted look to the way it was before. My intention was just to break up the root ball a little bit and then plunge it into a waiting bucket of water to kind of sort of wash off some of the old soil, and then to put it in the new pot. This did NOT happen. What happened is, I pulled the tree out of the pot, and the roots were visible all over the outside of the soil, and FALLING OFF, they were so rotten and dried out. When I started to break up the ball, there were whole sections of the roots which were slimy and disgusting, and some were totally dried out.. and I spent alot of time washing off the 'soil' which was pretty much clay, to find out which sections of roots to cut off. Then I had to put the tree in the bucket of water and take a rest and throw out some of that horrible rocky clay. The moral of the story at this point is: ROCKS DON'T MAKE WELL DRAINING SOIL. Really. I can't stress it enough. I thought my soil was well draining, because it looked nice and rocky, but it wasn't. Obviously, when I watered, I was missing a whole lot of the roots. I really regret not taking more effort to make my own mix, because now I'm worried that the new spoil will have the same problems after a while. So anyways, I came back and I started to put it in its new pot. First I added a slope of soil on the bottom of the pot (because I was intending to tilt it substantially) and watered it well... then with one hand I held up the tree while with the other I added soil. Holding up a tree is actual hard work, I would advise having a tree holder helper if you can. In the end I had to stop and restart this process four or five times. Let me tell you, my beautiful balcony was covered with clay, leaves, buds, sweat and tears by the time the tree was more or less inside. But it didn't stay that way. Turns out I hadn't packed in the soil hard enough, and before long, the tree was tilting one way and then the other, and I was left with a corrections algorithm of seeing how it was tilting and adding soil and water. Lather rinse repeat. Then I wanted to prune it (the watersprout was going off WAY in one direction) so thus started a whole new list of new experiences. Mock me if you will, but I live in a small apartment, and I don't own gardening shears. With a steak knife I slowly sawed of all of the offending branches, a process which took around 5 - 6 minutes per branch. Then came the cleaning up. Oh the cleaning! Me having put down newspaper was of no use at all. By the time the cleaning period had started, the newspaper had turned into a soggy staining mess. It would have been 10 times faster if I hadn't put down newspaper. Anyways, we're well into spring over here, and my tree looks ... better? I don't know, it's hard to tell. The problem with the flowers still exists... this tree is making literally thousands of flowers, but no new leaves. There are some leaves which are yellow and falling off (slower than before) and some of the leaves look significantly healthier (glossy, smooth) while others are cracked and dry (probably due to the wind). I hope you all enjoyed my re-potting experience, any advice is warmly appreciated. Mary

I really fell in love with citrus last year. Bought one Meyer lemon and have already eaten three from the tree. So. . . bought another Meyer this spring and a Key Lime. I fertilized them all (very lightly, not even a handful of 'citrus tone') the oldest Meyer Lemon' leaves are turning yellow and are dropping off (this tree has tiny fertilized lemons on it and flowers still in bloom ). The second Meyer Lemon the youngest just has its leaves turning yellow and dropping off. The Key Lime tree is holding its own. (It arrived as a skinny topiary shape) I've only seen them grow in the Florida Keys as a bush. Was the tiny handful of fertilizer the culprit?? All three live outside during the summer. I am in Newport, RI and we have been getting tons of rain. They are all potted in Al's Gritty mix. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Mrs. G

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.