Checked for bugs?

Yep. No bugs. What kind of bugs would attack a lemon tree?I brought it indoors in early October before it started dropping below 57 degrees at night.

Mites are so tough on Meyer Lemon trees. I leave mine outside as long as possible - until it starts dropping below mid 30s at night. Then, sure enough, as soon as I bring it in mites start multiplying on it. Now that I know what to look for I find them. They are very very small and easy to miss. But the effect on the plant isn't easy to miss for sure. Whenever I get a couple of days during the winter that are a little milder I haul it back out so the spiders can clean the mites off. Then, like today, I'll go bring it back in and hope it's good for a few more weeks. :-)

"What kind of bugs would attack a lemon tree?"

What kind won't! Their aromatic leaves and oils seem to make them attractive to a bunch of pests--especially scale and spider mites. The best thing to do to avoid problems is to overwinter them at coolish temps if you have to bring them into the house. PS., I think most citrus growers here have experienced unexplainable loss of our trees at one time or another. Don't give up!

I kept it in the basement and it got some extra sunlight through a window. Most of the light came through grow lights. The temp in the basement is around 55-60 degrees. Is that too cold? I had an orange tree that survived for 10 years until my housesitter forgot to water it for 3 weeks while I was gone in the winter. It was so dry when I returned it never had a chance. So i decided to have a go at the meyer lemon. I love the flower's scent;-> Should I have sprayed for mites in the fall?
Thanks

Your temps sound fine. (My Meyer's has to survive a January range of between about 32 F. and 55. F.) You'll get a range of different opinions on spraying. I don't like to resort to pesticides--other than insecticidal soup. Sounds like your light was decent actually. I would get another in the Spring. I just had a smallish Moro Blood Orange suddenly died out--don't know why either. If you like citrus, you'll love kumquats (seem to be much hardier than oranges, lemons or limes and much less likely to go into decline over winter in the home). I hear there's a lemon kumquat hybrid that'll be my next acquistion. Good luck!

You have it under growlights, and let the temp in the room stay between 55-60F This means the soil temp was at least 10F lower than the air temp. The oots are too cold. Under 55.4F they stop working entirely, and having light on them will cause the leaves to drop. A google search on 'winter leaf drop' will explain this. If the roots don't work, the light overheats the leaves, and they fall. Either heat the soil, or lose the lights. They will be fine in the dark for a month or two as long as the temp never goes above 55F down there

I'm confused. Why do outdoor citrus (container or in situ) do perfectly fine when the outdoor temperatures reach 55F or below for weeks or months on end? And not lose their leaves? I actually think that the temperatures cited are quite 'do-able'.

sifuz, I'd like you to make certain that you aren't over or under watering your plant by using your hands to feel the soil, rather than a moisture meter. Those implements are notoriously inaccurate.

Also, I reckon it's high time for you to become familiar with the critters that bother citrus trees. The two most likely to be missed by the inexperienced would be spider mites and some of the scale insect species. Heck, spider mites can be missed by almost anyone, unless you learn to look for them. A very bad infestation of mites or scale can lead to the death of a containerized plant.

And NO, you cannot give up! Even if this plant does die (and I'm not saying that it will), you will have learned something from the experience.

Email me if you have trouble finding a bunch of good websites that will quickly get you up to speed with the pests.

Hi Sifuz,

I almost lost my " meyer lemon" to exactly what rhizzo is desribing. I was vigelant looking for mites, and still those little critters almost escaped my notice.
I had to wash this plant and all it's leaves almost everyday for a week until I saw improvement and the they were gone.

Also my water meters always failed me, espcially if there is dry spots and wet spots in your soil.

I lost several plants relying solely on those meters. I never use mine now.

If you don't think you can trust your jugement using your fingers, which many don't,even better, use a wooden dowel or dry popsical stick. If these sticks even come out the slightes bit damp after you have stuck them into the root zone, then should not water.

Don't give up. I hope it works out for you!

Rhizo, I agree with you. Those temps are NOT cold. My citrus (all but the limes), keep their leaves in the coldest months under much colder conditions (between 32 and 55 F). I could see if we were talking about year-round conditions (heck, I would die too), but two to three months of temps between 55-60 should not be lethal. In fact, my citrus only seem to end up dead when I overwinter them in temps warmer than 55-60 as max temps. Inevitably I get all kind of insect infestations. Something else happened.

The biggest culprit in losing a lemon tree over the winter is too much water. When they are semi-dormant, reduce the water. Also, it's common for lemons and limes to drop their leaves during the winter...if conditions are otherwise normally good, it's not a problem.

BTW, my Meyer lemon, and other in-the-ground citrus, survive sub-freezing temps overnite. They are covered, and warmed by Christmas lights or heating cables, but I'm sure the temps inside the tents drop quite low.

-Bruce

I don't know the ins and outs of why when outdoors they do fine in colder temps, but it is fact that citrus roots stop working at 55.4F and under, and without them working, the leaves overheat and drop from the plant. By no means does cold kill the citrus unless it is too severe, so no it wouldn't be lethal, but leaf drop in a cold environment with lots of light will cause leaves to drop.

Then why don't mine suffer ANY leaf drop at all at much lower temps than those maintained by sifuz. I would really like to keep mine somewhat milder during the really cold months (January mostly), but I can't. I CAN tell you that if I bring them inside the house, they usually DIE. If I keep them frost free but chilly and dry over the winter, they look great, and do not suffer from pests, and they bloom heavily from March through April--without leaf drop. My lemons, kumquats, and oranges (Valencia, Navel and Blood) are maintained in a big loft garage (with 50% glass on the South side). PS. I would be interested in a link claiming that citrus roots shut down at 55 F..--I just don't believe it.

Hi njoasis, sounds like you have the perfect setup with glass in your garage. Perfect temp and sunlight. I agree that it's the dry, warm house environment that causes the demise of most potted citrus. My Meyer Lemon is most happy outside. I bring it in when it goes below 32 since it can't be good for the fruit to freeze. But as soon as it's supposed to be above 32 for a few days, back outside it goes.

Like I said in my previous post, I don't know why outdoors would be different. I know about WLD from previous experience, and from knowing a lot of people who grow citrus commercially and have been growing them for dozens of years.

Leaf activity, eg photosynthesis, reduces the colder it gets. So if it is cold outside, roots won't function, leaves won't function...it is essentially dormant. Perhaps this is why WLD does not occur outdoors. As stated, I don't have the reasons, I just know from experience the roots do not function below 55.4F. Whether or not you choose to believe this is your choice. A link to any site would not be suitable, to prove for or against, but if you want to know more, do a google search for winter leaf drop with citrus and read peoples experiences. From there, whatever you choose to believe is entirely your prerogative.

Best way to know for yourself is to experiment, Buy a citrus, sit it in a cold south facing room (below 12.5C but above 5C) and see what happens.

I keep all of mine indoors from September onwards when it starts getting cold, and I have a lot of foliage growth and blooms. I have quite a bit of fruit on the go too. I have only had to deal with one scale problem, an isolated incident that was managed after one oil application.

Well I am not going to give up. Thanks to the support you all have given me. The sad part was the tree was 4 foot tall and a beautiful tree and I had no trouble with it until mid January. It bloomed in Dec it had small lemons on it and slowly the outer most branches started to lose their leaves. Perhaps it was the temp. I don't think I over watered it. How do I keep the temp higher? I am not as concerned with the leaf drop as the progressive drying out and dying of the braches again starting with the outer most branches. I did find a few aphids on a plant near it. Could aphids have caused this?
Thanks

"Best way to know for yourself is to experiment, Buy a citrus, sit it in a cold south facing room (below 12.5C but above 5C) and see what happens."

But that was my point, I did the experiment, and kept them between 41 F and 54.5 during January and February--they LOVED IT!! NO LEAF LOSS. Yes, they go dormant and are not in active growth but they do a heck of a lot better than when I bring them into the home. Maybe our difference in experience has to do with our respective locations. I see by your posting, that you are in the UK.. Well, even in our arctic winters, the winter sun is more potent than yours (especially behind glass). Another (cultural) difference, may be that Americans tend to keep their homes warmer in the winter than many Europeans--and in warm, dry conditions citrus are just magnets to citrus (personal experience). PS.: Plants may be dormant but that does not mean that roots don't function, nor does it mean that the plant stops photosynthesizing.

make that--"magnets to insect pests".

Sifuz, I also live in Zone 5 in Illinois (Chicago suburb) and have had quite a few problems keeping citrus alive over the years. This past winter is the first winter that I kept my small Meiwa kumquat and Bearss Lime in my bedroom on the second floor of my townhome. They get the best sunlight there available (plus supplemental grow bulb light) and I think that the temperatures are fairly constant from the floor to the ceiling... at least much more constant than temps on the first floor which vary significantly from floor to ceiling. Anyway, after a few leaves dropped off each plant when they were first brought inside last fall, there has been no leaf droppage at all. So I think that Aesir is right about the need to keep root and leaf temperature similar. Also I have been careful not to overwater and have a routine of just watering both plants once a week and I never soak the pot thoroughly in the winter. Plus I mist twice a day for humidity. So far this has worked for me.

By all means, don't give up. Good luck!