Your condition is not uncommon in Meyers; especially that have been transplanted and are blooming. I suspect your P and K may be deficient, as the best ratio for citrus is 5-1-3; and Meyers need a little more P & K. Put a little decomposed cow manure that you can buy at any garden store... it should solve your problem and stay organic.

ok, I have some decomposed cow manure handy, so I am thinking I am supposed to remove the mulch, put a layer of cow manure on top, and put the mulch back? will the nutrients just leech into the soil from each watering?

should I increase my dose of my 5-1-1 fish emulsion as well, for my next watering? currently, i put about a tablespoon of it into around 1 or 1.5 gallons of water.

That sounds good. I was wondering the same thing about the mulch. Sounds right though.

My meyer has been in the ground for over a year and does the exact same thing. It is so finicky. I planted it with about 3 leaves and it put out ALOT of nice new green growth in the year but some yellowed and most of the fruit falls off. I have yet to get a lemon. There is one big greeny that I hope will finish till the end but who knows. We had an early spring around here and now the temps have fallen a little bit with some rain and the meyer started to drop all the nice big green fruit it had made.

Ill be following this thread. Good luck:)

My concern about the cow manure would be the high salt content which could burn the roots. I think this could be worse in a container than in the ground because of the high temperature fluctuations that the roots would experience. I must say I have never tried it, but this is the reason why. To me the tree leaves look like they could use a healthy dose of nitrogen. In the spring, like John said, when flowering, citrus, and especially meyers, tend to extract nitrogen from their older leaves prior to shedding them. This makes for a less than attractive overall appearance. This does not explain those relatively newer leaves, though. If it were my tree, I would reconsider the organic approach and feed the tree.

Ah. I thought it was in the ground. I agree that the cow manure might be a bit much. Maybe a liquid Citrus fertilizer would help. Im no pro but Im sure they will chime in sooner or later.

It also looks like there is some kind of disease or fungus on the yellow parts of the leaves??

That is from a combination of a few things going on at once.

Quite possibly 'salt' damage from past fertilizers in your mix, especially from Fish Emulsions and other organics. Organic fertilizers also lack every essential nutrient your tree needs, and trying to guess what it could be could only make you add something to your feeding remind that could worsen the condition.

If your tree is requiring as much nitrogen and some may suggest, and lacking P and K, it will not be readily available organically.

If you use a non-organic fertilizer such as MG or Foliage Pro, then you will notice a quick response if all things are go.

All things a go?

I would make sure that your cultural habits are in check and that the roots, especially the fine ones are not being damaged to salt deposits, since they do bull work of the feeding.

You should double check the mix, and see how long it takes to dry out.
Question how often you water, with what kind of water, and how fast it take to exit the pot.

Since fall until now, when was the last time you flushed your mix?

If your mix containers to much 'salt' deposits from fertilizers and or your tap water, it will inhibit the roots to take up any nutrients and cause the yellowing as you see and or cause burn.
I once used all organics, especially fish fertilizers and mixes that held water much too long, and that same exact yellowing happened to mine. The more I added fertilizer, the worst they became.

I would keep the compost out of your containers, since it will only clog up your mix and cause further issues. Manure is great stuff if you are using it in the ground.
John and others are quite right. It could use some sort of nutrient, especially nitrogen after you make sure you know for sure what is going on below the soil line. Further feeding could cause further damage if the main culprit is salt damage.

What kind of fertilizers do you use other than F.E?

Mike:-)

wow that is a lot, lol...I've only used Fish emulsion. I'll give MG or Foliage Pro some consideration. I've already stuck some of the manure on top..I'll keep watch, and remove it if I see deterioration. We have hard water here in vegas, so salts could be a possibility.

It takes about a week to dry out completely, now that it's getting warm here in Vegas. Probably will dry out quicker as it starts to get really hot.

not sure what you mean about flushing my mix. This is a newly potted plant.

now that I think of it, I don't think there's compost in the soil. but I believe I mixed in just some native soil with organic topsoil.

It looks like from what I am reading, at the worst, I remove the manure that I already put down today..which I'll do if I see it worsen at all. Then consider those citrus feeders...I do deeply water the plant though when I do water it from a dry state, figuring it would push out salts in the soil?

I was googling around for some organic citrus fertilizer, and am wondering, if I remove the composted manure(which I can just toss on my garden, so no loss there really, and use this supposedly 100% organic citrus fertilizer from Jobe

http://www.amazon.com/Jobes-09226-Organic-Granular-Fertilizer/dp/B0030EK5JE

thoughts?

Personally, I think organic is a crock! But that is just me. If you like low yields, high cost, misshapen fruits, sour citrus, etc... stick with the organics; if you want healthy, happy trees that produce a lot of tasty fruits, get some good balanced citrus food and give your tree what it needs.
You say you are in Vegas and the water has a lot of salts... one of the most devastating... AND very common problems is people who water their plants with water from a water softener....SALT.... If you are doing that, you will soon kill your plsnt; you have to use water from before the water softener.

If you read the ingredients on the side of the bag it has alot of good bacteria and fungi. I have no experience with them but the reviews are good. Maybe a pro can check out the pic and look at the side of the bag. The NPK doesnt seem too spectacular, same old stuff. Bone meal, cow manure potash, etc.. at a 4-4-4 seems a little low but will do.

Johnmerr, I said our water is naturally hard, not that I use a softener, which I don't, so that is a good thing, and something I didn't think about. glad I don't have one!

yeah I have read people saying, whatever you use, inorganic/organic, the plant still picks up the elements it needs from the soil irregardless...so I do see that point. This tree will be in the ground a year from now, so I am glad that at that point I can use the manure as a nitrogen source as people here are saying.

Blaze, unless I hear otherwise soon, I will probably remove the composted manure, and feed with the Jobe's citrus fert. especially since every person I can find online that's taken the time to write about it has written only glowing reviews.

Vegas, organic gardening is certainly not a crock and luckily, many hundreds of thousands of growers are willing to go the extra mile to produce organic fruits and vegetables.

You should know, though, that you will have to study up on the nutritional requirements of citrus in general...and figure out how to provide them,organically, within the confines of a container. You are going to have to provide everything that your plant needs; citrus have some specific micro-nutrient requirements.

I see nothing in the Jobe's product that disturbs me too much, though it does not have micro-nutrients, also called miner elements. Fish emulsion could assist in providing some key elements, when used in conjunction with your Jobe's. HOWEVER! It really isn't intended for container culture. There are no directions that I see on the label as to dose and frequency. Another aspect that is troublesome is that I can see how repeated use of this product would muddy up your potting mix....fill the so important pore spaces with fine particles.

If you were looking for a product with a high Nitrogen analysis, you'll have to go with something other than your 'organic' products. Lots of container hobbyists resort to the commercial soluble fertilizers, while still using using organic methods for the rest of the plant care. I'm not saying that you should, but just be aware that you will have to keep up with the fert. in order to provide your citrus with what it needs.

Another factor in the yellowing 'may' be the potting medium. Again, container culture is entirely different that growing in situ. Garden soil or compost added to a perfect good potting medium can result in a mucky, slow-to-drain mixture. Roots can function in that kind of environment, which is why we have learned to provide a potting mix that remains coarse textured and porous. I may not be the only one that would love to see you re-pot your plant entirely.

I'd also like to warn you that moisture meters are notoriously inaccurate. Most of us have learned to rely on the most sophisticated digital equipment we have....our fingers. ;-)

Hello Vegas:-)

That's the reason behind my suggestions I told you about.

As Rhizo pointed out, having a good porous mix is a bonus, a must with citrus for increased vitality and longevity. An open mix helps the roots to breath and function properly, which encourages good nutritional uptake, and alleviates the fear of root rot no matter where your live.

Flushing would mean that you water your potted plant until water freely exits from the bottom at least 3 minutes or so with 'fresh' water. I usually use rain water or distilled water. Just because it is newly potted, it does not mean that symptoms will not show up at this time from previous damage.

I also use a wooden skewer or wooden dowel to measure deep into the root zone in much larger containers helps.

You know, one of the things it says on the bag is that it 'helps break down organic matter', the fertilizer you speak of that is. If you are looking to maintain an open porous mix, I would think twice about using it.
Just a thought.

MIke:-)

I'm not sure if this idea would be helpful to you, but since I try to grow organically too, I often use compost tea on container grown roses that need a little perk up. It might be a method you can adapt to your container lemon....

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: compost tea

ah lots of great advice here, I'd like to keep this going until my plant either thrives...or does not :)

I think I will resort to a commercial soluble product, I am learning more and more..to just do that. what is generally used with potted citrus?

If I use this and do not see improvement, I shall repot. Originally it was potted with mix made for cactus which I learned was good because of it's high drainage properties. so if I do repot, what exactly do I do? moreve all dirt from the roots, and then use a certain type of soil only?

I have read about the dowel method. I guess I'll try that. can't hurt, they are cheap :)I will do that flush to try and reset things before I use a different fertilizer.

I have decided to get the Miracle grow for this year. if the tree is still ok next year, it may go into the ground, which would be nice, to be able to go back to the composted manure, and such.

I flushed out the plant, and followed Al's guide here, using around half the recommended 1 tsp in a gallon of water and watered the plant. At this point I am at wait and see I guess.

Also suggest reading up on on greening not sure if it has infected in your area of the country but Florida has major greening , which causes yellowing leaves , veining, among other things...just a thought perhaps it may help