Ok..First of all, the curse of the lemon meyer!!

But have no fear, you can prevail!

Immediately, I mean immediately, I would get that plant out of the soil ASAP....

That soil your using, has been the DEATH of all mine when I first began. It holds way too much water, a perched water table which citrus HATE in our growing regions, no matter what the product claims, and it holds way to much residue fertilizer salts that can turn leaf tips brown. Your roots should look a healthy white. Take a peak while you are add it, if not, it is killing your tree fast. Therefore the branches dying..Root rot kills the branches, but first the leaves drop, usually green and or yellow..The leafs drop green if under watered and root damaged has taken hold..

Is there a way you can STRAIN out all the peat moss in that soilless mix you bought? Please let me know..I will give you a great idea? Do you have quick access to good nursery mix?

You live in Ohio? You need to keep your tree on the dry side with such a lack of sunlight, and make sure it absolutely needs watering before you do it again..

Let us leave it at here, until you change the soil..Nothing else is going to help it, until you first take this step. That soilless mix is junk! Sorry..:-(

Let me know when you have done the first step, and or if you want too.. I will then guide you from there..You NEED to put that plant in a FAST draining soilless mix, that dries out rather rapidly. One that is porous and provides great gas exchange after each watering. One that allows the salts to flush out at each watering. One that allows you to feed at every watering. One that provides oxygen and does not suffocate the roots..Does not take too long to dry out, or compact:-)

There might still be hope.

How much sun does it get? How are the temps? What size, kind of pot is it in? How long has it been taking the soil mix to dry out? What kind of water do you provide it with? Do you use vinager? What kind of analysis, or how high is the ph of your water? What are your cultural habits in detail..

Mike

Mike! Thank you for responding so quickly!

At 9:30pm - when I read your reply...I quickly made my husband run out to the garage to see what other types of soil he has (he loves to garden) - turns out we had a moisture draining potting soil of some sorts, it's pretty loose, so I don't think it will suffocate the roots.

So I carefully dumped out the crap I was using...placed stones on the bottom of my pots, which I had not done before...dummy me! and dumped the new soil in...I hope that helps!

Sadly, in the winter my meyer lemons get about 5 hours at most of sunlight. When spring arrives they spend day outside, nights in. Summer just depends! I use a plastic type container, 5 quarts size, it has holes on the bottom, and a dish. I do not place the holes on the nobs the plate has though, so it does leave some air flow from underneath - I hope! It takes about 6 days to dry out...if I'm lucky, sometimes longer.

I must be a terrible meyer lemon tree owner, I just use tap water, which I assume is beyond acceptable since people in my area drink it, but I do buy bottled spring water and could use that if you suggest it. I also have no idea what the vinegar is for...do tell!

My cultural habits include me wiping the leaves about once a month with a damp papertowel, watering every 7 days.. and remembering to rotate the plants once every two months to try and get all around even growth. I also do the acidifier feeding about once a month.

Please help with all your knowlegeable advice, I'm willing to try everything you recommend. I also took a picture of the roots while changing out the soil, it looks ok to me! But let me know if you think we are beyond the point of no return.

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/bananaslush101/

Thanks again,
Amanda

Hello Amanda,
I can give you a little help. I got a hold of Mike awhile ago because I bought a large meyer lemon. I asked about the vinegar and he told me a teaspoon of white vinegar per gallon of water. I would ask him about Al's gritty mix. I myself plan on doing this with all my citrus this summer. I read that you rotate your tree every 2 months. I rotate my keylime evry 2 weeks. My moro blood orange is underlights so that I don't rotate. It is amazing to see how much diffrence a shop light made with my moro. I have growth all over now! Something I did was I searched thru as many old posts on meyer's that I could find. I also went and bought a soil thermometer so I could check the temp of the dirt. Well good luck to you, and I will say that you are in good hands here. Mike knows his stuff!
Andrew

Hey everyone.

Thank you Andrew for the kind words and CONGRATULATIONS or your tree. I can't wait to see the pictures! It sounds like you bought a whole big one!! You are too funny about trying to fit it in the car!! lol

Hi Amanda,

Please maek sure that when you take out the old dirt, the one that is staying wet for you far far too long, you bare root it. Take every last drop of it out, the put carefully into your new soilless mix. Make sure to fill in all around the roots and soak thoroughly. Please make sure it dries out no longer than 2-4 days at most, in this cool and sunless weather..This way you can keep it weathered out doors and not have to worry about rot if it rains everyday too.
No need for rocks at the bottom. It does not improve drainage at all, takes up more space room for the roots to grow and makes the pot heavier than it should..

If it is getting that short amount of light, tell me, is it in a south facing window, not obstructed by trees or another home?
We will talk light later. The first thing is to give it great soil ASAP..

Let me know when you do..Tell me how fast it drains, how long it stays wet, and how porous it is..Tell me the ratios of ingredients in it too..

Let us start form here. Soil first ok..Without a good mix, everything will not matter..:-0)

Does your soil look something like this? Look at the container, not the fruit..lol

{{gwi:40799}}

Mike

Hello Mike,
I know that it would depend on how much mix you make, but on an estimate, is it expensive to make? How often do you replace the soil for your large meyer?
Andrew

Making the soilless mix is cheaper than buying bags for me..It is a bit time consuming, but far out weighs the work involved in making it and seeing my trees flourish for ever..

I only change my soilless mix when the roots fill the container..Of course, I only up size a pot by a couple of inches at a time, even though I could plant in humungous sizes because I fear no root rot, or fast compaction of the mix in a quick amount of time....

The soilless mix falls right away from the roots too when it is type to repot. I do not have to break roots apart, or scrape the old dirt out from the root ball..It just falls away to begin growing in a new batch each time..

I have a "lemon Meyer" growing in a 10 gallon pot for over 2 years now, and the 5.1.1. soilless mix is still holding up. That is not even in the gritty mix.:-)That one holds up way longer..

Good night..:-)

Thanks for the info Andrew, nice to know I wasn't the only one!

My soil looks similar to yours...SORT OF..I took a picture of it, and you can have look to let me know what needs to be done..there's a landscape supply store nearby so I can typically get my hands on specific items. http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y290/bananaslush101/

Moisture meter is reading at 3, on dry/moist. pH is at 7.
It's actually in a northeast facing room in our family room. It's not obstructed by trees or a house either. The North facing room is a study, with tons of windows covered by lilacs, so not enough sunlight there. It's a 3-1-2, so I guess I need to adjust the mix...you'll have to tell me how!

Your tree looks so beautiful! And I want mine to get there!
Amanda

Hi Amanda..Thank you.

Just as soon as I have access to a puter that allows me to see pictures after work at home, I will take a peak..

I will tell you that PH is far too high for your tree. The leaves will give you signs as to whether you should ajust the ph in your soilless mix, soon enough. But you can avoid a future problem..A PH of 6.5 or lower would be ideal..Therefore, the vinegar comes to play..:-)

As for the light...How many direct "SUN" hours will your plant recieve? Will you also be able to put it outdoors come spring for the summer? I have a feeling there may not be enough of it...

Mike..:-)!

Hey Mike!
I will start with the vinegar right away! As soon as Spring arrives, my plants go outdoors at around 6am...till the sun is completely set which is at around 8-9pm and then they are brought back in. They will receive direct sunlight that whole time since I place them on our stone patio in the center of our backyard..no light obstruction whatsoever.

I actually only water my plants with 1 to 1 1/2 cups of water...is that enough? The four wind grower pamphlet say indoors 1/4-1/2 gallon every 5-7 days.

Thanks,
Amanda

fertilizing will all depend on the soilless mix you are using..I can give my plants a steady regular dose or food a small quantities, at 1/4 strentgh, at every watering with no issues..In fact, my plants thrive being fed this way..I can do it, because my mix does not collect salts or allow the fertilizers to build, that could inhibit uptake by the roots..Each watering flushes out the build up.

In with the new, out with the old, at every watering..lol

You should also water until the excess water drains out copiously...It provides great gas exchange, washes out any salts for fertilizers, and provides abundat air to the roots..;-). Never water a plant in small sips...

Let us see you mix later..:-)