Huntro: I think watering thoroughly at least once a week is your problem. Yellowing leaves, followed by leaf drop, is fairly typical of overwatering. Try watering only when you are certain the soil in your pot has dried out; that may be a period of two weeks, depending on your soil. Citrus requires less water than most other fruits and potted plants, and it is easy to rot citrus roots in waterlogged soil. I also believe it is good practice to re-pot plants like Meyer Lemon about every third year, just on general principles. Fresh soil that drains well and a little root pruning should help to re-invigorate your plant, and that is what I would do with it now, just in case there is some life left in the roots. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I suspect your soil mix is WAY TOO HEAVY!!! In general, I would NEVER recommend anyone to buy a prepackaged citrus soil mix!!!! Now maybe because the nursery carries it may be okay but I am still skeptical,especially when you said you only water once a week. If it is growing in a healthy mix for the tree, which means a porous mix that rapidly drains the water after you have watered it, should need watering 2-3 times a week. Could you post a picture of you tree's soil? I have a feeling this is you major issue. 4-5 years ago, I bought a moro blood orange, and I believe a meyer lemon or a tangerine. Anyhow, I bought Miracle Grow cacti and citrs mix. I potted them up, and put them under my grow light. Within a week, they completely defoliated. Within two weeks, tangerine was dead, and blood orange was barely hanging on. When I knocked them out of there pots, I could smell the dank, rotting roots. Citrus are OVERLY sensitive to wet feet. In the citrus belt, the combo of sun and heat helps to dry out there soils but for people that don't live in sub tropical/tropical regions, it is imperative to have soil that drains efficiently. I don't want to go into all the specifics on making mixes but if you search on this site for Al's gritty mix or Al's 5.1.1 mix, it will show you how to make it and also explain why it works so well. Some people, myself included, have had difficulty finding all the components to make it, and I had to substitute certain components for other things. The bottom line is this. Whatever you end up with, when you water, you want to see water flowing out of the drainage hole within seconds of watering! Also, make sure you have a pot with adequate drainage holes(One large hole in the center is okay but personally I prefer several holes. When you have your tree indoors, if you have to we a coaster to collect the draining water, empty it right away. You do not want that water sitting there! It took me a year or two to be able to understand what makes citrus trees tick. I won't tell you that I am an expert because I am sure there are still things I could be doing better, and I also know that I will always learn more from reading books, and from learning from everyone here, but in my opinion, it's all part of the fun! I am sorry I couldn't fully diagnose your problem here but I feel confident that once Meyer Mike, Patty, John or any of the others read your post, they will be able to help you out. One last thing. I was curious about the height of your tree, and did you think the growers price was fair? Not that I am on the market for ordering anymore citrus. I have enough right now.....well?!?!?! Andrew

I'd say Silica is correct about the ratio of light to soil temperature. This is only meant to simplify the balance of the relationship between leaves and roots. Leaves use light to start the process of making food. The leaves will tell the roots that it needs all the ingredients of the photosynthesis "recipe" to finish making food. So in normal ideal outdoor conditions, the roots provide and send up water+nutrients needed to complete the food being made in the leaves. Imagine that to citrus roots 55F and lower is considered to be like frostbite to the roots. The roots cannot do anything when the soil is cooler than 55F. It cannot absorb water, it cannot function at all and so it basically sleeps to conserve its energy. However if the leaves are having a blast above the soil and getting a sunny Hawaii vacation thanks to strong indoor lighting, it will try to make food. The leaves cannot stop itself from reacting to light. When light hits the leaves and warms the leaves enough for it to function, the leaves will react to light no matter what and must start photosynthesis. But if the roots are too cold, it cannot send up the missing ingredients because it will be in hibernation. Eventually the leaves will lose moisture since it is in active mode. While the leaves are active and losing moisture, the roots are inactive and cannot send water up to hydrate the active leaves. Like running a marathon without any sustenance. The tree will sacrifice it's own leaves if it cannot provide itself the water or nutrients that is needed to continue with the process. Sorry if my post was long. I feel that it can be simple to understand if I try to compare it to thing we already understand. So to answer your question Mike, when the tree is getting plenty of sunlight that means leaf activity goes up and therefore root activity must also go up in order to keep the balance in their relationship. In order to make the root function as much as the leaves, temperatures of the soil surrounding the roots must increase. If root temperatures (and therefore root activity) cannot be increased because heating is too expensive, then the activity levels of both root and leaves must be in balance. Either the root or leaves will have to follow the other. If root activity cannot go up to parallel the leaves then inevitably is it up to the leaves to follow the roots footsteps and also be very inactive. That means reducing light levels to reduce leaf activity for the sake of matching the cold/inactive roots. I think of the leaves and roots as two parts of one living creature. It cannot live without one or their other. Both parts must follow each other because they are two halves of a whole. One is the pie crust and the other the pie filling. You cannot have a pie with a very thick crust but 2 teaspoons of filling and vice versa! It just wouldn't make any sense. You would have a very disfigured and unappetizing pie! They must both contribute the same amount to create a balanced and delicious food! I can get creative when I need to when it comes to explaining things so if this still wasn't easy to understand at all, feel free to let me know. I hope this helped anyone confused about the whole roots and leaves matter

Silica, thanks very much. I will give that tree a try come spring. I actually live in New England Zone 6a but I'll plant the tree in the ground inside my greenhouse. The funny thing is that the Lemon Meyer I have in there has grown much fruit and done well. but still not one of my favorite trees. I keep it warm in there and the ground is exposed. I also have two Kumquats growing in there in the ground, one Nagami and one Kishu. So far so good. Thanks again I never thought to plant my Cara Cara in the ground. I just might try that one too.