suburbanrancher, it's advised that the best time to repot (since, as you say Meyers seem to always be in some state of flowering) is during a dormant period just following fruit set and just before the next flush of leaves. This usually corresponds to early summer (around June or thereabouts). jkom, what an interesting question you ask about in-ground vs pot ripening times for IMLs. I actually have 3 Meyers in the ground and one that's potted, and I had every intention of (taking it a step further and) making this a full-time houseplant. After all, I'm able to successfully flower both a Cattleya orchid and a plumeria (no longer alive) at an East/Southwest facing window so I'd hoped to successfully fruit the Meyer at this location. But I've chickened out (and my potted Meyer is now an all-outdoor plant), as nobody's seemed to have done 100% indoor cultivation of a Meyer and gotten it to fruit - if anyone has evidence otherwise, I'd love to know! Maybe I should just do the experiment to determine the answer for myself...and also answer your fruit-timing question. Tim

Hi Jean, Thanks for the watering tips. When I bought the tree, the garden gave watering instructions: daily for a certain number of weeks, twice weekly for a certain number of weeks, then once a week after that. They said to have the hose on a very slow drip for about half an hour. Because of kids and dogs messing with the hose, I have instead stood there and held the hose while I water with a rapid stream of water, but still did it once a week. If you think it needs more water,I can definitely do that (the soil is very sandy so it doesn't hold much moisture) but the tree doesn't look the way I would it expect it to if underwatered. My other three citrus trees receive the same watering treatment and are doing okay. Just the last few days, I have seen black spots of the leaves- they're almost fuzzy like a fungus is growing on the leaf. I was guessing that it is greasy spot as that seems to be a problem in this area. However, I treated the tree with a neem-based product last weekend, and I think that ought to cover greasy spot, too, although I haven't seen any change yet. I'll try your watering suggestions today! Thanks!

Perfectly normal. This is a very young tree in a small pot. I would expect it not to hold onto much fruit at all this year. Citrus will set far more fruit than they can support, then drop some to all, depending upon the age of the tree and conditions. Are you planning on planting this tree in the ground? If not, I would suggest transplanting it into a large pot, and one that is not black, with you being in AZ. Too much heat for the roots in your neck of the woods. Patty S.

5 minutes at 1 gallon per hour is 10 oz of water every 3 days. Livermore averages 86*F in the summer, and we've had lots of heat waves where it's gone into the 90*F quite often. It also looks like you've lost leaves too. I suspect that is not enough water for your tree in your climate. I'm in the Santa Clara Valley, not far from you, and I water my container citrus quite a lot more than that. I've been watering them with probably a half a gallon (32 oz) every 3 days, and more when the temps go over 90*F. Citrus will drop fruit if they are too dry or too wet. I'm betting yours has been too dry. It's also lost leaves too. So, I think it's not getting enough water,imo . Now if you increase your water, I suggest re-potting in a better draining mix. If you try and water more in your average potting mix, you may have drainage issues, which can cause your mix to not have enough air in it, which can cause other issues. There is a mix that is favored by a lot of folks on this forum for growing citrus in, it's called the "5-1-1 mix". Put that name into the search box for this forum and you'll get the recipe. It supports more frequent watering than you've been doing while allowing the better drainage and air retention that that level of irrigation needs. Miracle Gro shake and feed is OK, but it's not a good ratio for citrus. I prefer Osmocote Plus. It works pretty much the same as the MG shake and feed, but has a better ratio for citrus. You can get it at most good Garden Centers.