Well, you have made the classic potted Meyer error. Meyers are quite sensitive to significant light change and will drop its leaves to replace them with new leaves better suited to the new light. In the future move the plant from full sun to partial sun; after 2 weeks move it to full shade; and 2 more weeks to inside. Reverse that in the Spring when you put it out, and you should avoid the leaf drop. Yes, I would cut the fruit, as the tree needs to put all its energy into making new leaves. Continue to treat your plant well, and it will make a full recovery.

Hello Witchywoman, I would not plant them in ground where you are. Citrus can't handle temps below freezing for very long and I am in zone 5 with a microclimate zone6. Lake Erie keeps us a little warmer but even still not warm enough for me to keep citrus outdoors year round. Much better to bring them out when warm enough and cart them back in when temps drop below 32. I don't like to keep mine out below 40! Where did you get your trees? I am concerned that at three years old you have not even had any blooms yet. That isn't a good sign. Are they grafted trees? I am guessing no since I recently got a 2-3 year old Oro Blanco grapefruit tree that is loaded with flowers. Matter of fact, I just went out side and removed 3 immature fruits that just formed after the flower petals fell. I do this hoping that the energy will go back to the tree and encourage it to grow larger. Can you post any pics of your trees? Where did you buy them? Kev, I wanted to let you know that a lot of people grow these trees from rooted cuttings and wheather it is grafted or not, you will still get a lot of pleasure from your tree. I love South Carolina. I have made many trips to Myrtle Beach and alsways wanted to experience Charleston but never have. As a teenager, I bought many of my first tropical trees there. Over the years I got a ponderosa lemon, 1 or 2 banana trees, and a huge gardenia tree that actually looked more like a large bush. I didn't have much luck with most of them. I left the ponderosa outdoors and a stupid rabbit turned it into dinner! Thorns and all. I lost the gardenia tree but now I am succesfull with growing them. I wanted to let you know that I recently bought a "dwarf" improved meyer lemon tree. My tree is a little over 6 feet but from what I hear they respond well to pruning. Unfortunetly for me, I can only let it grow maybe a foot taller, but this summer I am going to work on getting it to grow wider. Also, when the tree is full of fruits you can get a weeping affect due to the weight of the fruit. Good luck with your tree and if you have any questions fire away! You should check out my Calling all Imroved Meyer lemon tree post. I asked tons of questions and as a result, my tree is as beutifull as it was the day I got and actually i think it looks greener. Mike recommended a dose of white vinegar and Foliage Pro at every watering. My trees leaves are a nice healthy green! Andrew

Thanks for the replies folks. I do want to point out a few observations: 1) The tree was growing fine at the nursery. The problem with yellowing leaves started after I brought the plant home but before I had repotted it into a 15 gallon pot. I am not sure though if I watered it too much or too little during the 1 week it sat in its original pot in my backyard. 2) Regarding the need to fertilize it, I want to mention that I put in some bone meal near the bottom of the container and filled it until halfway point with 2 parts potting soil and 1 part compost; then potting soil for the remaining portion. Is this not good enough? I did add some Miracle Gro solution today based on the recommendations. 3) I recollect noticing that the soil in the original pot (from the nursery) seemed hard. I didn't break it beyond the periphery before repotting. Could this be affecting the roots? Would repotting again help? If so, what things could I do to make things better for my Meyer tree?

I agree with the not fed enough thought. Plants will often steal the nutrients from the older leaves to support the new growth and flowers, but it's not good for the long term health of the plant. What brand did you use? It would be better to fertilize on a regular schedule rather than as a occasional quick fix. Osmocote Plus is easy to get and works great for container citrus. Many folks here also supplement with DynaGro Foliage plus. Don't use fertilizer stakes or granular fertilizer, that's more for in-ground plants. I don't use epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)by themselves as it's easy to over or under dose with them. Too much can be a problem. Most quality citrus foods have Magnesium as a micro-nutrient in the correct amount. Also, to me it looks more like a nitrogen deficiency.