This thread was helpful to me, thanks! I've got a Meyer dwarf in a pot with slightly yellowing leaves. I'll keep an eye on it. It's got tons of fruit, too. As far as watering at night, bencelest is partly correct. Fungus really gets started in damp soil, especially if there is any warmth. But what really happens is that the water in the soil is supposed to get taken up by the roots and transpired through the leaves during photosynthesis. All of this requires sunlight. Without sunlight to drive the engines, nothing happens. The plant doesn't take up the water. It's sleeping, sort of. So if you water at night frequently, you can drown your plant, because the roots sit in water all night. It is true that it rains at night, etc. But not every night, all year round. An occasional watering later in the day is no big deal, if you don't mind a bit of fungus. But to do it regularly isn't good for the plants. Best to water in the early morning hours, so by the end of the day the surface of the soil is dry and so are the leaves, etc.

Cece. I'm not sure your lemon has insects..the holes are pretty large for most plant bugs, at least bugs I'm familiar with. What state are you in? And what state was your tree purchased from? I'm in IL, and during summer when citrus go outdoors, flying bugs come fluttering by..every so often, they nibble leaves, but by autumn all signs of insects are gone. The bad thing is they leave holes, the good thing is bugs die in days, and do not linger and kill like plant pests. To be on the safe side, inspect for bugs. Scale, Mealy, Spider Mite, Aphids, Leaf Miner..I'm not sure I covered them all, but those mentioned are insects to worry about. Normally, when insects attack, they leave signs. Yellow and/or sticky leaves, webbing, brown or white bumps, white cottony patches. I notice most rips are on the edges of leaves..Is it possible something is rubbing up against your tree? Human or animal? By the size of the tree, it'd have to be one animal..When a leaf rips it commonly browns. For starters, hose off your lemon..if you have a sprayer, add a 2-4 drops of liquid dish soap. (Not Dawn) But before spraying, check for signs of pests. If you spot any signs of plant insects, you can treat according to bug. As for flowering/fruiting, when a plant is stressed, it sometimes halts production..Actually, until you find out what's causing the problem, lack of fruits might be best. Flowering/fruiting takes energy. Toni

I wish I had some info for you, but that looks like nothing I've seen. Maybe Dr. Manners will drop by and have a look. If the leaves of the tree look fine, then my only guess would be some kind of fertilization or spray damage - something that was harmless or even beneficial to the plant as a whole but damaging to the fruit. Maybe it got a pest spray before you bought it. Again, take this with a grain of salt because I don't really know.

Pip You are correct in that my 23 watt bulb will not be any good for a plant that does not fit in to my garbage can. The light has no penetration power. All it does is keep the top and upper sides growing until next summer. I will have to come up with something similar to your set up or put it in a reliable heated greenhouse for it to do well. This is the only tree that will not go in ground but will remain potted its entire life. So next year I will be looking seriously at some of the best lights you mentioned. My bucket lights are good for only one winter on small trees. The trees are too big the next year. This tree grew 80% of its height in the first winter in a 4 story 23 watt CFL bucket light. I spread the limbs and it has grown without additional light since. It is now 2 years, 10 months 1 week old as of pictured. It is in a 30 gallon container. As the buckets stacked the lower limbs stopped growing and only the top grew making for a tall lanky tree. I had to stake it for 5 months before she could stand on her own.