citrusfishee, theres a relatively new yahoo group just for swapping scion wood (grafts are the result of successful joinery) This group is called "The North American Scion Exchange" and has about 70 people just focused on swapping fruit tree cuttings. I'd post a link but GW has a thing for yahoo and they won't let me.

I will give you the link below. I encourage you to read Al's whole opening explanation to understand why he makes the mixes they way he does. But, here are the recipes quoted directly from that post: The 5:1:1 mix: 5 parts pine bark fines, dust - 3/8 (size is important 1 part sphagnum peat (not reed or sedge peat please) 1-2 parts perlite (coarse, if you can get it) garden lime (or gypsum in some cases) controlled release fertilizer (if preferred) Big batch: 2-3 cu ft pine bark fines 5 gallons peat 5 gallons perlite 2 cups dolomitic (garden) lime (or gypsum in some cases) 2 cups CRF (if preferred) Small batch: 3 gallons pine bark 1/2 gallon peat 1/2 gallon perlite 4 tbsp lime (or gypsum in some cases) 1/4 cup CRF (if preferred) I have seen advice that some highly organic (practically speaking - almost all container soils are highly organic) container soils are productive for up to 5 years or more. I disagree and will explain why if there is interest. Even if you were to substitute fir bark for pine bark in this recipe (and this recipe will long outlast any peat based soil) you should only expect a maximum of two to three years life before a repot is in order. Usually perennials, including trees (they're perennials too) should be repotted more frequently to insure they can grow at as close to their genetic potential within the limits of other cultural factors as possible. If a soil is desired that will retain structure for long periods, we need to look more to inorganic components. Some examples are crushed granite, fine stone, VERY coarse sand (see above - usually no smaller than BB size in containers, please), Haydite, lava rock (pumice), Turface, calcined DE, and others. For long term (especially woody) plantings and houseplants, I use a superb soil that is extremely durable and structurally sound. The basic mix is equal parts of screened pine bark, Turface, and crushed granite. The gritty mix: 1 part uncomposted screened pine or fir bark (1/8-1/4") 1 part screened Turface 1 part crushed Gran-I-Grit (grower size) or #2 cherrystone 1 Tbsp gypsum per gallon of soil (eliminate if your fertilizer has Ca) CRF (if desired) I use 1/8 -1/4 tsp Epsom salts (MgSO4) per gallon of fertilizer solution when I fertilize if the fertilizer does not contain Mg (check your fertilizer - if it is soluble, it is probable it does not contain Ca or Mg. If I am using my currently favored fertilizer (I use it on everything), Dyna-Gro's Foliage-Pro in the 9-3-6 formulation, and I don't use gypsum or Epsom salts in the fertilizer solution. Here is a link that might be useful: Container Soils - Water Movement and Retention XVIII This post was edited by Ohiofem on Thu, Mar 20, 14 at 16:39

Hello andrew78, the Meyer Lemon I have is really short but extremely wide. Its about 4 feet tall and 5-6 ft wide. Its the older Meyer Lemon and Not the Improved Meyer Lemon. I would assume you wouldn't have to do too much vertical pruning to keep it short, maybe just prune the central leader at about 2-3ft if you want to keep it fairly short. If you bought your tree at a nursery, its probably grafted so you want to make sure you don't prune below the graft. My Meyer has blooms all the time but I do live in sunny San Diego. The cutting you take shouldn't affect the proportion of vegetative growth or flowering much, especially after it gets established. For cutting, there tends to be more Auxins (a plant hormone)around the nodes and this should help it root better. My guess is that those people on the citrus forum took a cutting around Spring or just before spring so with the increase in photoperiod, the tree would naturally start flowering. Because the tree has now used up so much of its energy to flower and fruit, there is little left over for vegetative growth, especially for a newly planted cutting that is still developing its roots. If you want your cuttings to grow vegetatively, just pinch the small fruits off to conserve energy. If you want your Meyer to produce year round, you can increase the photoperiod in the Winter with artificial lighting.

Since those are older leaves; and I don't see any new growth, best guess is they are pretty much underfed; those tree spikes just never work; and the fact that other varieties aren't showing it further supports that. I think if you switch to FP and give them extra to start, you will begin to see new healthy growth. If the new growth has good color, it means the tree is okay; the older leaves show you how the tree WAS; and now that it is short of food, it is taking back nutrients from older leaves to stay alive and maybe produce new growth.