Chris: Great point! It's my fault, realistically speaking, and I blamed a better than average mix on the decline of my plants instead of bringing then in sooner than I did. My good friend has great success with that mix being better than most sold on the market, and in fact they grew wonderful in his care along with all his other beautiful plants. They grew wonderful in that mix under my care too, that is until the cold rains and lack of sun arrived, red flags I ingnored. They probably would not have declined if I had not left them in an enviroment that never gave them a chance to dry out. The gritty mix I use would of been more forgiving, but at some point one has to take responsibility and not blame a mix that is very close to what I use anyway, as you noticed and in this case Josh. Always learning I guess. Mike

Thank you all for the advice. Soil: I should mention I did "repot" on the same day it got a haircut. I loosened up the compact potting soil and put it back in the same pot with new loose potting soil. do we think this is OK? I did disturb the roots some to accomplish this, the usual landscaper rough-up before planting. the roots did not look like they were in any state of rot, in fact they looked pretty healthy, a lot healthier than the top end, so I'm hoping I didn't do too much damage below the soil. I have never ever mixed my own soils or anything, it seems a little daunting, but I will attempt if we think its a good choice. is it too soon to try it if so? I mean it's already been through a lot lately. About sunlight: when the plant first started getting pale leaves I immediately thought sunlight too and introduced it (slowly) to full outdoor sun throughout the summer. I've had to take it in now because it's too cold for it. that is a massive south facing window and the brightest spot in the house. if we would could get a sunny day sometime this month it would be shining directly on the grapefruit. I did, however, bring it in rather suddenly, and it wouldn't matter how big my window is it will never get the kind of light it was getting outside. is it maybe unhappy with the move? keep in mind it has progressively been getting more paler leaves for at least the last 6 months. the only thing new here is the rapid drop of leaves after it was treated and re-potted and pruned and fertilized. Fertilizer: can I get a breakdown of the proportions I'm supposed to be feeding this thing? I originally started with Miracle grow shake & feed (19-6-12 slow release and apparently no micro nutrients), again about 6 months ago when I first started to notice the leaves being pale and veiny. this made the plant grow more, but the leaves were even more pale than before (see smaller light green leaves in the picture) it sent out a bunch of new shoots. so I gave it more thinking it might need more to make the leaves darker, but I am now pretty sure that I overdid it. I took all the granules out when I repotted and switched to the nursery lady's recommended all purpose plant food (20-20-20 with boron 0.02, copper 0.05, iron 0.1, magnese 0.05, molybdenum 0.0005, zinc 0.05, edta chelating agent 1%) this is water soluble and I've fed it just twice so far. is this appropriate to continue with? Pests: it did have spider mites! I could see the teeny tiny beige bugs just barely. I sprayed them with the nursery lady's recommended safer's end-all. I had no idea you had to treat more than once. how often should I spray down the plant? and how many more times? I can't see any spider mites on it anymore, but they were VERY tiny, so I might just not be seeing them! do the spider mites pose a serious threat to the tree? they seem so tiny, and unlikely to actually do damage. I appreciate all the advice greatly! I had no idea citrus were so particular about their likes. I've already learned a lot about how to properly care for one (I didn't know what a micro nutrient was just 3 weeks ago!)

Thanks Jaynine, I got some from them this morning, along with some from my snapdragons and pansies. Hopefully they will grow as nicely as their parents did. Happy Gardening, Gemfire

The swap May 3rd is in San Antonio. Someone just told me it's been posted on Craigslist by another lady from our "group". It should be announced on both the gardening programs next week (550 am with Bob Webster & 1200 am with David Rodriguez). Should have a larger turnout. Think I may need help since we are getting so much publicity.