nanagrandma...I love kids' books! (ahhh, my last career was a Youth Librarian Asst)...anyway, one of my fav bks that I bought (& beautifully illustrated with children in Victorian style) is called "Each a Piece" by Bruce Brooks (Elena Pavlov, illustr)1998. Your healing tree posting reminded me of this book. "A piece of the moon a part of the sky ... two words from a tune a dog passing by a ball that was thrown by a hand far way the sunlight that shone long ago in the day the shape of some blocks that fell in a heap the stretch of a yawn...that leads on to sleep- Each piece is a part of more left to find and whatever's missing- is all in your mind." nanagrandma...may you find more peaceful days ahead..& may the healing tree continue to play a part in your comfort. Jeanne S.

Hey! So my lemon is nearly ripe now. I suspect only a few more weeks. It has taken a LONG time! I am so excited! I went on break for a few weeks and right before I left I gave my tree double watering with no nutrients. When I came back there had been a lot of new growth and color development in the big guy/girl. I also have a neighbor (an older lady) who has had it rough (her husband dying, her daughter has cancer, a few of her dogs died; etc.) and I would always talk to her about plants when I went out back, on the deck, at my mom's house. They are both very kind, her and the daughter, but I don't know them all that well. Anyway, this christmas/channukah, my mom received this box on the doorstep, and what was it? A mineola tangelo tree (3 years old from four-winds). How sick? So I have some pictures of the Meyer, which I have had for about 7 month or more now and a picture of the new little gal, Susane (Mineola Tangelo): Susane (mineola tangelo - This is either a tangerine crossed with a pumelo OR a manderine orange crossed with a grapefruit) Maybe someone can make heads or tails of it. I have read about these and know about their non-self-pollinating characteristic. I will hopefully be able to pollinate it with my meyer. We will see. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the New Year! Happy 2013, Doc Citrus

Hi Phil, From your post, lots of woody growth, lots of borers and then fungal attack, pruning may help,but you are prolonging the agony of the Lemon. The costs and time factor, saw and dig out the butt if possible, drench the area with a good fungicide, back fill. If posible replace with a new improved version but a few meters from the old one, to try to stop any soil born nasties transfering to the new specimen. We all like to hang on to old faithful things, but there comes a time to say goodbye.Good luck, Peter r

UPDATE 2019! Hey everyone, happy new year! You guys are still my special community of help and advice that I always think of when I am around my tree! I have since brought my tree down to my parents house in South Carolina. Being a bachelor (still) I had to move into several different apartments in Nashville since that post, none of which would be suitable for my baby to thrive in! My parents also have adopted her and done an excellent job helping raise her as my dad loves loves loves lemons in all of the water that he drinks. It had a great summer - they brought it outside and kept it in full sun - it grew to become a large leaf bearing tree that the kids love to “pretend water” with toy cups and boats full of water. Now it has been brought in for the winter and it has grown so many lemons - I’ve been anxiously waiting for them to start turning yellow. Over thanksgiving it appeared that some of them were beginning to turn yellow at the base of the fruit. I was hopeful that this January they would turn full yellow and I could come and pick a few. Here is the sad news. It has been dropping leaves consistently. It still is blooming. My dad and i think that it is due to over watering. Then i just found out from my dad that after Christmas it got a spider mite infestation. My dad sprayed it with some pesticide and he thinks the spiders are all dead. I’m attaching a photo of what he used. Again, just wanted to update you guys. Last year we got lemons and it was incredible to see where this tree had come from. I think I might have to name her Lazarus! Never would have saved her with yalls help. What do y’all think of the current state the tree is in? What do you think of the spider mite infestation? Any advice would ALWAYS be so helpful!! Forever grateful, Jamie