Hi, Linda - what is meant by "I have added stones so I am thinking the roots not showing is the problem, I scooped out excess dirt, hopefully this is the cure"? Something is amiss, but with more info from you, we can probably figure out what it is. Adding "stones" to the bottom of a pot might or might not be a bad idea. If the grow medium you're using supports a layer of 100% saturated soil that defies gravity by refusing to exit the pot (a perched water column/ table), stones used as ballast can be your plant's best friend, because the stones displace a volume of medium which would otherwise be saturated with water; however, stones used as a drainage layer serve only to elevate the perched water table's position in the pot. These pots are full of grow medium and the shaded part represents a perched water table (PWT). The maximum ht of the PWT in any given medium that supports PW is a constant, no matter the size or shape of the pot. In the case above, the PWT is 3" tall, and you can see it remains so in all 3 pots. In the middle pot, the water "perches" (like a bird on a wire) just above a 2" drainage layer of small stones, making the distance from the pot bottom to the top of the PWT 5" instead of 3". So this would be one of those EUREKA moments when you might be discovering you've shot yourself in the foot. Large stones would be no different than bricks or empty soda bottles (caps on) and would be considered as ballast as opposed to a drainage layer. Remembering that the ht of a PWT is a constant for a given medium, adding stones as ballast does not raise the ht of the PWT. It simply displaces a fraction of the medium equal to the volume of the item used as ballast, reducing the volume of soil capable of holding perched water. With a bit of planning, ballast can eliminate more than 90% of the medium capable of holding PW. It acts passively and only needs to be done once. In figure D below, an over-turned pot is employed as ballast, and my guess is it would eliminate about 80% of the medium capable of holding perched water in this example. But, back to the original issue. How long have you tended the plant? What do you do insofar as a fertilizer program? Have you ever repotted (includes bare-rooting, root pruning, and a change of soil) or potted up (to a slightly larger pot)? I would suggest you ditch the "moisture meter", which isn't very accurate at all, as it measures electrical conductivity, not moisture. Clean the probe and insert it into a cup of distilled water and watch it read "DRY". Using a wooden "tell" to "tell" you when it's time to water does a much better job. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

To me it looks like at some point the soil was let to get dry to the point of severe wilting of the leaves. And it looks like it was left that dry for a fair amount of time. Drought looks like that; brown shriveled leaves that stay on the plant. By contrast, too much water or a soil that stays to wet causes root rot which causes the leaves to become limp, yellowish (sometimes) and they fall off easily. If you fertilized while the soil was dry, that will speed up the desiccation of the leaves. Never feed a dry soil, always soak the soil the day before, really flood the container. Then feed the next day. Your stick may be damp because it was left in the soil all the time, condensation over time of the little bit of moisture left in the soil will make it look damp. The stick is not supposed to be left in the soil, you just push it in for a few moments, then take it out and look at it and feel it. I think you got a false positive, as it were, by leaving it in the soil all the time. Gritty mix needs to be watered thoroughly and often. That's the point of it, you can water quite often and still have lots of air in the mix, so the soil won't get waterlogged. But at the same time, Gritty mix drys out quite fast, so you NEED to water a lot if you use it. I'd follow Patty's advice, and hope and pray. But I really don't see a lot of good plump green cambium (the green part of the bark), what's there seems a dull green, dry and shriveled. Not many trees recover from that point, but you can try. If it were me, I'd get a new tree, but you never know, it might come back. Good luck.

Sean, you should remove any grass from under the tree, although it doesn't look like there is much grass, so I doubt that's causing any serious competition for nutrients (which it can and will compete for N with your citrus, and it will win). Still, good to remove it, and do that gently, by hand. Do not use an herbicide like Roundup. Don't worry about your soil pH, not sure why folks get all concerned about this. Citrus will do just fine in soils with pH levels above 7. They may be a little chlorotic looking (pale green) during winter months, but they'll come around when temps warm up. Otherwise, we'd never be able to grow citrus in S. California, and even in Australia, I am sure you know we've got huge numbers of citrus growing here in California (every single one of my neighbors in my neighborhood have at least 1 citrus tree in their yard). Don't worry yourself about that for now. How much sun does your lime tree get a day? Citrus like lots of sun, so that would be the first thing. And you definitely will want to fertilize it 3 to 4 times a year starting in early spring, then the last application in mid-fall. Don't want to fertilize too late in fall, as you don't want to encourage tender new growth that could get nipped if your temps drop towards freezing. Find a good quality citrus fertilizer that has both macro-nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus & Potassium, which you'll hear referred to as "NPK"). The ratio Steve mentions should be more along the lines of 5:1:3 (N:P:K) if you can find it. Citrus use a lot of NItrogen, so you'll want a fertilizer that has a larger first number (that's the "N" or Nitrogen). And, you also want the fertilizer to contain all the micronutrients as well (Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc). Make sure it is getting regularly watered. Always water your tree first, prior to applying fertilizer. Then, water in the fertilizer. That way, you won't burn the tender feeder roots. Be sure to prune out all the dead branches. Make sure they're dead before you prune. You can tell if you gently scrape the bark with your fingernail. If there is green below, then that (leafless) branch is still alive, so DON'T prune it, as it will push out new leaves if you give it a little more tender loving care. Lastly, I would make a nice dirt well around the tree, that extends out beyond the edge of the branches (canopy). The feeder roots live out at the edge of the canopy, so you want the water to well out around the outer ring of the dirt well, and that's where you'll want to apply the fertilizer as well. Keep the water away from the trunk, let it flow out to the outer edge of the dirt well. Trunks need to stay dry to prevent foot rot. See if these suggestions help to revive your tree. If it's been cool, then there will not be a lot of growth going on. Citrus don't go truly "dormant", but they will not grow much or push out new flush during the cooler winter months. And, lime trees are the least cold-tolerant of all citrus, so be sure to protect it with a frost blanket that is sealed completely around the base of the tree with rocks or bricks, if you think you're going to have temps that drop to freezing for any length of time. Having it close to your house will help to keep the ambient temps up a little higher than if the tree was out in the middle of your yard, so, as long as it's getting a lot of sun, that's good spot for your lime tree. http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/citrus/management/other-information/garden http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/citrus Patty S.

In sandy and calcareous soils, foliar applied fertilizers are 4 to 20 times more effective when compared with soil applied fertilizers. (Lingle & Holmberg, 1956.) https://citrusagents.ifas.ufl.edu/archived_presentations/fall_prg2010/Citrus%20Agents%20Web%20Site%20-%20Nutritional.pdf Citrus foliar fertilization has been an industry standard practice in citrus groves for over 50 years. https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/trade_journals/2014/2014_April_citriculture.pdf Where soil PH is too high or too low, resulting in 'lock up' of nutrients (frequently micronutrients) in the soil, foliar application of those nutrients will ensure rapid response in the trees and prevent growth from being restricted. Effect of irrigation water acidification and soil pH on citrus nutrient availability https://citrusresearch.ifas.ufl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/7.-Morgan-Expo-2019.pdf Four winds growers sells over 50 varieties of citrus nationwide. Here is what they say about misting, "In winter months, heated rooms may need additional humidity. Placing the pot on pebbles in a saucer will elevate the tree above the drainage area, and improve airflow and humidity for citrus. Misting citrus foliage with a simple spray bottle is another way to help citrus cope with insufficient indoor humidity in winter." If you have new leaves and new shoots it is really beneficial to mist those. Because of the VPD they loose moisture much faster than mature leaves. Flowers are also very susceptible to losing moisture and misting can help them set fruit.