Hi Mike, thank you for replying!

I am in Maryland. Our house runs at 72 during the day and 68 at night. I've closed the vent and also taped it to make sure it was sealed properly.

I've left them in the pot they came in, I was instructed to do so for at least 6 months and up to a year. They told me that it might shock them to do it too soon? The bigger pots they are in will be their new home once I repot them. You say I should do that sooner? I'm getting contradictory advice here, so I'm a little confused and trying to understand.

Crapola on the lights, I thought I was doing the right thing. They cost me $45 a piece, too:(

I don't have a window facing south, and although there is a lot of light in my house, there isn't a lot of direct sunlight. The spot they are in is the best one of the house, with 2 sides having windows, but it's facing E-S/E.

Do you think it would help if I rotated them for the prime window spot, say, every week?

As I said, I'm learning as I go. I appreciate all the input and advice.

Keep em coming ;)

Atheen

There's nothing in particular wrong with the lights you bought (although you would have done just fine with a $10 "Daylight Spectrum" CFL) -- Grow Lights need to be really close to the plant to have an effect. In most cases they should be within a couple inches to a foot of the leaves. Yours are multiple feet away, which causes the light to dissipate into uselessness. For the SCIENCE! reason, google "inverse square law of light". If you look at the specs for your lamps, it says the same thing. at 3-foot distance, its output is "low" and suitable for low-light plants (page 2 of the spec)

Atheen. I was more curious what you outdoor temps are. I just checked a few cities in Maryland and looks like the average lows over night are in the high 40's to 50's with days up in the 70's. My trees have been outside for weeks and we are having the same temperatures. If my lows are above 45 and days are sunny and 70 my trees are outside. I only get concerned when I see 30's on the forecast or its going to be cool, cloudy and wet. that can spell disaster for container trees. However they can tolerate cool and cloudy so if you dont have a lot of rain they would be ok.

Absolutely get those guys into the bigger pots. The place you bought them from is in the business of selling trees not getting them returned so of course they want you to have them for awhile before messing with them and risking a problem. Plus to save on shipping most retailers have them potted in the smallest container possible which is really bad for trees. When you do take them outside first they need to be in a mostly shady spot for a week or two then move to filtered sun and then finally into full sun. you can start with them right at the trunk of a larger tree then slowly pull them out into the light.

mike

Liminqueens, thanks for the science, learned something today! :)

Mike, I'll give it another week or so, since we just had a freezing advisory a couple of days ago and days are not quite in the 70's yet, more in the 50/60s right now. You're saying its ok to bring them in and out like that? I saw a post not too long ago from someone that had a tree that did great on his patio, and then lost all its leaves and deperished the second he brought it back inside for the winter. Something about light difference shock and temperature issues. How do I avoid my tree going bald when I bring it back in?

I'm going to be very candid with you: that is the very reason I have been going back and forth in my mind and hesitating in bringing the trees outside for the summer, because of all the posts here and elsewhere that show bugs infestations on their Meyer lemon trees, and trees in shock when brought back in. Is the risk vs reward worth it taking them out for a couple months? If you tell me it is, I will believe you but it's a question worth asking, ya know? I have been holding my breath around my trees since I got them, and considering they seemed to be doing ok, I was frankly afraid to do anything that might hurt them or expose them to parasites. So if I'm going to take them out on the patio, I want to make sure I don't screw it up.

The Patio has mostly shady areas (for most of the day, anyway), and full sun areas (same, for most of the day), but no filtered sun areas, since its a patio and not a garden and I don't have other trees out there. Does that pose a transition problem for my trees? And if it's going to be really cold 2 weeks after I bring them out, what do I do, take them back in for the night?

Now about soil, keeping in mind that my trees are going to stay potted and go back in for the winter. I've read a lot about 511, and it's also available already mixed, so that's definitely a plus. I've read about gritty soil as well, but quite frankly, I don't have the experience to decide which one is best, so right now it's pretty much flip a coin to pick one for me. Should I put something else at the bottom of the pot, like gravel, to make sure it drains properly? I've also read people using coconut fiber pads to help the water drain well.

A lot of questions, I know. And I'm sure I'll have more of them before I'm done, too. So thank you again for taking the time to help.

Atheen

PS: Been trying to get back into my first post to correct the pic orientation, but can't seem to find a way to go back in the original post to edit it. I can edit the comments, but not the first post. Am I missing something?

> Should I put something else at the bottom of the pot, like gravel, to make sure it drains properly?

No, don't bother. Putting gravel in the pot doesn't actually affect the drainage of the soil. If you use 5-1-1 it will drain very freely (where can you buy it pre-mixed? I never heard of that). Just make sure the pot is elevated above its saucer enough that it never sits in water that drains out. In other words, put the gravel under the pot, not in it. :)