Thank you both for your help and suggestions! I have been thinking I should look for a citrus fertilizer, and I have also pondered the wick idea. I will try both. I thought the tree looked like it had spider mites, but I can't see them, and I looked under most of the leaves. I found one little thing that looked like a little spider, but I think it was really a spider. And one other little bug. I removed both and wiped the undersides of all the leaves. I see no webbing or anything like that. The fruit actually look much worse in the photo than they really look, but it's good to know that they have a scale problem. I will see that anything that's affected gets removed, and I will find something to spray with. I do wash the leaves lightly when I water, and as you might guess, they are sprinkled by rain very frequently! Thanks again for your expertise! I really want to take care of this sweet little tree.

Well, I see a few things that might be causing this. It looks like you've got a situation where you have a LOT of grass competing with both water and nutrients . You really do need to create a much large cleared area from underneath your little trees. Grass is a huge nitrogen hog. It will simply gobble up all that nice fertilizer you're putting down for your citrus. Not familiar with that particular fertilizer, but you'll want a fertilizer formulated for citrus, that is higher in nitrogen and also contains a good amount of micronutrients as well as your NPK macronutrients. And if your trees are being sprinkled by your lawn sprinklers, this is NOT good for the trees. This actually can eventually kill a small young tree. They don't like their trunks sprinkled. You'll want to put your trees on a drip system, and give them a long, deep drink one or twice a week (depending up on how hot it gets.) Doesn't look like sunburn, and yes, young citrus trees can get sunburned if you live in very hot, dry, sunny areas (like AZ, interior S. California). I agree with John's recommentations, fertilize at least 3 times a year - I fertilize 4 times a year - February through September/October. And, I use a foliar fertilizer especially if we've had a cold, wet winter and spring, which for me tends to make micronutrients unavailable since my soil is mostly DG. Grow More Citrus Growers Blend is a great product, and can be applied both to the roots or as a foliar spray. Spray in the evening. Patty S.

Ed, this is what I would do... You have a few options. Th first option is what I would do if the mix was too compacted and suffocating the roots. If you think it will get by, then options two and three would work fine. I would remove that tree from that soil into a better draining mix asap if compacted. I would use clay, a light colored ceramic or plastic pot. I would use a wooden dowel that checks for moisture deep into the root zone for all options. I would stick that tree in an area where it gets part sun until it gets use to its repot, probably into the shade. Summer time in a very hot area is the worst time to transplant anything, especially bareroot, but if it must be done, then it must be done. Once you use a pot that repels the hot sun rays and your tree has acclimated to a repotting, then your tree will enjoy full sun no matter where it sits... Although as Ken said, make sure the roots cool off at night in order to do proper photosynthes... Roots must cool at night and never over heat. They must have oxygen just as we do in a mix that allows that. Your second option? You could stick that plant, pot and all, into a bigger pot full of mulch that repels the hot sun rays..The mulch or other soil mix will suck the moisture from that pot away from the bottom encouraging it to dry down better and quicker.. This will prevent a 'pwt' in your container and will encourage your roots to stay cool until your repot come next spring. It will also help your mix to dry out and stay evenly moist. You should also flush the mix out at least once a month of accumilated salts with fresh water until you can change it in the spring. Option three...Use the wicking method after you have flushed your mix out... ****Use option one for sure if you feel that your mix is just too dense and compacted. MIke

Looks like spider mites; if you have a 10X loupe, look on the underside of the leaves for the mites and their tiny webs. Lots of ways to treat them; just do a search here (top right box of this page) for spider mites and you will find lots of advice.