By the way, the guy at the nursery recommended jacks classic 20-10-20 citrus fertilizer, can anyone second that or recommend an alternative?

I use a 24-8-16 with tree-mendous success. I do not know the best for Meyer lemon but I would think the nitrogen in yours is not High enough. When I had your ratio I added a 32-0-4 grass feed NO URBISIDES to add N with out to much K.

Steve

Thanks John

My soil is inundated with Ca but very low on Fe and a little low on Zn on citrus tree scale. I have found a site to get chelated Iron but must use scrapes of chicken wire and roofing nails and soak them in vinegar to get the Zn that I need in the winter. They are just able to get their Zn needs in the summer when it is warm and all my citrus trees stop growing and the leave turn dark glossy green. I do have a new Meiwa tree on Kuharske Citrange that will need more Zn.

Steve

It looks like the buds are starting to turn into fruit (little green pea-sized balls). Should I pluck those off (some or all?) so it can focus on growing it's roots? Also, it seems like it has one branch that's healthier/bigger/longer than the rest, is this something I should prune back so it maintains some balance? If so, where would I make the snip?

If you are going to pick off the lemons then I would suggest getting a pot about 3 inches deeper an 3 inches diameter larger so the new roots have a place to grow into.

Yeah the pot size thing has had me wondering... Id like to keep it from getting too big (without torturing it), and I've heard that larger pots encourage more upward growth. When I put it in this one I was really surprised at how small the root ball was for the size of the tree. The roots are sitting on maybe 2-3 inches of dirt and have room to grow on the sides too (unless they were just waiting to spread out...). One other thing i worry about is that the larger ceramic pots I've seen just have one big drain hole, while this one has about a dozen little ones and I can poke more because it's plastic.

Use a plastic pot and 5-1-1 mix and this will keep the weight down.

I happen to like 5 gallon bucket but any plastic pot will drill just fine. This bucket also has 400 hole drilled in the walls that are not shown in this picture.

whoa! now THATS a lot of drainage! Well, I'm glad I was right (?) about worrying about the one big hole in the bottom of ceramic pots. I saw a ton of plasticky pots similar to mine but of all sizes (so still "attractive" for when I bring it to the office, but also able to be made functional in terms of drainage), I'll have to look at maybe stepping one size up. Any thoughts on whether I should plant it like I have it now (with the roots in at a slight angle to try to somewhat offset the fairly big bend at the bottom of the stem)?

Imo, 2-3 inches of space around the roots is sufficient for at least a year for that size plant. There can be a problem putting a small root ball into a very large amount of potting mix, if the roots don't fill that whole space within a year, the soil not filled with roots can stay too wet. Potting mix works best when filled with some roots but not too many. I know it's kinda a Goldilocks thing, not enough soil, too much soil, just the right amount of soil!,lol, but I think 2-3 inches for you should be fine for the next year. After that year, gently slide the plant out a little to see the roots, if they've filled up the pot all the way to the edge and you can still see about half or more of the soil between the roots it's still good for a few more months. If you see mostly roots and very little soil, then it's time to repot again. And just up one or two next sized up pots.

I agree with Steve on the drain holes though, most pots don't have enough. It will hurt nothing and benefit the tree a lot to add more drain holes.

I think your dwarf spruce had more issues with just being inside than any watering problems. Pretty much all conifers do not do well inside. Even though they sell dwarf spruce as indoor live Christmas trees, they need to go outside after Christmas. Two to three weeks is about all they can tolerate being inside. They do just fine in the snow.

You will find growing your Meyer lemon inside challenging at the very least. Like spruce, they also prefer being outside, but can't deal with snow, so many folks in cold areas do over winter them indoors. However those 3-5 months inside can be very stressful for the citrus trees, and they then get to recover outside all during the warm months.

Also, Meyers are notorious for dropping leaves when it's moved to a new location, especially a lower light location, which indoors will be, even in front of the window. So don't panic if it does lose leaves, it will grow new ones which will tolerate less light. It's how it copes with a new environment. You will need to be careful to not over water it until the new leaves emerge.

Not saying you can't do it, but it won't be as easy as say a philodendron. Light, light and more light will probably be your biggest issue. Second may be insect issues, if the tree isn't totally clean of them before you bring it inside. Check it very carefully, and use a magnifying glass as mites are really small.

I'm sure others here who have grown them inside will have more advice for you shortly. Good luck with your tree. :)

Thanks barb! Fwiw I actually had the spruce outside, first on a glassed in porch for a couple weeks and then actually out in the yard (still in the pot). After reading more about gritty mixes I'm wondering if maybe one of my problems was that I didn't let the mix (and bark) soak a couple weeks beforehand and it just wasn't retaining ANY water when I was watering it. I dunno... it's in the ground and happy now though :). As for the lemon tree, I am worried about bringing it inside, but I guess we'll see what happens. I suppose I could always try to leave it outside the office a few hours a day or get some kind of a grow lamp to help transition it or something.... I'd hate to see it suffer if it's fairly easily avoidable.

The dry bark could have been an issue. I think the gritty mix is best for very wet and humid climates where it rains a lot in the summer. Nothing beats the ground as long as the plant is adaptable to your soil.

Don't feel bad, conifers are also one of the hardest plants to keep in a container, inside or out. Not that it can't be done, but they have a steep learning curve, lol.

A grow lamp can help but remember it needs to be very close to the foliage, we're talking 6-10 inches, for it to do any good. But it can help for sure.

The meiwa 7 gallon home.

300+ hole in bottom and 400+ holes side. 15 minutes with a drill and 1/4 inch bit

from this 4inch by 14 incn start pot

to this 11 inch by 16 inch holly bucket with convenient handle

bottom of meiwa

Tree 4 weeks later with its first feeding 2 weeks ago now has 4 aggressive shoots. My pot increase was about an 1 in radius larger than it probably should have but should do fine till fall transplant to a 10-13 gallon pot or in to ground out side..

Hi Andrew. I've had a Meyer lemon for about 3 1/2 years now in a terracotta pot in my conservatory in England. I've moved it into the house when temperatures have threatened below -2 degrees C and occasionally put it outside in the summer. It seems very happy - I feed it about every two to three weeks using either summer or winter feed. The main problem I have here is scale insect which produces nasty sticky stuff on the leaves and stem (and sprays onto the windows). I try to keep it under control by spraying with soft soap. It looks lovely and gives us loads of lemons despite being only about three feet tall. Good luck with yours - it looks a nice little tree.

Hi Andrew, I have mine in my home for 11 years. Not sure how long you want yours lol. It is doable ! I started mine by seed! Common pest when in the home are spider mites and scales since it dry in a home they thrive in that. I wash mine every three weeks with mild soap and rinse to keep them controlled. Make it face southwest in your home. Mist it inthe morning for humidity it loves it maybe 3 times a week. I notice that in pots they require more fertilizer. When transferring your tree inside do so by a little bit at a time same when you transfer outside for summer (no direct sunlight at first ) you will lose leaves but if well nourished and watered properly it will get a new flush of leaves to replace them . Hope this helps but it is definitely worth it. I live in Ottawa Canada I have no choice to do this :)

Thanks for the responses everyone! :)