I also have a grapefruit tree that one of my children grew from seed when he was a small boy. He is now 16 years old! It is in a pot, and is a beautiful little tree. The guy at the nursery I frequent told me it will probably never bear fruit. It is not because it is in a pot, my orange and lemon trees in pots bear fruit. I thought maybe it had something to do with hybridization. It is also the favorite larval food of all my citrus trees for the Swallowtail butterflies, so I will keep it!

Josh: Do you know any other method to check the soil dampness? (I can't use the "finger test" method because the soil is so hard and full with roots so it's impossible to stick my finger down there). Johnmerr: Thank you for the suggestion! I will give it a try. There is another thing. There is a instruction tag came with the tree that says I should only repot it after 2 years. However the soil doesn't seem to have good drainage to me (when i water it, the water doesn't go right down but stay on the surface of the soil for a few minutes, I then have to wait until it's absorbed by the soil then repeat again until I see some water running down the drainage hole at the bottom). Is it normal so? Or should I repot it and replace it with better soil?

Okay. First thing - is this little lemon tree getting sprinkled? If so, this is part of your issue. Citrus do not like to be in the path of sprinklers. They do much better with a deep watering via drip once or twice a week (depending upon how hot the temps get). If you're close to the beach, you probably will not have hot enough temps to water more than once a week. Lilly Miller citrus fertilizer is fine. It does contain micronutrients. Vigoro Citrus & Avocado fertilizer with micronutrients (that is the key for you) is also fine. Actually, the best NPK ratio is 5:1:3, but it's hard to find. As long as you've got a higher N (nitrogen) than P or K, as citrus are heavy nitrogen feeders, and you've got micronutrients included, you should be fine. Humic acid will also help, so look for that in your ingredients line up. I would recommend Grow More Citrus Growers Blend and mix it up as a foliar spray to help give your tree a good micronutrient feeding. Repeat in 3 weeks. Do your foliar spray in the evening. I would concur that you're probably looking at a micronutrient deficiency, possibly magnesium. Usually, you'll see a micronutrient deficiency with too much water and cold temps, so I would definitely check the roots of your lemon, to make sure it's not sitting in a puddle of water (i.e., in clay). Even though you're by the beach, you can still have pockets of clay. If you're in more sandy soil, then you're seeing an issue with both macro and micronutrients not staying in your soil, but washing out. If this is the case, then make a nice well around your tree out to the drip line. Fill with some worm castings and then top with compost. Keep both away from the trunk to prevent rot. Put your fertilizer in the well and water in deeply. Fertilize every 3 months and also I would recommend a foliar application with Citrus Growers Blend as well until your tree greens up. Patty S.

Sunny, it all depends on how you have been caring for it. I find that yellowing on my Meyer trees for years as always been the cause of varying issues. Either it's from over watering, poor root development, using water with a high pH, a compacted mix, lack of proper light, temps being too cold or too hot, a lack of nutrients and so on. Earlier in the season when we had sunny warm days, I would of been concerned about the mix and or fertilizer if it was yellowing all summer. That has passed. Now, in your case I would be concerned with the cold temps not allowing nutrient absorption, causing nitrogen deficiency and yellowing of leaves all at once, which is probably a problem you had to begin with for some reason. If your temps have been cold lately, seeing you live in zone 5, I might suspect root rot that pre existed then was exacerbated as temps have cooled off quite rapidly. If your mix is moist with those cold temps, I suspect further rot. I don't worry about graduating my trees at this time of the year light wise, since the amount of sun we get now is minimal compared to southern folks and late summer, but I do worry about how long it takes for the mix to dry out once inside. Make sure your mix is drying out appropriately, and if not, change it asap. Also make sure that you are giving your tree a very bright area in your home with fresh air if you can. I would not feed it at this time until you check the roots and make sure they are healthy. What kind of water do you use? Tap, rain, well or some other? Have you ever used vinegar if your tap has a high pH? Mike