Do NOT cut off those surface roots, as a large portion of the essential small roots are connected them. Do NOT remove the thorns. They are normal; some individuals are more thorny than others. Overall, I don't think that your tree appears to be thriving. I'd make sure that it is getting enough sunlight, and that you have it planted in a very coarse-textured, fast draining potting mix. Many of us, if not most, either make our own mix or amend store-bought potting soil with plenty of bark fines, perlite, Turface, and/or other stuff...all for the purpose of creating something the a root system can thrive in.

why all the hostility and personal attacks? We are all here to help and offer the best advise to the best of our ability and knowledge. Its quite obvious that most of us are just "hobby" growers. I dont see the leaf minor damage or slug damage but then again Im not an expert. I will say this that in the 3 years I have had citrus and tropicals I have never had leaf minors on any of them here in Oklahoma where the OP lives. I dont think they are as common as areas that are more inclined to grow citrus. I could be wrong but thats my experience. I am however an expert in dealing with our intense Oklahoma sun which on a hot August day can literally fry an egg on a sidewalk, Ive seen it done. In fact some of my trees suffered damage exactly like what the OP's leaves did when we had 3 weeks straight of 105F+ and low humidity. Some of you may not know or care but Oklahoma set the all time average high of 89.1F for the month of July and august wasnt to far behind. Oh and John I produced three meyers this year so Im getting close,LOL. Mike

**Update at the end.** Good evening Mike, thanks for stopping by! I'll have no idea of what the PH of my water supply is. How do I go about finding that out, and in what way does it affect how I care for my trees? I won't fertilize if you think I shouldn't, but ... will it cost me my 5 lemons? I know it's silly, but we've been watching them grow since the beginning of the summer, and I would hate hate HATE for them to drop now. If I don't fertilize, won't my tree get rid of them? Yes, you are remembering correctly, when I repotted my trees they had HUGE root rot damage and there were really not a lot of roots left and almost no capillaries. Now, I know that they grew a big amount of the small ones during the summer, but it's pretty safe to say that these pots aren't full of roots, yet. Do you think it's one of the reasons it took so long to my pots to dry out? Or was it simply because the pots were not above the saucers like they are now? I haven't notices a big difference in my leaves since the watering, but to be honest I've been so busy today that I haven't had much time to watch my trees. I'll take a good look at them tomorrow morning, and I'll tell you if I notice a difference. Thanks for watching that small video! I'm glad you think that they drain well enough for 511 filled pots. It's not complicated to post a video, there is a "video" button right next to the link button when you make a post. The only thing I had to do is upload my video to Youtube first, because it asks you for an html link. Quote: "If I have just the couple of trees that you have, I would water them in the bathtub with the shower head every time they need water. A nice handheld shower head is so awesome for spraying the leaves down every time too..Just constant water on your leaves during the early a.m while watering can keeps mites away for sure.. " Now, Mike, DON'T YOU START! I am NOT carrying these trees up one floor and through my whole house all the way to a bathtub to water them! Absolutely NOT, and I don't care what they whisper in my ear when I'm close to them, LOL! i'll post pictures of the trees tomorrow morning :) Thank you for all your help, Mike, you are always so positive and uplifting, and your posts always make me smile :) . Atheen 10/8/2015 Update: Frankly, I didn't see my trees perk up like they used to when it rained outside. I was expecting a bigger response from that long awaited watering. I still have a few leaves that are slightly curved upwards on the smaller tree. They don't feel as supple as the other flat open leaves. I hope I didn't irrevocably screw up again by waiting to water to long... Fingers crossed that they don't turn yellow or fall down.

UPDATE 2019! Hey everyone, happy new year! You guys are still my special community of help and advice that I always think of when I am around my tree! I have since brought my tree down to my parents house in South Carolina. Being a bachelor (still) I had to move into several different apartments in Nashville since that post, none of which would be suitable for my baby to thrive in! My parents also have adopted her and done an excellent job helping raise her as my dad loves loves loves lemons in all of the water that he drinks. It had a great summer - they brought it outside and kept it in full sun - it grew to become a large leaf bearing tree that the kids love to “pretend water” with toy cups and boats full of water. Now it has been brought in for the winter and it has grown so many lemons - I’ve been anxiously waiting for them to start turning yellow. Over thanksgiving it appeared that some of them were beginning to turn yellow at the base of the fruit. I was hopeful that this January they would turn full yellow and I could come and pick a few. Here is the sad news. It has been dropping leaves consistently. It still is blooming. My dad and i think that it is due to over watering. Then i just found out from my dad that after Christmas it got a spider mite infestation. My dad sprayed it with some pesticide and he thinks the spiders are all dead. I’m attaching a photo of what he used. Again, just wanted to update you guys. Last year we got lemons and it was incredible to see where this tree had come from. I think I might have to name her Lazarus! Never would have saved her with yalls help. What do y’all think of the current state the tree is in? What do you think of the spider mite infestation? Any advice would ALWAYS be so helpful!! Forever grateful, Jamie