The lime loves the same mix though and always bounces back. Lemons should be able to take the same I thought :o I'll remove the cover ASAP though

In fact I planted the lime with organic potting mix and compost and I never saw it suffer, so what happened?

maybe putting it under a hot roof its scorching your leaves off..Meyer lemons are pretty sensitive to changes in their environments. It sounds like you may be over thinking it a little as I don't think trees are supposed to be wrapped up like that. I'm no pro..just 1 year under my belt but have learned plenty since.

Oh the citrus and some other plants are only placed under the roof during heavy rains or wild weather. Majority of the time they're outside.

What's more, it's a very open area and the metal roof is there to protect my car. It's no way near like a shed. It's quite cool there - just to be clear I'll take a pic or two in the morning.

Also, the fruitlets and flowers are too delicate. Only 2 remain. How do I protect them from falling off if the wind barrier is a bad idea?

I think citrus trees in general only retain about 3 percent of their blossoms. If they were meant to stay I don't think the wind is the culprit but the fact that the tree isn't ready or able to retain the fruit.

I live in Miami, Florida and get hit with rain storms with high winds all the time and the fruit that's supposed to stay on will stay on. That being said, once I planted the trees in the ground they begun to flourish. I had them in pots before but they did not respond as well as if planted in the ground.

I think those plants are still very young, and you're expecting fruit in what you describe as severely suboptimal conditions, remember, these trees do best in low altitude tropical climates. I'm not saying they won't bear fruit sitting in pots in the arctic, they sometimes do, but you're expecting too much too soon. Keep watering/fertilizing/spraying for insects, and eventually they'll bloom and it will stick. Those trees are so small they can barely hold fruits up if they do bear them, i'm not saying citrus won't successfully bear while its still that small, it will, just, its not likely in a cold windy climate with highly variable light conditions. I'm in north florida (outer range of acceptable climate) and I bought plants at least twice that size from my local nursery and they aren't bearing this year yet. That and I have one baby about the size of yours with four blossoms on it that im contemplating removing for the tree's health, its just too taxing on the tree with how small it is. Be patient.

It's definitely the soil. Even if it's bounced back before, if you take that advice by limeinqueens, you'll definitely see consitency in your trees. That mix you're in is no good for citrus.

I cut the bottoms out of my containers and set them on the ground. They grow almost as well as an in ground tree

i know you think that you are doing all that you can, and I have to compliment you for doing so and your desire to grow Citrus...But as noted above, there is nothing you can do for it that will alliviate all the problems until you change your mix...Yes, when you do that, you will get a much stronger roots system that will in turn produce healthy branches and fruit..You plant should be able to hold lots of fruit even at that size..I see it all the time..I even have some.

Please let us know what you decide to do, because as long as your using a mix like that there is not much many of us can do to help...Citrus, no matter where you live can not grow healthy in a mix like that. That is why nurseries don't do that either....

He doesn't have Meyer lemon he has lemonade lemon. Meyer = garbage lemonade = heaven.

I love meyer lemonade.. Not sure I'd agree that it's garbage

Emachado...Pip has a funny way about saying things, but I can tell you that Pip HATES Meyers, nothing against you...lol

oh i know, to each their own. I'm not like the national spokesperson for Meyer Lemons or anything..lol. I just happen to like them enough where I started growing them... I planted this one in February. I bought her at home depot and she didn't do so well being in a pot but as soon as she hit the ground shes just exploded. I have many others I put in the ground this year but the Meyer has excelled the most.

All my citrus plants are constantly under attack by every pest that they can possibly be affected by. If a week goes by and I don't pay attention to them a bunch of issues are sure to arise.. so far so good though. Besides the usual pests, I have problems with birds cleaning their beaks on my fruit causing scarring on them. I put a fake owl in the yard which seems to have helped the problem.

Alright, I'll go to bunnings and see if they have a citrus potting mix. Yep the plant is new so I'll give it a few more months to settle in. It's summer season here now so I've got 3 more months of high temperature and sunshine.
It's lemonade citrus, also called Citrus Limon. Cheers guys :)

Apparently I can't edit my OP any more. The other plant, the lime, is called Tahitian lime not Haiti lime!

I hope my Meyer lemon taste good. It is the only tree I have with fruit

Usually lemons are hardier than other citrus, I thought. Maybe it is has to do with your climate.

Meyer lemon is thought to be a cross between Citron and Mandarin, maybe that is why it is doing better where you are than the others.

My Meyer lemons are big like yours also Steve. Ironically, at my local farmers market the Meyer lemons are from new Zealand and appear to be much smaller and more orangy than mine.

Probably not that great steve. Young trees need a few years before flavor is at peak.

Alright people time for an update.

I went to Bunnings and bought 3 bags of Citrus and Lemon potting mix: http://www.bunnings.com.au/osmocote-25l-professional-fruit-and-citrus-potting-mix_p2961638

another link: https://www.scottsaustralia.com.au/osmocote/osmocote-professional-potting-mix/osmocote-professional-fruit-citrus-potting-planting-mix/

The store guy said that citrus (lemons in this case) are picky when it comes to soil and moisture (and judging by the new found info, I agree). He said that this potting mix is specially designed for citrus. When I told him about my pot size (60 cm long, 60 cm wide, approx 70 litres capacity) he said it's okay to pot the lemon plant into the pot - he'd seen even larger pots and the lemons had turned out fine.

Now, I also drilled some extra holes for better water flow and draining. The pot originally had 3 big holes but I drilled some more. Just enough to not jeopardise the pot's strength and structural integrity.

Some extra holes around the sides just in case.

Overall result:

Here's a size reference: My index finger

I also filled the bottom with any pebbles and small rocks I could fine to allow better drainage.

About an inch of layer is the best I could muster.

Now. This is what I did to replace the old soil:

1) Remove the top layer of soil and put it in one bucket (because it had fertiliser feeds, you know, the small pebbly types).

2) Took the mid layer soil out and put it into another bucket. This is the soil that had contact with the plant's roots i.e. it surrounded the roots.

3) Emptied the rest of the soil into some big container.

4) I filled 2 bags worth (50 litres) of the citrus potting mix into the pot, over the layer of pebbles.

5) Once the soil got high enough, I made a small burrow and put the plant back in, so the small hole would give roots enough space to settle in.

6) Poured some more potting mix to cover the roots and provide stability for the plant so it was covered nice and well.

7) Covered the very top layer with the soils from 1) and 2).

8) Watered it using Seasol liquid feed just in case.

Now I did whatever I could and this plant required so much attention and efforts from me I'm like "I did what I could, rest is up to the plant, I'm done". Really, I don't know what else I can do. I'm done. I won't have to water the plant for at least 2 more weeks. And I won't need to fertilise it for at least 7 months.

If it still suffers from overwatering or overfeeding, and I hope to heck it doesn't, I'd be a pit pissed.

Also, look at what I found when I was aerating my Tahitian Lime plant!

I think they're cicadas. I've found them before in my lime plant. I found like 5 of them this time.

I killed them all.

I think it's really good that you chose to repot and truly hope it helps. :) Your plant will love you for the extra holes you drilled! Unfortunately, I don't know much about your soil choice. People say anything to get you to buy their product!

This line from your second link kind of scares me:

• Professional grade wetting agent added for uniform soil wetting, improved nutrient uptake and to delay drying out of the mix
• I can't get rid of this bullet, so please ignore:) Did you at least add course perlite so the soil when you changed it? If not, you definitely need to go get some! Generally speaking, we do not want to delay drying out the mix. In fact you want to improve drainage and have a mix that dries up quickly. Wetting agents aren't that lovely, either. I know it may seem like a lot of work but really making your own 511 mix is not that much trouble at all. So if you really want to do all you can for your Citris seriously consider making your own mix or just buying the gritty mix. But if you are really attached to your Osmocote, check out this thread: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3390776/imperial-mandarin-problem?n=23#addAnswer
• Read the third post by Brent, who is a grower in AU. His third post will tell you how to amend your Osmocote to make it work for you if you really want to avoid the mixes suggested in earlier comments. Chances are, you will see great improvement in your tree without making changes simply because you have repotted and your roots get some quick food and relief, but you'll shortly see a decline and will be seeking answers once again. I really hope this is not the case! Remember, this is just an opinion and someone else may have a completely different opinion.Good luck.

I read about osmocote potting mix, looks like they add perlite or washed sand in it to improve drainage. But I will call the store and contact the company as well.

Oh, good! That would make it a lot better than what I was thinking. :)

Hello all, I called both Bunnings and Osmocote. Both said that this potting mix is specifically designed for citrus. The soil is airy, doesn't get clamped together, provides proper drainage while keeping just enough moisture.

And yes I mentioned my pot size and my concerns about proper drainage or accidental drowning. They said I could always add a layer of broken up rocks at the bottom, which I already have. So it looks like I don't have to worry any more.