Hello Witchywoman, I would not plant them in ground where you are. Citrus can't handle temps below freezing for very long and I am in zone 5 with a microclimate zone6. Lake Erie keeps us a little warmer but even still not warm enough for me to keep citrus outdoors year round. Much better to bring them out when warm enough and cart them back in when temps drop below 32. I don't like to keep mine out below 40! Where did you get your trees? I am concerned that at three years old you have not even had any blooms yet. That isn't a good sign. Are they grafted trees? I am guessing no since I recently got a 2-3 year old Oro Blanco grapefruit tree that is loaded with flowers. Matter of fact, I just went out side and removed 3 immature fruits that just formed after the flower petals fell. I do this hoping that the energy will go back to the tree and encourage it to grow larger. Can you post any pics of your trees? Where did you buy them? Kev, I wanted to let you know that a lot of people grow these trees from rooted cuttings and wheather it is grafted or not, you will still get a lot of pleasure from your tree. I love South Carolina. I have made many trips to Myrtle Beach and alsways wanted to experience Charleston but never have. As a teenager, I bought many of my first tropical trees there. Over the years I got a ponderosa lemon, 1 or 2 banana trees, and a huge gardenia tree that actually looked more like a large bush. I didn't have much luck with most of them. I left the ponderosa outdoors and a stupid rabbit turned it into dinner! Thorns and all. I lost the gardenia tree but now I am succesfull with growing them. I wanted to let you know that I recently bought a "dwarf" improved meyer lemon tree. My tree is a little over 6 feet but from what I hear they respond well to pruning. Unfortunetly for me, I can only let it grow maybe a foot taller, but this summer I am going to work on getting it to grow wider. Also, when the tree is full of fruits you can get a weeping affect due to the weight of the fruit. Good luck with your tree and if you have any questions fire away! You should check out my Calling all Imroved Meyer lemon tree post. I asked tons of questions and as a result, my tree is as beutifull as it was the day I got and actually i think it looks greener. Mike recommended a dose of white vinegar and Foliage Pro at every watering. My trees leaves are a nice healthy green! Andrew

I bonsai Plants, and currently have a Tangerine * and an Avocado no bigger then a small dog* in my care. My tengerine needs a good root pruning. Ya thats what I said a root pruning. As long as the Branches to not exceed more then half of the root ball, then your making a very healthy plant. This will back up any statement I plan on saying, Look up the art of the Bonsai. Which involves a lot of pruning roots and branches even citrus trees. In containers it is often that the soil gets compacted, this causes the little issue I am having, ware its winter and it needs it roots trimmed. * I hate using garbage bag in doors and it just gets messy* the act of simply loosening the soil, helps a lot, since containers do not have earth worms to keep it nice and airy. however in instances when in a pot, your roots tend to out grow the leafy part causing well the loss of leaves. Roots need energy to stay alive as well. If you have to much of a Leafy top to your tree, you loos leaves again, resulting in again your's and mines issue. However mine is simply due to it being that time for a root pruning, as my roots have out grown there leaf top. That and its pretty compacted in there..... I should probably changed the soil all together, but its winter ware I am at in winter potting soil is a rare find.

I think the photo in your 14:24 post clearly shows serious fertilizing deficiencies by the look of the leaves with green veins but yellow surface. Very few Meyers live their full lifespan because people don't feed and water them properly. To say they are born hungry is putting it mildly! And that must be the smoothest graft line I've ever seen on a Meyer, I'm impressed. I find it hard to believe it was grown commercially from seed, because Meyer seed isn't very viable. The reproduction success rate appears to be approximately -99.9%, based on my own limited experience, LOL (we have had three of them in-ground for the last 10-15 yrs and one is a genuine Meyer seedling). Improved Meyers are a bush, so even when grafted to dwarf tree stock they grow out and around before they grow up. Meyers can form leaves, flowers, buds, and fruit all at the same time (almost continuously, especially as they age) so feeding them adequately is essential for continued success. Citrus fertilizer on a regular schedule is a necessity (as is iron, in either granular or liquid form). But yours is so starved you might want to also help it with a few feedings of properly diluted liquid fish fertilizer, as well. I'd space them out, maybe a 3-gallon bucket of water with the fish fertilizer added, once every three weeks until the rains start in earnest. Even if you save your Meyer, you will NOT get a good crop this winter, or at least at the start of the harvest season. My trees already have a large number of small green lemons formed, which will take a couple of months to ripen. Be patient and when you feed regularly, don't add twice as much thinking it will work twice as fast. Doesn't work that way! Follow the instructions and if you're in Southern CA, keep an eye out for the dreaded Huanglongbing or HLB, previously known as Citrus Greening, disease. Google Images will show you what the leaves/insects look like; there is no cure.

I agree with the not fed enough thought. Plants will often steal the nutrients from the older leaves to support the new growth and flowers, but it's not good for the long term health of the plant. What brand did you use? It would be better to fertilize on a regular schedule rather than as a occasional quick fix. Osmocote Plus is easy to get and works great for container citrus. Many folks here also supplement with DynaGro Foliage plus. Don't use fertilizer stakes or granular fertilizer, that's more for in-ground plants. I don't use epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)by themselves as it's easy to over or under dose with them. Too much can be a problem. Most quality citrus foods have Magnesium as a micro-nutrient in the correct amount. Also, to me it looks more like a nitrogen deficiency.