My photos didn't post--I'll try again here:

Meyer in old #5 pot

Meyer after re-pot into #7 pot (and in 5-1-1 mix):

Meyer roots/tiny short trunk:

Well welcome back and how kind of you to report what you did)

You did a good job with the roots! It even looks like you used a very bark mix)) Did you? What exactly is it? It l;looks good.

I would bury it just like it was in that pot. It looks like it grew VERY well in the depth it was at. I would not expose those beautiful healthy roots and spare them from drying out....

Fantastic work!

What is your long term plan for winter through the growing months? What fertilizer do you plan on using? How will you know when to water?

What state do you live in? Your weather sounds as crappy as mine. It been nothing but drizzly here and cold. I feel like I live in England of should I say the farthest north in Canada along the very cold ocean you could go. Horrible. All my trees are limp from the cool temps just to get shocked ny very hot temps over night next week.

Not sure if you know this, but dropping lower leaves is very common on most trees as they age and the trunk grows bigger...Don't worry about it as long as your new growth is looking fine and very active)

Your tree looks beautiful and very healthy! I've been through repotting like that recently and I realize how stressful it is. You did a great job! You will see how quickly your tree explodes with growth in the new mix!

Your tree is obviously happy with your hard work! Lovely tree!

Thanks, everyone, for your speedy and encouraging replies. I am eager to see how my tree does in the new mix. It looks to me like it's sulking a bit today, in its little shady alcove. I hope that's the worst of it. There are finally some very tiny new leaves, first new growth as I'd said since I brought my tree home (which was actually April 21, not May). Laura, I see you name your trees--well, this is the Meyer lemon tree known as Prince. I went to the nursery the day of Prince's death, feeling very sad. Brought home the Meyer and thought this would be a nice tribute to him.

Mike, I re-potted Prince into 5-1-1 mix. I've spent many hours since April reading the container and citrus forums late into the wee hours, and I've been making batch after batch of 5-1-1, putting all my plants into it. So far, everything is doing very well, and I assume it will be great for the Meyer. I followed Al's recipe -- I sub scoria for the perlite, as I dislike perlite and was able to get the lava rock at the same bulk landscape supply place where I self-bagged all of my compost and mini fir bark. I am using Foliage Pro each time I water. I added Osmocote Plus CR and garden lime to my mix, as directed. And I've started adding a bit of vinegar to the water.

I am concerned, however, about the yellowing leaves. (BTW, no leaf drop as of yet.) You might not be
able to see in the photos, but it's actually the NEW growth, the upper
leaves, that have yellowed. The older leaves are darker green. These
yellowed leaves are not new since I brought the plant home--as I said,
there are only now the very first new tiny leaves coming since end of
April. The pattern is yellowing with the green in the center, in the
shape of a pine tree, which I'd read is often magnesium deficiency.
Having read many posts about this on the forum, I decided it could be
that I'd been over-watering in the old nursery mix and instead of just adding more nutrients, it could be that my tree just wasn't able to access
those that were there. That seemed to be the advice of some of you serious citrus growers, so I thought I'd go with that. Now that I've re-potted, what do you guys think?
And will these leaves possibly green up, or is this now permanent for
them? Will they fall off because of this, or will they remain on the tree?

As for those top exposed roots . . . well, sadly, I didn't see your replies until late yesterday. And I had thought I'd covered them up--I intended to, after taking the photos for you--but unfortunately, I hadn't. When I went to cover them in the evening, they looked pretty badly dried up. I hope this didn't do too much damage! There are a lot more healthy roots below, so I'm hoping for the best. Do you think my new baby leaves will be sacrificed from the trauma of the re-potting??

Mike, I live in "sunny California" -- NOT! I am in San Francisco itself, in the foggy windy western area. Climate change has actually been kind to us here, and the past few summers have been much easier (as in, not always miserably damp and cold); we had gorgeous weather for most of May and June--that means highs of oh, 68, maybe 70 some days). Then real summer arrived, and we've had our "normal" weather: temps of 51 to highs of maybe 56; 100% cloud cover all day long; winds 12 to 19 mph. No warmth, no sun--the sky looks the same at 6 a.m. as it does at noon and at 6 p.m. -- a wall of white/gray, with wind. Across town, there can be some clearing and temps 5 or so degrees higher, and just outside the city, 8 or 10 miles away, there will be beautiful blue skies and temps into the 70s. On Saturday we finally had a bit of a break, the wind died down, a bit of sun came through, and Sunday was beautiful and "hot" -- maybe highs of 72. So I did a ton of work in the garden this weekend. This is a very challenging climate, but then, no worries about winter freezes and such. So, Mike, my citrus can be outdoors all year, no worries.

So that's the (long-winded) report from San Francisco. Appreciate your comments, and any suggestions very welcome about my yellowed leaves!

Hello)

Give the vinegar time to work but what concerns me is those very cool temps! Citrus need at least highs of 60's by night and 80's by day to actively take up nutrients and grow very green...I think in a week or two, once those temps rise, you will be getting new green growth based on your now good care and good mix while the older yellower ones will just stay that way. I usually pluck those off after the newer green ones have filled in..My Ponderosa Lemon tree does that all the time when temps are not warm enough..Now it's growing like crazy, newer greener leaves while the older green and yellow ones hang on.

You are doing every thing you are suppose to do except the temps could use improvement....Just be careful not to let those roots dry out on top..Keep them moist at all times...That is the only good thing on your side with those cool damp temps...)

Thanks, Mike. Well, we are stuck with the weather we have, unfortunately! We did have a couple of much warmer days--yesterday was gorgeous! (highs maybe 73? and low winds), but now we are looking at @ 52-67 for the next week/10 days. And that's for all of S.F.--I'm in a cooler, foggier area; more sun elsewhere. That being said, Meyer lemons and roses are grown all over the city, though they certainly do better in the warmer zones, and they don't tend to reach the size or productivity of those you will find on almost any street in Berkeley, just across the Bay, or towns just north and south of here.

Our warmest weather is usually in Sept/Oct, and often there's a short heat wave in February. But 50s-60s is pretty much our climate here. At least no worries about freezing! I'll try to protect my tree from the wind as best I can, and move it around to try to chase any sun we might have that day, but that's about all I can do. : (

Those little roots at the top got pretty well dried out the day I potted up. I covered them when I saw your note, as I said, but I don't know if that means they'll recover. Just hoping for the best here.

How long should I keep the tree in the alcove after re-potting? It's out of the winds, but I'd sure like it to get the benefit of any sun we might possibly have this week!

Mike and anyone interested, this is what our weather looks like--with a lot of variation around town. Here in my area, the cloud cover can be at 100% often doesn't break for days--or we'll finally see a patch of blue sky round about 6 p.m.

https://www.wunderground.com/us/ca/san-francisco?MR=1

Thanks everyone for your help and inspiration!

Sheba

Oh my God, and I thought ALL California weather was beautiful...I get days like that, just like last week for 4 days while everyone else basked in a heat wave. I hate living along a cold ocean shore...I now appreciate that I get more sun and heat than you do although you are lucky not to get the cold like I do)

I am absolutely shocked by your weather too!! That's crazy. I'm from Vancouver above Seattle and it is way warmer than that even there. Yikes! I know it is beautiful in San Fran though. Maybe my weather isn't so bad after all. Tree looks gorgeous though.

Yes indeedy, folks. "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear a flower in your hair" -- but more important, be sure to bring your warm thermal layers, fleece, etc. -- especially in summer!

Hobby, yes, each time I've been to Seattle area, I've been surprised by the lovely weather! Much better than people seem to think. It rains but there didn't seem to be complete cloud cover 24/7 day after day with wind. And the beautiful spring and the AMAZING lilacs--my favorite of all!

Mike, I don't envy your cold winters! But my family went to Cape Cod many summers when I was young, wonderful. New England is very beautiful. Here, you cannot swim in the Pacific without a wet suit (well, some very determined fierce people do without . . . ) and I miss swimming in the warm Atlantic waters. Sounds like you are in a very cold spot, though.

We finally had a break this afternoon--3 or 4 hours with mostly blue skies and some sunshine. What a pleasure to be working with my plants in the warm (64) weather. They all looked much happier! Expecting more of the same tomorrow, YAY!

Good for you! Happy to hear it.

Nothing like some warm sunshine!! Enjoy!

Update on my Meyer! It's been just 15 days since I potted him up, and about five days ago, I saw that there are LOTS of tiny new leaves coming in (plus a lot of baby blossoms). SO exciting! You probably won't be able to see the baby leaflets unless you can blow up the photo a lot, but here's a pic anyway.

That is wonderful! Give yourself a pat on the back and enjoy!

Next time when you do another repot i would use a wider container and not as deep.

Bob, could you expand a bit? I am a newbie here and am learning from all of you as I go. Tree came from nursery in a #5, and I potted up into a #7. I wasn't aware that width was more? important than depth for citrus; anything more from you or the others here on this would be helpful. I've just potted up my second citrus plant (calamansi--I posted about it yesterday w/pix, link below), and moved it from I think a #3 to #5, same shape standard black nursery pot. Did I do wrong by her, also? Both are in 5-1-1 mix. Thanks again.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4049747/citrus-tree-2-calamansi

Persimmonbob, why a wider container and not as deep?

Laura, any success thus far and down the line is mostly a result of everything I've learned from first, the people on the Container forum (Al and others), who taught me how to make my own mix, and from you and others--John, Mike, Vlad, and more--here on the Citrus forum, who inspired me to take another chance on a Meyer and have given me the knowledge I need to care for it. I've wanted a Meyer, and roses, for so many years, but felt it was impossible here; my first Meyer, some 4 years ago, was miserable almost from the start and died--I didn't know what to do for it and was terrified to re-pot it.

I would never have had the nerve before to mix my own planting mix, or to bare-root a tree when re-potting, for example, and I've done it now with all my formerly sad potted roses and my two new citrus, thus far with great results! I've read both forums for days (mostly nights) at a time! and admired your beautiful healthy citrus trees--yours are gorgeous!--and learned so much from your experience. I hadn't gardened in years, and I have a very small very challenging spot, but these forums (also Antique Rose forum, where I'm spending a lot of time now) are the reason I am gardening now. My dreary little space is already transformed, since April, with herbs, strawberries, blooming and budding roses, flowering/scented perennials, and my citrus trees, and already I find many bees and butterflies visiting. It's incredibly rewarding and a great little retreat for me. THANK YOU ALL for your inspiration and help!

Sheba

Citrus has no taproot and feeder roots are close to the surface and they prefer to go wide especially in container culture, just take a look at picture above.

Sheba, thank you for your kind comments. I would love to see some photos of your "dreary little space".

Vlad

Here is a picture of some larger containers i use for citrus and figs. The containers for figs and pomms has very large square drain holes for roots to enter in the soil.

Where do you find such containers?

The cheap flimsy squat containers could be bought from A.M.Leonard.

A 10 gallon squat set you back $42.00 for 10. The one you see in the picture is a 20 gls one $68.00 for 10.Sometimes shipping is free. Lowe's got some nice one for $ 14.95.Maybe they go on sale around this time.

I saw #7 squats yesterday at OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware). I think they cost around $9.00. Didn't see any larger ones but they may have them.

Persimmonbob, you had me thinking about what you said that citrus have no tap roots. Then I remembered that a small key lime and a Poncirus trifoliata I looked at recently each had a tap root which led me to investigate this further on line. I found this article that says that most citrus planted in ground have tap roots: http://www.fao.org/nr/water/cropinfo_citrus.html. But I have not noticed tap roots on my older trees! Perhaps they lose the taproot as they age in containers but not in the ground??????

All inground tree's grow longer roots because of moisture availability,roots will follow water source especially in drought condition in summer months .It is favorable to grow in wider containers because of more even moisture condition. You might promote more root circling with deeper pots.