just thought i would bring this thread back to life with my own story on the subject of tree size versus price! im over in england (the land of crap weather) and citrus are a little hard to come by over here. i buy most of my plants from a place called peter barratts garden center, and it takes months for them to get another 6 citrus into stock, so its a pai buying the trees from them! i have so far managed to find a calamondin, a tahiti lime and a meyer lemon, all of which werent in good condition but im s cuker for reviving the poor things, very satisfying :) i paid £20 for them, which i think is around about 40 dollars? have enclosed a pic of the meyer lemon, you think its worth it? on the flip side, i bought a small calamondin and a small lemon (unsure on variety) for £2 from a place called wilkinsons. theyre not grafted i dont think, but not seedlings either - cuttings i believed. i have posted pics of them too - they dont look huge but for £2 you cant go wrong! firstly, the meyer lemon - poor thing had flies, leaf burn, crap soil, leafminer, too much forced fruit - everything but scale - this is the £20 one http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0039.jpg [IMG]http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0039.jpg[/IMG] this is the unidentified lemon for £2 i know it looks a little odd - big leaves and everything, but has loads of new growth, just needs some iron i think! any ideas how i can get it to grow upwards 0 at the moment its weighted down to the side because of th leaves :( http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0047.jpg [IMG]http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0047.jpg[/IMG] and finally my calamondin for £2 i have removed about 7 little flowers that had fruits following so it could focus on foliage, and it seems to be doing just that, plenty of new growth :) just kept the one fruit on it :) http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0046.jpg [IMG]http://i519.photobucket.com/albums/u355/aesir_reiki/Picture0046.jpg[/IMG] would be interesting to know what anyone else in the uk paid!

I got my Meyer from Four Winds Nursery, and am very pleased with their quality trees and customer service. I want to pass along to you what their website states about twig dieback: ----------------------------------------------- Leaf Drop/Twig Dieback Leaf drop and twig dieback can be caused by lack of light. Citrus trees need a minimum of 6 hours of full sun to grow. If growing indoors, it's possible that your trees will do better with a grow light for the winter. A sudden change in lighting or humidity can cause problems, so be sure to move your tree gradually from one spot to another, or from inside to out. If your tree receives adequate light, and experiences leaf drop, improper watering is probably the culprit. A lack of water can cause the tree to dry out and lose leaves, while excessive watering can cause the roots to rot, so that they lose the ability to take water and nutrients up to the leaves. If you modify watering to provide even moisture, often the tree will recover, albeit slowly. A moisture meter is useful to be certain that watering is necessary, and can help you develop an appropriate watering schedule. Should your tree lose all its leaves, don't despair. You can prune it back lightly to help push new growth; then, with improved growing conditions (adequate light, correct watering) it should recover. Remember also to feed regularly with a good citrus fertilizer (3:1:1 ratio or similar). Check your tree regularly for pests. Severe infestations of scale insects, or mites can cause defoliation. Regular monitoring will help you to take action in time, before severe stress (defoliation) occurs. -------------------------------------------- Your trees roots dont look dry, so you may want to consider you have over watered while using the wrong soil. I use a moisture meter to be sure (was only $4 and free shipping on amazon). I really feel for ya cuz many of us have been there! Keep your head up! I have picked 3 fresh lemons off my tree in the past week :) (even tho its 15 degrees outside!) You will have success if you meet the trees needs, and in my experience, it took a couple years to learn how to meet those needs. Good luck, and please post updates.

Aphids for sure, the curling of the leaves are a classic feature. Aphids are VERY easy to treat without resorting to pesticides. Use insecticdal soap spray and a hard spray to knock them off. Their little probiscus' will break off when you knock them off, and then they can feed and starve. Also, you need to control ants, as they will farm the aphids and help them to propagate, as they harvest the sticky substance the aphids excrete from feeding on your citrus (gross, but yes, the ants are eating aphid poop). Control the ants, hose them off with a very hard spray of water, then spray the undersides of your new growth with insecticidal soap. Patty S.

Well, I tried the sprayer. I loved being able to put enough FP in the container and not have to worry about refilling the watering can, especially for the large Eureka container. I used the sprayer for all of my trees, not just the citrus. The nozzle had three settings: flat spray, bullet spray, and gentle shower. The first setting, the flat spray is definitely not to be used for my (our) purpose; it is meant for lawn fertilization to cover a very large area. The second setting, bullet spray was waay too strong and when I aimed the stream into a container, the mix would just fly everywhere because it was essentially that, a bullet spray. Finally, the third setting, the gentle spray was my favorite, but the radius circle of water that was dispensed from the nozzle was very wide and there wasn't an option to make it smaller. I have a tiny mango in a 12 inch pot and the spray from the gentle shower setting was much too wide for such a small pot- it was at least twice as wide as the little pot. I do have a few more trees in slightly bigger pots, a mango and and two avocados. The water shower was still too wide for even these slightly larger container sizes. If it was just water alone, then I don't think I would have noticed (or cared) that much, but because it was a FP/water mixture, I noticed how much FP water was just being wasted because the shower setting water circle coming out of the nozzle was just too large! So, I think that I will browse and search the market for a really good hose end sprayer. I hope to get lucky and find one with several spray settings to choose from. My container sizes vary too much; I have little ones and I have an avocado and the eureka that are in pots that are just too big. The water coverage area for the shower setting on the sprayer ended up wasting too much FP water mix, in my opinion. I don't mind using the watering can and I will use it until (if) I can find a better sprayer. I do like the convenience of the sprayer, but I will give up the convenience if it means that I am wasting $ on FP water that is not being fed to my trees.