Trees are reactive organisms - everything they do is normal - it's not like they make choices. ;o) Around this time of year, leaf loss in temperate deciduous trees is triggered by the days getting shorter. More accurately it is the increasing length of dark periods, but let's just say it's put into motion by a reduction in photoperiod, which is the amount of sunlight in one day. A chemical called phytochrome "measures' the photoperiod. When day length reaches a certain point, phytochrome 'signals' the tree to start preparing for winter. You could think of this as someone standing next to the tree with a stop watch, keeping track of how long each day was. Wavelengths of red light activate phytochrome and make this process possible - just another example of how light controls many plant life processes. Deciduous trees normally perform one rather obvious task to prepare for winter. They drop their leaves. This is known as abscission. Keep in mind that red light activates phytochrome which, in turn, activates abscission. It all ties back to photoperiod. One of the first stages of abscission involves growing a layer of corky cells where the petiole (stem) of the leaf is attached to the tree. These cells will block the transport tunnels to the leaf so no water or nutrients can get in, and no sugars can get out. As the abscission process develops normally, chlorophyll begins to breakdown and disappear. It will breakdown to where its molecular structure no longer reflects any portion of white light. Chlorophyll is constantly being broken down by sunlight; it can only absorb so much energy before its bonds break apart. During the spring and summer leaves are continually building new chlorophyll molecules, but rebuilding becomes impossible in autumn due to the abscission layer of corky cells. No water or nutrients can get into the leaf to make new chlorophyll. Since all leaves contain carotenoids , we will see shades of yellow and orange once the chlorophyll has broken down. Leaves are always reflecting yellow light, we just can't see it until the reflected green light from the chlorophyll is gone. Abscission also causes anthocyanins to form in some trees. Just before a tree produces the corky cells, many nutrients and sugars in the leaf will move from the leaf to the tree. This is known as translocation. The sugars and chlorophyll (green pigment) remaining in the leaf will break down in a different fashion since the nutrients, especially phosphorus, went into the tree. Anthocyanin pigments result and the leaf will reflect red or purple light. Sorry to be so long winded, but the above is prolly closer to what YOU might think of as 'normal' for this time of year. The abscission of green leaves is likely a signal that something is not culturally pleasing to the tree. There are a number of cultural conditions that can cause green leaves to fall. A sudden cold snap or moving a tree to deep shade could cause it, as could a drought response resulting from over or under-watering, to name a few. Al

Dawn, you can use any old Meyer lemon seed, it doesn't matter if the fruit was grown organically or not. But, Meyer lemons are usually not polyembryonic, so you're likely going to get a hybrid of the mother Meyer lemon tree, and whatever the pollen parent was. We've had this discussion in the past on the forum about monoclonal citrus cultivars. If you're going to grow a Meyer lemon from seed, find the biggest, fattest seeds. Those most likely will be polyembryonic, and your first and strongest sprout will be your clonal seedling (clone of the mother plant - your Meyer lemon). So, that will be the one you want to keep, if a second sprout happens to pop up (which will be the hybrid). If you do end up with just one sprout, and you're not using a polyembryonic seed, the hybrid could be a cross between two Meyer lemons trees, since the fruit came from a commercial orchard, and most likely grown as a large block on Meyer lemons. Or, it could be a cross between the mother tree and another unknown citrus tree (bees can travel miles and miles, so these is always that chance). To your question - yes, you can, you're just going to have to watch how you prune, since citrus are tip producers, and over-pruning at the wrong times can end up with you pruning away your blossom buds. Also, you will need to do some root pruning as well, and that will help keep your tree smaller. Meyer lemon trees grown on their own roots tend to be a little more compact that a standard sized citrus tree, and also tend to grow as a bush. So, you should be able to do what you'd like to try to do. Lastly, remember that it will take years and years for your seedling tree to produce fruit. LImes are about the fastest, can produce fruit in as little as 3 years, but more often around the 5th year. Lemons probably between 5 and 10 years. John Merr might be able to give you a closer estimate with the Meyer, as it is not 100% lemon, but has either some orange or mandarin in its genetic history. Patty S.

Josh: Do you know any other method to check the soil dampness? (I can't use the "finger test" method because the soil is so hard and full with roots so it's impossible to stick my finger down there). Johnmerr: Thank you for the suggestion! I will give it a try. There is another thing. There is a instruction tag came with the tree that says I should only repot it after 2 years. However the soil doesn't seem to have good drainage to me (when i water it, the water doesn't go right down but stay on the surface of the soil for a few minutes, I then have to wait until it's absorbed by the soil then repeat again until I see some water running down the drainage hole at the bottom). Is it normal so? Or should I repot it and replace it with better soil?

Hi from FL - looks like it may've been over"pruned" & has responded by putting out a multitude of new branches to compensate.I wouldn't cut off anything right now if you want it to survive. Give it time & TLC as already suggested & when it's grown more, you can start thinning out any crossed branches. it may take a year or more to start producing anything because of the shock. Sad to say, you seem to have left the parts that will eventually grow more towards the fence, rather than away from itâ¦? OTOH, all the trunks may be from below a graft(that is, it's possible somebody might've cut the tree down long ago & it sprouted back as multiple shoots), or it may've grown from seed & may not be a good producer - only time will tellâ¦. Here is a link that might be useful: from Florida, but still may be helpful