All, We'll I came home today to the sight of my leaning out of the pot almost parallel to the ground. Luckily it didn't tear any roots. During this time I just decided to gently dump the tree out of its pot and to my dismay there was no new root growth and the bottom of the pot was still very wet despite the mix being about 50% perlite and the last time I watered was over two weeks ago! So I decided to re-pot it into a much smaller clay pot so it will dry faster and unfortunately I had to re-stake it again because even after re-potting the tree kept leaning at about a 45 degree angle. Don't mistake me saying that the trunk was bending! It was perfectly straight just starting to pull the roots out of the soil to lean over, so I decided to re-stake it loosely for the time being just to help it stand up straight until the roots final start the really grab the soil. Another question I have is whether or not I should remove the leaves that were damaged in shipping. I know it would probably trigger a flush so should I wait until its settled in so I don't stress it even more? -- Thanks, Carl

Hi Lemontreenewbie. I also wanted to welcome you here. I too am new to growing citrus . I started with three trees and in a few weeks they have grown to seven and about to increase again. You will find so much valuable information here. At first I was overwhelmed like you but Mike, Brian, Steve,Cory and others are very knowledgable . They are very willing to share their experience and expertise . I have learned so much from them and they are very nice people . I have several of my trees in the 5-1-1 mix and they love it. The rest will be repotted as well. I bare rooted them and they are growing very nicely in the 5-1-1 . No loss of flowers .It is light and drains well. As per the advise I have a feeding schedule and give them 1 tsp of dyna gro foilage pro with a cap of vinegar in a gallon of water every Friday. I water in between if needed. Mike suggested using a wooden dowel in your pot to check if it needs water. That works well for me.I have had some bud drop but Brian has told me that is normal for young trees as they will only retain what they can support. Kind of natures way of balance I guess. Recently I got a greenhouse so I can overwinter them but of course you don't have that problem where you live.. I too have found that the nurseries do give conflicting advise . Listen to those I mentioned here. They have been very successful and know what works. I really ,really appreciate them . Best of luck with your trees. Maggy This post was edited by maggyby on Mon, Jul 28, 14 at 16:36

I decided to leave them out. Just spend a few hours in a still hot sun to position them from the winds. It's just still too mild to wanna move them. At worst in the extended I see temps in the 60's and low in the 50's. And they get unobstructed southern sun all day long. When I move them, they go into a sunny, big garage, but it's hard to keep up with the watering..., bad enough in the winter. I was considering fertilizing for the last time of the season (they haven't been fertilized in over a month), but figured the excessive rains would just leach the fertilizer out. I spent time tilling the soil and introducing more gypsum. I don't use a gritty mix but they get so darn dry in more peat/perlite based soils. Spent time hosing them down well. Been a dry Fall so far so all the rain in appreciated. I do notice that plants seem to respond better to RAIN than water out of a hose. Didn't use to believe this but in my experience tropical plants grow better with regular rain that can't be made up from irrigation. Is it too late to consider fertilizing? (I don not fertilize at all in the winter as they are kept quite cold.)

Wow!!! I can only imagine what he grew with that lamp...lol Mike It looked like the very same one I use to use that didn't do the job you describe that one as doing. I hope it continues to do well for your tree. Let me borrow one of them for my succulents, will you? Keep up with the feeding regimen. I am just wondering if your tree might need a rest such as mine do? Maybe it will throw off a ton of flowers for you. I'll keep my fingers crossed. Have you though about cutting back on Nitrogen? I have had to do that too. Hope you are having a great day today. Sweet, you are very welcome. This is a great place with a bunch of great people. Mike:-)