Never cut distorted leaves off. A young citrus tree needs those for photosynthesis. They're not causing an issues, like the spreading of disease, so leave them on. If they are beyond repair, the tree will eventually drop them, and replace them with a new flush of leaves at that node. Not your water causing this either. But, I would find it surprising if your municipal water's pH is that high. Inexpensive pH meters are notoriously inaccurate. Call your municipal water district and ask them what the average pH is of your water. You'll find it's probably around 7.0 to 7.3 or thereabouts. The potting mix you've used could be problematic. You're better off with a more porous mix. You can search the forum for "Gritty Mix" or "511 Mix" to find home made mix recipes that our citrus container experts like MeyerMike use with a very high degree of success. Or, you can try to find Fafard's Heavyweight Professional Mix #3 or Heavyweight Professional Nursery Mix. Both have the right combinations of ingredients and the correct size of fir bark fines. I cannot find it near me, unfortunately, so I have had to use EB Stone's Cactus Mix, which is more dense than the above mix, but not too bad. You may also be able to use this mix successfully, as you are in an even hotter and drier area of the country than I am. Our container citrus will dry out much, much faster than our friends on the east coast, where their relative humidity during the summer is significantly higher than us here in the southwest. You also need to fertilize with a good fertilizer about once a month. Many folks here like to use DynaGro, or DynaGro in combination with Osmocote Plus (the Plus contains the micros, and the NPK ratio is pretty close to exactly what a citrus requires). Do not rely on fertilizer added to a potting mix, it will not be nearly enough for citrus. And, I wouldn't worry about the few leaves that show damage. It could have even happened to the tree before you purchased it. Keep it outside with lots of sun, and some afternoon sun protection and protection from high winds, which citrus hate. Lose the stake. Patty S.

Yes, it is a Hydrocotyle species. While the link above is interesting Hydrocotyle and this species that is plaguing your mosses may not be a weed species but rather a local native species. In California, where I am at, there are three native species. It is a great plant for shallow water spots. Your best course of action to contain it is to pull it up when it gets started as it is viny in habitat forming runners like strawberries which root out every now and then from whence a leaf grows. I would recommend moving some of it into a small watertight bowl with some earth that sits just below the rim and flooding it until water sits on the surface and then plant in the Hydrocotyle and sit out in full sun or partial sun. An interesting accent for a table and fairly easy to contain as it is a shallow rooting plant.

indoor or outdoor plant .. or outdoor.. where are you ... can we have a pic of the whole... loss of older leaves in late winter is not uncommon ... i thought scale also ... if so ... and since they are large.. just pic them off ... do it soon.. in case momma hasnt yet released the hoardes .... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=scale+on+fig+leaves&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images can you rule out physical damage to that leaf.. is it only that leaf??? ken

I grow Dark Desire. My only complaint is the thorns. My DD is one of my oldest plants. I bought it from Chamblees own roots. And it actually does quite well in my nematode infested ground. In fact, when it goes off patton I want to try and root it and try it as a root stock. My Dark Desire every once in awhile will put out a rose with a white streak, but not as much as when it was a young plant. My DD grows straight up putting Jack's Magic bean stalk to shame... it grows VERY tall. but not wide. Nor does it grow at weird angles..... however, by accident I found if you pull a cane over it will actually put out laterals and you will get a lot more roses..... I wish I would have know that when I originally planted him because I would have put in him in a different place. Right now it is hard to make him grow with laterals because, he then crowds my other roses..... and with his thorns, I then can't maneuver around the other bushes without getting ATTACKED. He does have a nice fragrance. Granted I am in a different zone, but if you have room I would say to give him another try.