"These conversations are interesting, but I would love to see studies more when people try to make a point." Drew, I can appreciate that. I like concrete evidence too. However, for me it just takes too much time to footnote everything. I try to make it clear when I'm speaking opinion vs. fact. That's not to say my facts are always right, but I believe my facts to be correct to the best of my current knowledge. For example, I mentioned Jersey cows have higher butterfat content in their milk than Holsteins. My only source is my wife. She works with milk testing and pricing. Farmer's are paid a premium for milk with higher butterfat, so I think she would be accurate on that fact. I could try to Google all the statements I assert as facts, as a check, but it would take more time than I am willing to give for a causal internet conversation. My statements regarding swine are generally general knowledge known to those who have been in the industry for several years. "The reason dairy cattle are most revealing is because organic restrictions against antibiotics affect every stage in the life cycle of dairy cattle. And, in fact, there's a negative correlation between farms that use antibiotics and the health/longevity of the cows in those herds." Cousin, Assuming this is a conclusive fact, again this is probably related to the system. Organic livestock farmers would probably have a larger percentage of low tech systems (i.e. pasture). I understand you are saying antibiotics enables housing systems/practices which in which there is higher turnover, but my point about the system was in response to your point that cows are bred to be more antibiotic dependent, a conclusion I don't hold. Antibiotics perpetuating a certain system which produces higher turnover is a different issue. Regarding that issue, it is conjecture on your part and mine whether a ban on antibiotics would result in a substantial change in livestock housing systems. Personally, I don't think it would have much impact. Modern facilities are so much more cost efficient and higher turnover a minimal cost, I don't think it would make a difference. Again, my experience is with swine but in this regard the facilities are similar enough to make that reasonable conclusion (concrete, climate controlled buildings, with higher density populations). My old farming partner now raises pigs on contract for a large commodity company (Still a good friend, talked with him yesterday.) He's told me before, the company he now contracts with has gotten onto him for not having a high enough replacement rate. They want higher turnover. I think if the company announced tomorrow they were going antibiotic free, it wouldn't change anything but increase death loss and turnover. It would increase costs, but not enough to change housing paradigms. "The treatment for milk fever isn't an antibiotic, by the way." I didn't know that. As I said, I'm more familiar with pigs. It's been a long time since I've even set foot on a dairy farm. All this time I thought you were trying to claim milk fever was a result of antibiotic selection pressure. An honest mistake really since the word "parallel" is synonymous with likeness, match, duplicate, etc.,which have broad definitions. Since that's the case, I think for the discussion, it's fair to point out you haven't given any examples of animals being bred to be more antibiotic dependent. It's all conjecture at this point. We've spent a lot of time discussing something for which there is no proof. I understand it can happen in theory, but just as you've proposed a theory why it could happen, I've proposed a theory why it's unlikely (i.e. "livestock in confinement operations are exposed to more pathogens (as people are in cities, vs rural sparsely populated people) putting selection pressure the other way.") " In other words, slaughter weight is pretty much constant over the milking life of a dairy cow." When I made the statement, " Dairy cows start out at 800 lbs. and mature to 1500.", it was not from personal experience of dairy cattle. I simply got the information off a seemly respectable Website. I can't find the Website now, but found a couple from which the same conclusion can be drawn. This Website http://www.holsteinusa.com/holstein_breed/breedhistory.html says, "Holstein heifers can be bred at 13 months of age, when they weigh about 800 pounds." This EPA fact sheet http://www.epa.gov/oecaagct/ag101/printdairy.html#life says, "They usually calve, or give birth, at about 24 months of age. However, they do not reach mature size until at least 4 years of age." According to the EPA, dairy cattle do continue to gain weight once in production, as do pigs. Either way my point is replacement cost isn't that significant in the scheme of things. Higher replacement rates are driven by the model not antibiotics. If anything I think antibiotics reduce turnover (via lower death loss) not increase it. "And if they exercise more and eat healthier because they don't want to rely on antibiotics (and doctors, etc., etc.) isn't that the point?" An important distinction is that's it's not an "either/or". Your arguments imply it is. I think the best of both worlds is to exercise more, eat healthier and use antibiotics when you're sick. Applying this to dairy cows, if the goal is to reduce turnover (which I suspect isn't a primary concern for most dairy herds, but this is simply conjecture on my part based on my experience in the swine industry) then you use low density pasture systems and antibiotics. Even setting aside the valid concerns that H'man expressed, if antibiotics enable unhealthy lifestyles, in either case the result of real world antibiotic use is poorer health, right?" You will never get me to agree to that. Real world antibiotic use has not only significantly added to our lifespans and reduced suffering, but also increased health, if only based on the few diseases I listed above. Leprosy causes fairly poor health until it kills you. Severe bacterial infections, even if they are cured, can cause long term health consequences (brain damage, hearing loss, paralysis, organ damage, loss of limbs). Antibiotics have practically eradicated some of the more terrible diseases, as a collective people it's easy to forget what life was like before penicillin. I think it's also easy for Americans to miss because we have enough wealth to pay for antibiotic treatment when we get sick. In poor countries, like Bangladesh, which can't afford antibiotics, I strongly suspect, not only are infant and general mortality rates higher (in part due to antibiotics) but even poorer health could be attributed in part due to lack of antibiotic medicine. I have no studies to demonstrate this at my fingertips, so this is conjecture on my part. Regarding animals, I think your real beef (pun intended) is with modern livestock systems. You say antibiotics facilitate the use of these systems. I maintain from my arguments mentioned above, there would be little difference in the systems if antibiotics were completely banned. People using pasture systems would continue to do so, as would people using confinement. I don't think the antibiotic issue would create enough economic pressure to drive it one way or another, but I do think there would be more death and sickness without antibiotics in both systems. Personally, I've seen some pretty sick/suffering animals and can't imagine not treating them, and simply waiting to see if they come out of it on their own.

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate considering other causes for this problem. The reason I suspected the mix to be drying out is that I checked the moisture with a chopstick for several consecutive days and the chopstick came out dry each time. The pot is relatively small as well - about a 6-7" terra cotta! There was some intent to keep the tree smaller by not putting it in a big pot. (keep in mind the tree is young and small as it is) I always water to excess with a considerable amount of leachate (generally >20% of the water applied), so I don't think salt-burn is likely. Generally I water for 3-5 days with low concentration of fertilizer (~1/4 strength) and follow with a day of plain water. I've tried fully submerging the pot in water and letting it soak 15-20 minutes, but it didn't seem to stop this drying of the leaf tips. I haven't, however, tried lifting the tree from the pot because I assumed that the mix would fall away from the roots. Is this an incorrect assumption? The top leaves are 4-5 inches away from the fluorescent bulbs. The fixture does give off some heat, but in general they are relatively cool bulbs (compared to metal halide and incandescent). I have several other trees that are within this range from the light - including another lemon tree that is in the same mix - and they do not show any damage. Additionally, the tree has been at a relatively constant distant for it's duration. There was an occasion on which the leaves grew too close to the bulbs (nearly touching) and they burned between the veins (see image) or at the points which were closest to, or contacting, the bulbs. I'll move the light fixture to be further away from the leaves as a start. If this doesn't solve the problem I will repot - unless there are any other suggestions or feedback on potential causes. Thanks again!

Give it time. The tree was like a child before, immature and content to just go with the flow and grow leaves. Then one day it woke up and thought no, I'm a teenager now, I'm going to show the world what I can do! So, it sends out a couple of flowers. But, because it is young and inexperienced, it doesn't know how to hold the flowers, so they fall off. A little later down the line, it learns from experience how to hold on to fruit, and begins to test itself to see how much it can hold. More flowers come, in greater amounts with each flush of growth. Some of these fall off, but it manages to keep hold of some which turn into little fruits. Some of the little 'fruitlets' don't make it, but one or two might. Because it has never made fruit before, it might not taste great. But next year, it knows what it is doing. It flowers much better, holds more fruit, and the fruit increases in quality as it grows into a proper adult. So, the bottom lines, your tree is young and inexperienced and eager to please. Just give it the right care and let it learn :) hopefully very soon ti will be producing good harvests for you.

Bush beans are easy to plant & will improve the soil because they're a legume. You can even pick some of the beans to eat. I've used them planted 9 to a square foot. They don't mind if the soil bed isn't smooth or has rocks. You can stomp the dying vines down at the end of the season & wait until spring to turn them under. A combination of buckwheat and calendula around the outer edges of the beans will flower & attract the beneficial insects to your garden. Calendula germinates now & grows quickly. All of those will need summer water unless you mulch well & we have some rain in July & August. You can probably get the seeds at a feed store cheaper rather than a garden store. I'd also suggest a combination of compost ingredients layered over the top of the soil where you're not planting a cover crop or once it's done in fall. Collect leaves & herbicide grass clippings and just spread layers of grass clippings no more than 4" thick. Plus if you can get some manure add that to your sheet mulch & your soil will be a lot easier to dig. I had poor, rocky glatial till soil next to my driveway where we have the most sunshine and over time transformed it into soft hand diggable soil + 100s of buckets of rocks. What made the most difference wasn't a layer of chicken or rabbit manure thinly applied in the fall & winter over 10 years though that helped the soil. It was the 12" or so of horse manure + the bedding mounded on permanent beds in fall for several years. Quite a big difference now in the percentage of organic matter. Our backyard flock and rabbits just didn't have the volume our soil needed. An inch or two of manure and bedding just disappears even with the potent chicken and rabbit manures. The best compliment I received was a question: Where did you get all that nice topsoil? My reply: We made it. Maybe you want to put in a gate to that area so you can unload easily into a cart from the pick up & dump. We use a trailer made from an old pick up to haul manure & it works great plus doesn't have to be spic & span when we're done.