"Do you loose all your leaves when you let it go semi-dormant?" You must have asked me this same question two times at least already!! I guess you don't believe it. But no, I don't loose ANY leaves in the winter when I grow them under chilly and dry conditions (December until mid-February). I do not keep my limes (Persian or Key limes) in cool conditions (they are much more tropical). Citrus and hot, dry interior conditions just don't go together so I have given up on anything but limes in the house itself. For the rest of the Citrus collection (in the garage), day temps under glass are now in the low to mid 60's even when it's only in the mid 50's outside--that's NOT cold and the air is fairly humid. As I said, my challenge is really just January--the rest of the year is a cake walk. PS. One of the reasons I am anxious to get them out of the garage is that a stronger sun and warmer conditions means that I have to be much more attentive to watering as they dry out much faster now. I wish I could say that I dote over them in the Winter, but I virtually forget about them from about early December until mid-February.

The cooler weather is causing what appears to be a beginning of a manganese deficiency; aside from that, expect some shock and leaf loss when you notably change the light conditions of a Meyer. Oh, yes... no, those leaves will not return to "normal"; the manganese deficient (IMHO) might well regreen with some mineral foliar or chelated MN application; but the important thing is the color of the new growth, when it happens. If the new growth has a brownish reddish color before turning to green, you will know you are adequately nourishing the tree. This post was edited by Johnmerr on Sun, Jul 20, 14 at 22:00

I think the comment about a new thread was directed at hottina44 and their question about indoor lighting. That was off topic. alex_g76, Some of those metals are perhaps toxic to mammals when ingested in too high a dose, but that is not the same as with plants. The plants will only take up what they need and leave the rest. Besides, if you look at the actual amounts of metals it is very tiny. Most are MICRO nutrients anyway, and are only needed by plants in very tiny amounts. They might be build up in the potting soil over time, but potted plants should be re-potted with fresh soil every few years anyway, long before the micro-nutrients will build up to any noticeable levels. So you need not worry about that imo. Btw, it's not commonly known, but almost all organic fertilizers are made for and will work best in In-Ground plantings. Organic fertilizers are made of raw ingredients, such as blood meal and bone meal, etc. Those components cannot be used by the plant as food itself. The fertilizer relies on the micro-organisms in the soil to ingest the raw ingredients and convert them to chemicals (yep, chemicals) that the plant can then uptake into it's roots. If those organic fertilizers are used in relatively sterile potting medium, not much happens. They pretty much just sit there. And your plant can starve while there is lots of food sitting right there. The components (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus [NPK] and other macro and micro- nutrients) that the soil organisms produce from the raw ingredients in the organic fertilizer, is the same at a molecular level as what you find in a standard non-organic fertilizer. The benefits of organic fertilizers in the soil is that they feed and therefore increase the soil micro-organisms, which is great for the soil structure and the roots of the plants. Unfortunately this dynamic is very, very hard to reproduce in potted container plants. Therefore I always recommend standard non-organic fertilizers in container plantings, preferably a liquid type, or a slow-release pelleted type, such as Osmocote. Also, as a side note; the metals and minerals in fertilizers cannot by law be called “organic” because the law states that a component has to have Carbon in it and be derived from a once living source to be labeled “organic” Of course these items do not contain carbon and have never been alive. So if you see a fertilizer labeled “organic and natural”, the word “natural” is in reference to the mineral and metal ingredients only. In reading the posts on the thread that bmelz linked, about fertilizing in containers with organics, it does look like some have done it with success but do note that most of what they are talking about is seasonal vegetables and some short lived ornamental plants. Those are often re-potted annually with fresh mix and compost. That works quite well as there is a lot of micro-organisms in compost and manure. But that type of mix also breaks down very quickly, usually be the end of a growing season. When mix breaks down the speed of water drainage slows down a lot. If you're re-potting every spring that's no big deal and the old soil mix just goes back on the compost pile and new mix is made. But with a long lived plant like a citrus tree that soil break down is problematic. Citrus are very sensitive to soggy soil. Most will say they're sensitive to over-watering, but it's not really the water that's the problem, it's the lack of oxygen in an overly saturated, soggy soil. Plant roots need both water and oxygen, so in a long lived plant like citrus using an open and airy mix that lasts a long time and doesn't break down fast is very important. Unfortunately the components of those kinds of mixes, such as Al's Gritty mix and the 5-1-1 mix are pretty sterile. Hence the recommendations of standard non-organic fertilizers. Now if one was to re-pot their citrus trees annually or semi-annually with a compost based mix, then I do believe an organic fertilizer would work. But for myself, I would find that way too much work.

nina 313 and bdeller1, you each should start a new thread to get good answers to your questions. Tagging onto an old post will get you a lot less replies. People look at the start date and figure the subject of the post is no longer relevant. nina, we could use some better pics of the whole tree, and bdeller, we need pics from you too. Each person's own thread should include info about your watering habits, how much and how often. Any fertilizer or anything else you've added, how much, when and why. How long you've owned it. Also give info about the soil your tree is in; original from nursery, or re-potted, brand and/or ingredients of the soil. Is it kept indoors or outdoors, indoors only in winter, outdoors in summer, and if indoors, what kind of light, ie in front of window(window direction), or grow lights or combination. Help us help you. : ) Also, if you start your own thread, you can track answers to it in your "your houzz" area.