Looks like edema to me. Physiological response which shouldn't cause leaf drop. As to your plant, have you checked the rootball -- wet, dry, moist, soggy, or rootbound? Or?

No sign of insects. No stickiness. And the leaves do not discolor before they drop. I did stop misting for a week or two -- that corresponds to the start of the leaf drop. Anyway, I've started that up again. I know for a fact that the soil is cold. The room temp is only 50 +/- But I've got other citrus in the same place and no leaf drop from them. I suppose Meyers are more temperamental. The soil is very well-draining. It is moist at the root zone now, but not terribly so. If the plant were doing fine I'd not water at this point -- especially in the winter I tend to be pretty conservative about when I water for fear of overdoing it. Do you think I should give it a good soaking? Or just leave it alone? Assuming it is just making an adjustment to the cooler conditions and less light -- how long should it take before I see a new flush of leaves? Annie

Nick, those look great!!! Those look like the Meyers I get. Hobby, I love to cook also and am eagerly anticipating my new crop of lemons and Key limes. As of now, my biggest tree (Meyer) has just over 30 lemons...they range in size, but they are a decent size. However, it is loaded with buds! As soon as I get it outside it will burst. Can't wait!!! My Key lime that was soooo pathetic has 30+ Limes and is loaded with buds. It IS possible to get lots of fruit from container trees. Actually, the way I got into citrus was through a friend of my daughters who gave us a bunch of lemons to trade for honey. Her tree produced close to 50 lemons!!!

I used to grow citrus, until the floriduh dept of agriculture took them all away. My experience has been that when small, citrus trees normally drop most of its fruit and that is the recommended course of action. That channels energy towards growth instead of fruit. Planting shock can cause a tree to drop fruit and leaves, its important to not disturb root ball if at all possible. ALso a big change in sunlight can cause leaf drop, meaning if leaves sprouted in a shady place and then its planted in full sun, it will likely have some or most leaves drop. When planting a citrus tree you should water daily for a couple of weeks (unless your soil is heavy and retains water well, then it just requires steady moisture) until the tree is established and new roots are pushing out. Hold back fertilizer until the tree is well established, and even then go slow with fertilizer. Established citrus need water only every couple of weeks. Heavy watering and standing water can be a killer of citrus, causing root rot and forcing tree into decline. Generally speaking if you water enough to keep grass green and growing well, you are over watering your citrus and will soon see die back and rotted branches. Pruning is also not recommended except for removal of dead branches. Mulch is not necessarily a bad thing, if the soil is mostly sand and water drains very fast, I would use some mulch to hold on to some steady moisture. I sure miss picking my tangelos, persian limes, dancy tangerines, and navel oranges with my wheel barrow. Now I have to buy them.