Hi, Thanks for your reply! To clarify, the "tree" (better described as a stick with a couple of leaves and a few marble sized fruits) is still in the pot outside. It is uncovered because we are currently having night-time temperatures in the low 40's. I have lived here for about 4 seasons and it hasn't been the same two years in a row. In general it is WET and dark during the winter and dry during the summer though of course the northwest is known for it's wet climate. So far it has snowed just once each winter (3 out of 4) and there can be about a week's worth of mid 20's weather though I would say in general there is usually a couple of months hovering in the mid 30's. Did I mention it's wet? I mean the soil eventually becomes super-saturated. So right now the little "tree" is in it's own micro-bog though I imagine it's dormant. The little fruits are turning yellow (in a bad way). One thing I could do is transplant it into a smaller pot with some commercial potting soil (somewhere I saw it suggested to use maybe 30% cedar bark also?) and bring it inside (or at least put it as out of the rain as possible). Might well be a huge shock though and maybe I'd be better off waiting 'till spring. Anyhow it sounds like bringing it inside each year would be the better plan as far as having a relatively steady supply of lemons. Is that what you do? thanks bob

Liminqueens, thanks for the science, learned something today! :) Mike, I'll give it another week or so, since we just had a freezing advisory a couple of days ago and days are not quite in the 70's yet, more in the 50/60s right now. You're saying its ok to bring them in and out like that? I saw a post not too long ago from someone that had a tree that did great on his patio, and then lost all its leaves and deperished the second he brought it back inside for the winter. Something about light difference shock and temperature issues. How do I avoid my tree going bald when I bring it back in? I'm going to be very candid with you: that is the very reason I have been going back and forth in my mind and hesitating in bringing the trees outside for the summer, because of all the posts here and elsewhere that show bugs infestations on their Meyer lemon trees, and trees in shock when brought back in. Is the risk vs reward worth it taking them out for a couple months? If you tell me it is, I will believe you but it's a question worth asking, ya know? I have been holding my breath around my trees since I got them, and considering they seemed to be doing ok, I was frankly afraid to do anything that might hurt them or expose them to parasites. So if I'm going to take them out on the patio, I want to make sure I don't screw it up. The Patio has mostly shady areas (for most of the day, anyway), and full sun areas (same, for most of the day), but no filtered sun areas, since its a patio and not a garden and I don't have other trees out there. Does that pose a transition problem for my trees? And if it's going to be really cold 2 weeks after I bring them out, what do I do, take them back in for the night? Now about soil, keeping in mind that my trees are going to stay potted and go back in for the winter. I've read a lot about 511, and it's also available already mixed, so that's definitely a plus. I've read about gritty soil as well, but quite frankly, I don't have the experience to decide which one is best, so right now it's pretty much flip a coin to pick one for me. Should I put something else at the bottom of the pot, like gravel, to make sure it drains properly? I've also read people using coconut fiber pads to help the water drain well. A lot of questions, I know. And I'm sure I'll have more of them before I'm done, too. So thank you again for taking the time to help. Atheen PS: Been trying to get back into my first post to correct the pic orientation, but can't seem to find a way to go back in the original post to edit it. I can edit the comments, but not the first post. Am I missing something?

When I made the mix I added about 1 tbsp of Lime per gallon. I will do a soil PH test tomorrow. I use tap water, will check its PH as well. I took a closer look and found some small long light-colored bugs that move pretty fast. Maybe thrips? I think I found a few mites as well. Will try to take a picture tomorrow. So would a simple soap/neem oil spray take care of these bugs?

The temperature at night outside can go down to -1 and during the day I guess between 6-11 maybe. I only have the window open for 5 to 10 mins. And if I'm being very honest I don't always do it daily. On the subject of honesty and I feel slightly stupid for saying this... But I'm actually not sure how much water you're supposed to use when watering. So everytime I've watered the tree I've used my blender jug as it's the only thing I had to hand with measurements on it. And I've filled it up to 500ml and given that to the tree. The tree is balanced on a few stones in a tray so water comes out the bottom and stays in the tray away from the base of the pot. I searched all over the internet to try and find out how much water to give it but I couldn't find any information. So when it came to giving the tree winter citrus food the instructions say 1 level teaspoon per 2.5ltrs. So I divided 2500 by 4 and 5 (teaspoon in ml) by 4 as it made sense to divide them both by 4 to get that I should put 1.25ml per 625ml. (I'm really bad at math.) So I could have overwatered it, I'm not sure, I did check to make sure the soil on top was dry though before watering. The grow light is 40cm above the tree. Thank you all again for all your help it really is priceless.