Lemon tree help!

zpatel.htcZPC4_TZG

Hello!

I have a lemon tree that was kept indoors from Jan 2021, it was going well until the end of the year all the leaves dropped off. Which I thought was normal because it was winter, nothing grew this spring so I thought it had died.

Last month it started shooting from the bottom of the trunk! But now I have dead branches at the top and new healthy  shoots from the bottom. 

What do I do to the top of the tree? Will it get stressed out if I cut off all the dead wood?

tui34

Morning!  

It depends where the sprouts are coming from.  If they are above the grafted area, then you can cut off the dead trunk and encourage the new growth.  If they are below the graft, then they are useless - or just good as decoration.

Nanny Beach

Confused,you put it indoors Jan 21, the end of the year (December?) the leaves fell off. Are you in the UK? What care did you give it overwinter? They are trees,they dislike dry heat,ie, central heating. The beast from the east, when we had unheard of temperatures of -12c at night for a while, mine lost their leaves,but grew fabulous new ones the following spring. It's the wrong time of the year to prune,but you have nothing to loose by following tui34's advice. Have you put it outside now? Give it a light feed, regular watering,spray the leaves,see what happens.

zpatel.htcZPC4_TZG

Thanks for the tips, I’ve been leaving it outside since it’s summer now and been super warm in London. When it was inside it was by the conservatory window (south facing) so loads of direct sunlight. I’ve been using citrus fertiliser once a month since May. Over winter I didn’t do much to it, carried on watering when it got dry but that was it. Is there special care for winter?

Also what is the graft line and how do I see where it is?

Nanny Beach

They dont like south facing even in winter, too dry. Graft line, usually a sort of knobbly bit will take a picture of one of mine.