Meyer Lemon Tree Trouble

Grace_mpls

Hello,

I'm trying to grow my first citrus tree. I bought an Improved Meyer Lemon tree two weeks ago and have had some major ups and downs with it since then. I've read a lot of forums but am having trouble figuring out what my tree's problem is -- I'm hoping with the attached photos someone may be able to help. It has a few problems:

I live in the frozen tundra of Minnesota - so the tree suffered a bit of frost damage during shipment. The top leaves are curled - I think it will pull through from this - but am wondering if I should prune the branches that have damaged/missing leaves?

My apartment gets about 4 hours of direct sunlight at day so I am trying to supplement with some lights. I purchased a couple of "daylight" compact flourescent bulbs and have theme shining on the tree - are these the best bulbs for my situation or should I look at a different option? I did see improvement a few days after I started using the bulbs...but then....

In the last two days the plants bottom leaves have started to yellow and drop. I read in forums that this could be due to overwatering or a mineral deficiency. I just fertilized with a citrus fertilizer with high nitrogen content 5 days ago and I have been very careful not too overwater. So hoping someone can take a look at the photos and let me know your thoughts.

I've also been running a humidifier in it's room frequently and have been misting the leaves daily as the indoor heat is probably a bit dry for the plant.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Grace

 

 

Dovefromabove

We don't appear to have any photos Grace - to upload a picture from your pc you click on the green tree icon on the toolbar above where you type your post and follow the instructions. 

My immediate thoughts are that 4 hours of direct sunlight are not enough for a citrus, even with supplemental lighting - I would have thought it would need a heated greenhouse, or a conservatory at the very minimum.

You say you bought the plant two weeks ago - how often have you watered it?  In poor light conditions the plant is hardly going to be photosynthesising at all and doesn't need much water to maintain itself. I would let the top couple of inches of soil get quite dry before watering again.  

Also, is your piped water hard or soft?  Citrus need soft water so they are best watered and misted with rainwater.  

Looking forward to seeing the photos. 

Grace_mpls

Here's the photo - not sure what happened when I uploaded before. I have only watered it twice in two weeks. once when i potted it and once after i fertilized. I was also worried about the piped water so I started using distilled water for misting - but just recently so that may have been an issue as well. Thanks and let me know if you have any other thoughts  

 

Dovefromabove

It looks to me as if the leaves that are yellowing are the older leaves - this may be perfectly normal, as the lemon will shed old leaves and grow new ones - it may have been accentuated by the shock of moving etc, and I still think that light levels may be playing a part.

I suggest that you don't water  any more until the top two inches of the soil are bone dry.  

It's a long time since I've grown citrus, and that was in a large conservatory so I don't know about supplemental lighting - have a look here  http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lights/msg1013511925555.html