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My potted Meyer lemon always loses some leaves when I move it inside, 
and often loses some leaves when I move it outside.  Twice it has lost 
all its leaves, but so far has come back.  It does better outside when 
I put it in the ground - I can't keep the thing watered adequately in a 
pot when it has full sun.  It loves full sun when the roots are in the 
ground, though.  It also likes hot spells.  Poor thing doesn't really 
belong n Massachusetts, but it keeps on trucking.

I get a few lemons every year, and have never noticed a particularly 
thick skin.  If I wait until the fruit is very ripe, the skin gets 
loose, like a tangerine.

Ginda

On Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 06:17  PM, kathryn stout wrote:

> My potted Meyer lemon lost all its leaves last winter
> indoors (MA, Zone 5). I would not say it was due to
> disease. Both my potted citrus trees (Meyer lemon and
> Valencia orange) drop a lot of leaves whenever they
> are moved, especially when I bring them indoors in the
> fall. Drastic shifts in "climate" (temperature,
> humidity, light) cause leaves to fall. Last winter I
> also neglected (didn't water) the trees, to the point
> they got very dry. (Try watering more and see if that
> "leaf disease"  doesn't clear up). Potted trees that
> are potbound are hard to get to take up enough water.
>
> Anyway, by April when I usually move the trees
> outdoors (under protection of an overhanging roof) the
> lemon had lost all its leaves. I repotted both trees,
> both very potbound since I had not repotted or
> root-pruned in several years. I pruned back enough
> roots to put them back in the same pots with several
> inches to  spare for fresh soil and compost. I
> repotted them, watered them thoroughly, and left them
> under the overhanging roof. By May they were growing
> new shoots and leaves and were ready to place in the
> sun. After that they grew back beautifully.
>
> Moral: unless the branches are shriveled dry and dead
> (no green cambium under the bark) assume that they are
> still alive, and will regrow new leaves if given the
> chance. Citrus doesn't normally go dormant and drop
> all its leaves in a favorable climate (e.g. Southern
> California, where I grew up, surrounded by orange
> trees). But if you are growing it in a pot, in an
> unfavorable climate, subject to extreme shifts of
> temperature, humidity, and light (such as outdoors in
> October, nights 30-degrees F to indoors with electric
> heat and dry air) you have to expect some dropping of
> leaves. (Not usually all of them at once though. It is
> actually normal for outdoor citrus to drop some leaves
> too--just not all at once.)
>
> (I keep the trees outdoors as much as possible, down
> to 30-degrees F. Those temperatures are "winter" for a
> citrus (a So. Calif. winter). I've noticed the trees
> bloom about two months later after a month with
> 30-degree nights (in Calif. they bloom in late March).
> Here my potted citrus bloom twice a year, once indoors
> (between Dec-Feb) after their October chilling, and
> once in June (after the April chilling).
> I'm not sure but I wonder if greenhouse citrus, kept
> at a constant 60-70 degrees, blooms at all.
> My trees are so much happier and healthier outdoors,
> the only reason I bring them in is to keep them from
> freezing solid. They've survived snow once or twice.
>
> I used to think the relatively low indoor light caused
> leaf dropping. But I've given up trying to rig up
> growlights, which only stimulate strange-distorted
> growth that has to be pruned off later. Surprise, they
> seem fine on just window light (I have a lot of
> windows).  But they do need a lot of watering. Also if
> they get chilled sometimes they curl or stiffen up
> their leaves--turn the heat up and they look fine.
> (Rhododendrons do it why not citrus).
>
> Yes both my potted citrus bear fruit. I seem to recall
> that the lemon did not fruit this  year--though the
> orange did. It may take a season for a citrus tree to
> recover to the point of fruiting again after losing
> all its leaves--but with root pruning and fresh soil
> and compost and lots of water, the recovery is faster.
> In fact both trees are growing stronger
> than before. The lemon is blooming this winter
> indoors.
> I expect it will fruit next year.
>
> Kathryn Stout
> Zone 5
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- Richard O'Barr <aatopgunaa@mindspring.com> wrote:
> > Has anyone had the experience with a potted lemon
> > losing its leaves in the late Fall from leaf disease
> > and then producing a crop in the spring? My Lisbon
> > lost its leaves but the Meyer did not.
> >                Topgun
> >                Zone 7
>
>
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