David WE Roberts wrote:

"downholme" wrote in message
...

We were, slightly to our horror, given a 18" tall lemon tree in a pot
for Xmas. I have no experience of citrus in the UK.

It's currently in an unheated, SW facing conservatory. Temp got down to
zero in there! It came with 3 lemons, all now picked and is forming one
new lemon.

I am mindful of not overwatering it; I have begun feeding it with citrus
feed at the recommended intervals (in rainwater) and it seemed to be OK-
it's got blossom on it- BUT now the leaves are dulling, in places
yellowing a bit, even curling and all in all it doesn't look that
happy.

I guess I need to move it outdoors but is it safe to do so with possible
frost still forecast or are its chances better out there in a sunny
sheltered spot that in a possibly overheating conservatory?

Any advice please!

Our pot lemon tree (bought from Aldi a while back) is also still indoors.
It has also had some leaves turn yellow and drop off, but still seems
perfectly happy and is putting on more top growth.
I find the balance of watering very difficult - even now that I have a
moisture meter.
If it is allowed to dry out too much the very smallest new shoots
shrivel and die, but as soon as it is watered again new growth takes off.

Our other lemon, grown from a small cutting bought at The Range a few
years ago, is already outside.
In fact, this is the only winter that it has been inside - because of
the unusually severe long term cold.
It has the moisture meter at the moment and seems to be staying stable
with the moisture content.
The indoor pot dries out very quickly.
The other thing the water meter showed was that my watering was not
getting down to the bottom of the pot so I increased the water until the
meter showed moisture.

You don't say if there is new growth - none, a little, loads - so it is
difficult to judge the health.
If there is no new growth then you may be under watering; always a risk
when you are aware of the dangers of over watering.
I wouild have thought that an unheated conservatory was ideal for winter
and spring as long as you make sure that the lemon is watered enough,
because it is likely to dry out quicker.

I have mine in a pot tray - because it is on the carpet!
I have found that if you water slowly, and keep adding water until some
just starts to come out of the bottom of the pot, then this is about
right according to my moisture meter.
This assumes that the potting medium is properly wetted already, and the
water is not just running straight through.

There is some advantage to standing the pot on something in the pot tray
so that surplus water is clear of the bottom of the pot. 5mm plastic rod
for instance to leave an air gap. They don't much like wet feet.

My tree is now about 3' high (including new top growth) and is in a 9"
pot which makes me think it may be due for potting on.
I expect that the pot size is the minimum to keep it healthy for
shipping and sale so as to keep the production and shipping costs down.
I will pot it on when the weather is a bit warmer and should then see
from the roots if it is currently pot bound.

Mine is slightly smaller than that and was pot bound when I repotted it.

Regards,
Martin Brown