Hi all, a few weeks ago I bought my first citrus tree. I’ve been keeping it indoors and watering it about once a week. I fertilized it once. The past week it’s warmed up a lot so I put it outside in the sunshine, where it would get about ten hours of sunlight a day, thinking it would do it some good. Now as you can see, it’s dropping all of its leaves (and fruit) and I’ve since taken it inside again. In hindsight, what I did was stupid, and I’ve learned from my mistakes, and I should’ve put her in the shade first to acclimate. Now my question is, will she be ok? This year? Next year? (When) will the leaves regrow and when will it grow fruit again? Any tips on how to care for it would be appreciated!
by fawntone
3 Comments
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This looks like a pretty classic citrus tantrum from a big sudden change: indoor conditions straight to long outdoor sun, plus fertilizer and a heavy fruit load, is a lot all at once. I’d take off most or all of the fruit now so it can spend energy recovering, keep it in the brightest indoor spot or sheltered bright shade outdoors, and water deeply only when the top couple inches start drying instead of trying to “make up” for the leaf drop. If the twigs stay green when lightly scratched, it can absolutely push new leaves again, but fruiting may take a while because the priority now is getting the roots and canopy stable 😊
Just keep it outside, they’re hardy as a STD.