Problem with my Meyer Lemon

I have a Meyer Lemon I planted in a container and at first it was showing little green balls on it, I started smacking my lips anticipating fresh lemons; but, then they turned yellow and before they got very big, they fell off the tree, I mean these are real bitty, not big enough to eat. What did I do wrong? Or what is wrong here?
joy

Joy, For some reason your tree does not feel vigorous enough to support the production of fruit. It is sending you a message. Take a good look at basic support for your tree. Something(s) is lacking. Don

Don: What could be lacking perhaps?
joy

How old is you meyer.....mine did the same thing when it was still young. I pulled most of them ( blooms) off so its roots can develop untill is large enough to support the fruit.

I've had a Meyer now for about ten years and this has happened often. I think it is cause by a dry period followed by too much water in early Spring. It's a task to keep the roots moist enough but not overly moist, and that's difficult in a hot climate. But I have seen lemons in nurseries that don't look like they had been watered for weeks and the soil was pulling away from the pots, but they had nice fruit. Go figure! I would lean toward less watering and see if that works. Most of the time we baby our prized plants too much.

Riceke: Easy said then done here, as we have had two weeks of thunderstorms and about two more weeks to come, I'm surprised I'm not floating down the street. LOL
joy

Could be water problems. May citrus trees are planted in the ground and this year I had a huge amount of fruit started. Trees all self pruned maybe a third or so off the tree. If too many fruits form the tree will drop some fruit but it shouldn't drop all of them. Size of the tree does matter, small tree is likely to hold very few as compared to a bigger older tree. I'm looking at my most productive year ever for citrus so either they liked the cold winter or the wet winter.

Water should be easy to control in a pot unless you put peat or something like that in the pot. My biggest problem is actually lack of water since I planted my fruit trees in sandy soil on a naturally draining slope. Great for heavy rains but not so good in drought. LOL.

Core: We have thunderstorms up until Wednesday and then it should give us a day or two break, at which time, out comes the spray, I really think it has had too much water.
joy

Joy, is this a new tree that had small fruit when you purchased and transplanted in a new pot?

It was a small tree that got fruit almost immediately after I planted it, like a week afterwards, it has a few more on it now and I think perhaps it might have suffered a little from shock and perhaps too much water. I hope it does better the older it gets, the reason I put it in a pot is so I could bring it in during the winter and I did choose a big pot, and I'm using citrus fertilizer, the amount I was told to use. My Key lime, also first year for it, has had it's flowers fall off, no fruit yet; but was told I wouldn't get fruit the first year with it, the banana I heard won't produce fruit the first year either.
joy
joy

Joy you have all the same trees as I do.....

All citrus drop some of the tiny immature fruit. They will retain only as many as they can sustain. Last year I had about 80 set on and ended up with 6 mature lemons. As the tree ages it can support more fruit.

My 3 year old son ate most of my bloomes off the meyer lemon. Ugh the woes of tall children and dwarf trees

Garden Chick: Don't I know what you are talking about there, I was saving a special tomato for someone and although I had two containers full of tomatoes, which one did my daughter grab to make a BLT out of? The special one, I've learned to seperate them now. LOL I don't suspect I'll get much fruit this year; but was not expecting it either, so I'll be okay with it if I don't. This rain is really bringing out the fruit and the bugs to where I can't spray, have decided to use Ivory and water to help til I can spray. No dry weather in sight and I've done the google on the 10 day forecast for my area, ugh.
joy

Same problems with the rain here as well. I had to go out today with my soap spray.....I Hate afids

Garden Chick: Do you make your own soap spray? I thought about mixing up some Ivory dish soap, hot sauce, garlic powder and water in a spray bottle and going to town with it, I haven't pruned the tomato plants, have 70 of them and they are producing like crazy, problem is, I'm getting some big green ones now and don't want to spray with the Bug Be Gone as you gotta wait 10 days before harvesting and with this rain, what good will it do anyways? Thunderstorms right up through the 13th! Groan.
joy

If your pot drains well you shouldn't have much problem with a lot of rain. Like I said I picked a place in my yard that was sandy and drained well because we very well can get an afternoon thunderstorm day after day in the summer. Citrus trees can take a lot of water they just can't sit in water. This year I'm trying to not spray anything on the trees just to see how that works out. The only bug problem I've seen is thrips and I'm not actually sure if that was the problem last year. Whatever was the problem was only effecting new flushes of leaves and making them curl up a little, unsightly yes, bad for the trees not really. Had nothing ever go after the fruit. I have a small fruit orchard (12 trees) and mine are more for go than for show so I'm trying to stay away from spraying anything on them if I can. We will see how that goes.

Irovy and water will work fine.

CoreHHI, I would anticipate that your "no spray" experiment success will depend a lot on what you have in the way of fruit orchards surrounding your home orchard. No matter what you do a lot can come in from your neighbors. Hope it works out well for you. Don

I use a drop or two of dawn and one smaall drop of cooking oil. After it has dried I rince with water. I do alwayse loose a couple leaves off my roses bush, but not many at all I think its more from the hard spraying water. But I am also still a beginner as I have only been gardening for 2 years. But I have learned more on DG than anywhere else but my grandma.

Thanks, I haven't sprayed my fruit trees yet with anything except pyrethrin and spinosad to ward off any bugs, it's organic so it's fine; but, my tomatoes and eggplants are taking a beating. I'm still getting great tomatoes though, two pails full a day, but then again with 70 tomato plants I ought to, I was thinking Ivory dishwashing, garlic, tobasco with water for the tomatoes perhaps?
joy