Caring for citrus and fruit trees is easy if you avoid the pitfalls.  This article will break it down in simple and easy steps to help you keep your trees happy and healthy.
To make it convenient you can just click on the links below that will show you the recommended products.

WATERING 

Underwatering and overwatering are both detrimental to the tree.
Citrus Trees prefer infrequent, deep watering. Generally, once a week is all that is needed.
We strongly recommend utilizing a Moisture Meter for trees grown in pots that reads between 1-10 before watering, because once a week watering could be too much water for a container-grown, indoor tree.
Once the tree has been watered properly, check the soil with the moisture meter after the water drains to make sure the meter reads 10. This will ensure that the tree has been watered deeply and properly. You will not have to water the tree again until the meter reads 4.
Do not leave the meter in the pot when not in use.
Moisture meter for trees grown in the ground

FERTILIZERS-  FOR CITRUS AND AVOCADO

Do not use these products on fruit trees (Look under the Fruit tree recommended fertilizers)

I highly recommend Dyna-Gro Foliage Pro. This product helps plants thrive and has nutrients that other fertilizers may not have enough of. I use this product as a foliar spray,  although you can also water the tree with it. The great thing about this product is when using it as a foliage spray, it goes straight to the tree within days, so you don't have to wait to water and feeding through the root system of the tree takes time for nutrients to break down.

When fertilizing with any of the recommended products, keep in mind that the directions on the bag of fertilizer are directions for trees that are planted in the ground, not for container-grown trees, so be careful not to use too much fertilizer at one time for a potted tree.
When using Fertilome Fruit, Citrus, and Pecan Tree Food, be careful not to use too much of this product due to its high ratio of nitrogen. The ratio is 19-10-5 so it's a great product to use occasionally. Normally when using the high nitrogen Fertilome Fruit, Citrus, and Pecan Food I'll wait a month and then switch to something that is not so high in nitrogen, such as Espoma Citrus Tone or Fish Emulsion
Occasionally I'll add Bone Meal mixing a quarter cup to one gallon of water and water the tree with the mixture.  Bone meal will cause the tree to grow and bloom, so it is important to know bloom times.
For Orange trees, a good time to use the bone meal mixture is mid-February if your tree is indoors and protected from freezing temperatures. Don't overuse bone meal due to the tree's need for nitrogen. Citrus are heavy nitrogen feeders and bone meal has phosphorus.
Whenever you use bone meal you must supply a nitrogen fertilizer within a few weeks or within a month.
Sometimes I mix equal parts of bone meal and Blood Meal together (2 tablespoons of each) to 1 gallon of water and water the tree with the mixture since blood meal is a nitrogen product.
If you are feeding an orange tree,  I would simply use a quarter cup of just the bone meal in February and then in a month use a nitrogen product. This way the tree gets the boost of phosphorus for growth and blooming.

Orange trees bloom between February through May so the bone meal will give it the boost it needs to bloom just keep in mind it is important to make sure you feed the tree nitrogen fertilizer thereafter so the tree has plenty of nitrogen to produce and grow the fruit.

Although I have recommended quite a few fertilizers, you can just pick a few of them and add to your stock over time.  Dyna-Gro would be at the top of the list.

If you ordered the smallest tree then I would transplant the tree after 2 weeks into a larger pot before starting a fertilizing schedule.

A high nitrogen fertilizer like Fertilome Fruit, Citrus Pecan Food is a good product but be careful when using it for a potted tree, you don't want to use too much with a ratio of 19 on the nitrogen.
(3 gallons pots) 1 teaspoon every other month
(7 gallons pots) 1 tablespoon every other month
(10 gallons pots) 2 tablespoons every other month.

On the months you skip you can choose 
Blood Meal,
Fish Emulsion or
Citrus Tone

so you'll be feeding the tree something monthly, Just use the same ratio above for the pot sizes, the fish emulsion needs to be diluted in water.
Since trees are living things I try to consider the fact that I would not want to eat the same meal every day. After a while, my favorite meal would not be my favorite anymore.
So I try to consider that when feeding my trees and give them some variety.
Also, please keep in mind, your tree is trapped in a pot, like a fish in a fishbowl and it cannot get nutrients unless you provide them. If we fed our fish the same way we fed our trees, in many cases the fish would be floating belly up.

For trees planted in the ground please follow the directions on the bag and if your winter is cold stop fertilizing in mid-September.

FRUIT TREE FERTILIZER

Fertilizing Fruit trees like Olive, Figs, Persimmon, and Pomegranate are a lot simpler to manage.
Find an even number fertilizer like  Southern AG All-Purpose Fertilizer 10-10-10

Fruit trees can get phenomenal growth and bloom with Bone Meal using a quarter cup per gallon of water only once or twice per year.

OTHER RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

LIGHTING
Good lighting is a requirement for all citrus. Green leaf drop is the #1 problem caused by a lack of light. Trees get their energy from the sun. If the tree doesn't get enough sunshine then it will start dropping its foliage, which is a vicious cycle, if it doesn't have the energy it requires it will eventually die.

We recommend a compact fluorescent light (CFL) 5000k grow bulb, which is a full spectrum bulb that promotes overall plant growth. This should be screwed into a reflector, so the light is directed onto the tree and not used just as a bulb in a standard lamp or overhead light. Without the reflector, the light is too dissipated to be of much use. The lights can be purchased as a full set, bulb with the reflector at :
https://www.acfgreenhouses.com/green-thumb-clamp-on-grow-light.aspx   When purchasing this light be sure it's ONLY the 5000K in the drop-down menu.

Multiple trees
If you have multiple trees you might want to consider the Sun Blaze T5 Fluorescent Grow Light.
https://www.acfgreenhouses.com/sun-blaze-fluorescent-t5-grow-light.aspx

SOIL TREATMENT

The secret of healthy and great-looking trees begins in the soil. If the soil is poor and lacking nutrients the tree will do poorly. Fungus delivers many essential nutrients to the root system of trees and increases drought resistance.  Fungi produce specialized acids and enzymes that break the bonds that bind nutrients to the soil and organic compounds.
Mycorrhizae Fungi, are the principal structures for most nutrient uptake in the plant kingdom.

Tree roots and fungi form a symbiotic relationship. The Mycorrhizae Fungi form large networks of fine filamentous growth throughout the soil. The roots and the fungi assist each other with the fungi collecting water and nutrients for the plant's root system and the tree assists the fungi by feeding the fungi sugars.
Soil Acidifier will help reduce alkalinity for all acid-loving Citrus Trees.

PEST PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

There are a few simple preventative measures that can help considerably to prevent pest infestation. Trees that have spider mites, aphids, scale, etc need to be completely washed off with sudsy dawn dish soap. Killing the pest is only part of the problem. Honeydew left on the tree will eventually cause the tree to deteriorate. So wash the foliage and then you can treat the tree with Neem Oil.

A tape barrier is crucial in protecting the tree in the winter. If you have to take your tree indoors in the winter then chances are high you live in an area that has dormant trees outside.
Consider your outdoor surroundings, are the trees and bushes barren, with no foliage?
If you get warming temperatures that fluctuate from warm to cold, ants can become active along with spider mites and the only foliage around is your tree.

Tape barriers are simple. Just wrap a wide piece of Masking Tape around your tree (not the whole tree) Just a section no wider than the width of your tape will do and wipe Tanglefoot on the tape. This will prevent pests from crawling up the tree to get to the foliage.

I always do a few preventatives to protect my trees. Diatomaceous Earth is also helpful, just sprinkle a small amount on top of the soil. Imagine you are a bug crawling across the soil to get to the tree, if the bug crosses into the Diatomaceous Earth it will get cut up and die of dehydration, so you don't need to use a lot of it.
I also use Gnat Traps in the event the soil has fungus gnats.
Mosquito Bits  sprinkled on the soil's surface or mixed with potting soil prior to planting will kill fungus gnats

If you see fruit flies flying around the foliage, you'll need to wash the tree. Fruit flies and fungus gnats are not the same types of flies.
Fruit flies are your best friend in the winter, they will let you know if there is honeydew on the foliage, and honeydew is a killer to the tree. Once the honeydew is gone, they will leave also.
Fungus gnats hang out in the soil, so if the fly isn't mainly interested in the foliage area of the tree, it's a gnat. You can also smear tanglefoot on a bottle that has a small amount of apple cider vinegar in the bottle, they can't resist the Apple Cider Vinegar and will get stuck in the tanglefoot.
Citrus leaf miners can be a real nuisance. They are larvae that originate from several types of insects such as moths. They lay their eggs on the trees and the young larvae burrow into the leaf, eating the foliage. They are not harmful to the tree but they can make your tree look less attractive. I use Fertilome Fruit Tree Spray which can also be used as a fungicide.

CITRUS GREENING 

Brassinolide- This product is for research purposes.

The Asian citrus psyllid has put the United States Citrus industry in serious jeopardy.
Citrus Greening is the worst citrus disease in the world and is causing devastation that's spread by this disease-infected insect. The US consumer has little knowledge of this devastating insect that has caused billions of dollars in loss for the Citrus industry and whole abandoned orchards and groves throughout Florida.
The Asian psyllid pierces through the tree to suck out the sap, and if it is a carrier of the virus it enters the tree and causes long-term damage until eventually, the tree dies.
The cell walls of the foliage collapse which will not allow foliar sprays to enter the cell walls because the cells are so small the particles cannot enter the cell to be absorbed into the tree.
If there is an issue with collapsing cells, no foliar sprays will ever help the tree and with collapsing cells eventually, this causes the breakdown of photosynthesis and loss of nutrients.

The brassinolide causes cell elongation, which expands the cells, allowing the nutrients and sunshine to pass through.
The brassinolide won't hurt the trees since it is a growth hormone and natural in plants.

Please keep in mind the Brassinolide product is for research purposes.
Normally I would not recommend a product that is for research purposes but trees with Citrus Greening survival rate is low, the tree dies within a few years unless measures are taken to save the tree.

THYME GUARD
Organic Bactericide, Fungicide, and Insecticide

SETUP IDEAS

When watering the tree properly the soil should be drenched and with the deep-watering method, a lot of water should drain from the holes in the bottom of the pot, which requires a Catch Tray when trees are indoors. I recommend a hard plastic tray that can hold over a gallon of water for larger trees. The tree should be above that catch tray so it doesn't sit in standing water. A Small Plant Stand is helpful in keeping the tree elevated above the drainage tray.

If you have any questions please contact us at support@lemoncitrustree.com or call

Happy Growing,
Nancy
866-216-8733

LemonCitrusTree