Young lemon tree not thriving

[Babyluv]

Hi everyone,
We got a young lemon tree when dd was born so it's a special tree that I don't want dying but right now it doesn't look very healthy.
It is a small tree specifically for a pot and is in a big pot. It had a few suckers growing from the base so we removed them. It is in direct sunlight for most of the day. Watered about twice a week. Has fertilizer and food. It just flowered so I pulled them off because I've heard that growing lemons will drain the plant. It's leaves are very wilted and it doesn't seem to be growing any bigger.
Help, I'm clueless hehe.

[Miss.September]

Did it come with any advice on watering? Ours is a creeper one and was very specific about how to water (in one large dose once a week instead of little bits at a time). It might need some food. For the first 12 months, ours really struggled but then it seemed to find it's groove. Maybe cut a small bit off and take it into your local nursery to see if they have advice on what it needs. Good luck!

[willow5]

They like to be peed on, yes seriously! Would your DH pee on it? Loads of people swear by it, might be the acid, I'm not sure but they do like it. Maybe not directly on the plant but the soil

[Party-of-five]

They like to be peed on, yes seriously! Would your DH pee on it? Loads of people swear by it, might be the acid, I'm not sure but they do like it. Maybe not directly on the plant but the soil

My brother swears by this too

[Babyluv]

Yea we do give it food. No didn't come with any instructions and I'm not sure what sort of conditions it requires. Good idea, I should cut some off it and take it in. I'll get hubby to pee on it haha!

[Babyluv]

Am I crazy for feeling a little weird about eating lemons from a tree my hubby pees on?

[Aussiegirl777]

I think peeing on the tree is something to do with nitrogen.

I was told that lemon trees need 'not much love'. In other words if you smother them they don't like it. One big water once a week. None if it rains. No fancy fertilizer just some seasol. Also sun is good but directly in the wind (like a particularly windy thoughfare) is bad. If the pot is clay and they tend to letch the water from the soil when they pot heats up.

[Babyluv]

Oh yes it has seasol and I didn't even think of the pot leaching the water on hot days, thanks. Maybe I'm watering it too much. Is direct sunlight ok? The leaves look wilted and dried out. But it just flowered so I'm hoping it's still alright.

[Aussiegirl777]

Direct sunlight is good. Did the leaves slowly start the turn brown before they wilted. Say a little bit on the tip and then more until the whole leaf turned brown and then wilted?

[peanutter]

all the menfolk in my family peed on my parents' lemon tree. it thrived.

now that I have a DH and two DSs of my own, maybe my lemon tree will prosper, too?

[megs]

I was given a lemon tree for my birthday last year. As you can see I have boys, they all pee on the lemon tree and it is looking fantastic.

I live at the farm where my MIL used to live and she said they always died, maybe it is the pee that is the magic for our tree.

[Babyluv]

The leaves are still green but some are taking on a yellow tinge and they are curling under.

[Traveller]

my lemon tree is about a year old and is growing really well. It gets watered around once a week, and peed on regularly. We only let a few lemons grow as it is still young and the first time it grew fruit it broke one of the branches under the weight, so we remove most of the flowers as they form.

[Hansie]

Try potash too. Potash should really be used before it flowers. My lemon tree sounds like yours looks very unhappy with faded leaves. My MIL advised Potash can't remember off hand what is in it but it is something to do with the PH of the soil so it maybe the peeing thing lol. Only problem is mine is in the front garden so will have to send the boys out under the cover of darkness lol!

[Raupe]

Do the curled up leaves have little silvery marks on them? Like... trails? Have a look at the underside of the leaf. If it has trails on it, it could be leaf miners at work. You can treat the tree by spraying white oil (or eco pest oil) on the leaves, that'll prevent further damage by those little suckers!

Good luck!

[Babyluv]

Some of the leaves have tiny little ball point pen tip sized holes in them, I think something has been munching on my tree will have to get something for that!