Lemon Tree

About a year ago I bought a lemon tree from an online retailer – brighter blooms.com – and stuck it in the studio near the window. It seemed to be doing great for quite a while. It would periodically flower and even get tiny little lemons:

But about two months ago I may have gone and ducked it all up.

While it would bloom occasionally, it never really got bigger or added new leaves. I guessed that maybe it was in too small of a pot, so I transplanted it into a BIG pot. Maybe that was a mistake. It’s been a couple of months and the leaves are slightly dry, there’s been no more blooming, and I’m wondering if it’s dead:

So I reached out to Brighter Blooms to see if it’s truly dead of if it’ll come back. Here’s the reply:

Hi Bryan,

Thank you for reaching out and explaining your concerns! I suggest doing a scratch test if you are worried about the health of your tree.

To do this, scratch an area of about 1-2 inches of bark on the trunk of your tree, near the soil line with a coin or a fingernail. If you see green, then the plant is alive and should recover! Unfortunately, if you see brown or black underneath, then the plant is dead.

If you do see green or white under the tree’s bark, the leaves may have dropped as a self-pruning measure. This acts as a reset for the plant and is normally just temporary. You should see new growth soon!

Frederick

So I performed the ‘scratch test’ and here’s what I found:

See the green spot on the trunk? Apparently that means the tree is not dead yet! Stay tuned to #lemontreesaga for future drama!