I've been a bad lemon tree mommy

I've been horrible.  I've neglected my lemon tree.  My lemon tree = my baby.  I can't believe I've let it get this bad! 

Look at all of those yellow leaves!

A bunch of leaves have fallen off within the past couple days (see the lush looking tree when I first got it here).  It has gotten really bad in the last 72 hours.  The leaves are yellow because the tree is lacking nitrogen.  I found that out after doing some research.  At first, I thought it was because the soil was too wet, which can also cause leaves to be yellow.  After letting the soil dry out for about a week, last night a couple leaves that fell off had brown spots which means it needs to be watered.  Clearly, it wasn't over watering causing the leaves to turn yellow. 

I then found out it was a lack of nitrogen.  Apparently citrus trees need fertilizer with a 30-10-10 ratio of nitrogen-phosphate-potassium.  After work tonight I went and picked up Miracle Gro Miracid.  After re-potting the lemon tree into some fresh dry soil I applied the Miracid.  I'm supposed to feed the tree with it every two weeks, which means every other week I'll be using a solution of the Miracid to water the tree. 

On a happier note, the tree has a bunch of new leaf growth.  I'm happy about that!

You can see the new growth above by the yellow leaf that is going to fall off within the next 24 hours.  By the way, this is an amazing picture with the depth of field from the blinds.  I love it!

Not to toot my own horn here, but how awesome is that picture?!  I really think I should be photographing plants for my career.  Obviously, I'm pretty good at it.  :)  I'm also very modest.

Other good news -- the little lemons haven't fallen off and they've doubled in size since I got the tree.

At least the lemons are still doing okay.  I guess that is what matters.  I will try to be a better lemon tree mommy.  Why is it that I can grow any other plant just fine with no issues?  I can forget to water it, neglect it and nothing happens.  The plant just wilts a little but perks right up after being watered.  Why is it the the plant I care most about I am having issues with? 

I will keep repeating, "I will try to be a better lemon tree mommy.  I will try to be a better lemon tree mommy..."

Please welcome the newbies...

The new succulents I found at Ikea and then arranged into a pot and a new lemon tree.  Below you can see the succulents:

There's aloe and two other plants I can't remember the names of.  These plants are pretty low-maintenance, so caring for them should be easy.  Ikea has a pretty good selection of succulents, but they were picked over last week.  I spent a while searching for the three best looking plants. 

Lemon tree!

Sean and I were at Home Depot last week getting some paint for some unfinished picture frames I want to hang up in the dining room/kitchen.  A lot of people were wanting paint that evening so as we were waiting we were walking around the store.  I had found the cactus, palm, and citrus potting soil I needed for the lemon tree.  I was planning on ordering one online but wanted to have the soil prior to ordering it.  I, of course, wanted to look at the various plants outside.  As were were going down an aisle I saw mandarin and kumquat trees.  At the end of the aisle Sean found a bunch of Meyer lemon trees. 

We then chose the best looking tree there that already a few blossoms on it.  Also, some baby fruit.

By the way, I'm nerding out because I think this photo has some great depth of field.  Sean didn't seem too impressed.

This tree is much more developed than the last tree.  It would have cost me more in shipping to buy a tree online than at Home Depot.  As Sean can tell you, I got really excited walking around Home Depot carrying the tree around. 

The tree came in a plastic pot.  I had a pretty terra cotta pot that I bought for the first lemon tree, but we all know how that turned out.  After letting the tree's soil dry out for a few days I replanted the tree into the terra cotta pot on Sunday.  So far, so good.  The Miracle Grow cactus, palm, and citrus potting soil has worked pretty well.  It is supposed to improve drainage because of the materials in it.  I'm thinking about re-potting the succulents since I planted those prior to getting this soil.  Another project for another time I guess.

Almost there!

What looked like this on June 18th when I posted the picture the first time...

...now looks like this!

Those first four tomatoes are turning yellow, which is a good thing.  The sunbold tomatoes are ripe when they are a yellow/orange. 

Who's excited?

Out of control.

The apartment garden is out of control.  And by out of control, I mean, out of control.

I just did some major pruning on the tomato plants.  Well, I cut the sucker shoots that come up right near the bottom of the plant/top of the soil.  The biggest tomato plant has been trimmed back since a new shoot took over the top after cutting it a few weeks ago.  The biggest tomato plant (the sunbold) isn't the tallest anymore.  Shocker, I know!

The peach tree is getting huge too.  I don't know what I am going to when I can't fit it in the window anymore.  I don't have room in my apartment for a full sized peach tree.  I think I need someone to house it for me until I have a house someday to keep it at.  Anyone want to babysit a peach tree?

The untold beauty of a marigold

That is a beautiful flower that just opened its bloom.  It is a quiet, understated beauty.  I never really liked marigolds.  I know what you're thinking, "Then why did you plant some?"  Well, marigolds are a natural bug/pest repellent.  I was going to plant them around my community garden plot to keep unwanted intruders at bay.  And we all know how the community garden didn't pan out, so now I have marigolds blooming.  Once the bloom opens and looks like the above picture, it starts to look like...

...this.  Slightly lighter color, layering petals on top of petals.  I'm starting to change my mind about marigolds.  I have started to enjoy their simple elegance.  It really is great seeing plants grow from a tiny seed I've planted.  I think it's truly amazing.  I can't wait for the marigolds to continue to develop even more.

Happy blooming!

I have...

...baby tomatoes!  Four of them to be exact, with plenty of other blossoms on the way.

Just look at the tiny little tomatoes.  They get bigger every day.  These blooms are from the largest tomato plant in the pot, it's huge.  According to the labels Travis put on the planter, it is a Sunbold tomato plant.  Like I said, it is huge.

This picture isn't very good, but you can tell all four tomato plants have gotten big.  They're even taller now.  The tallest one is about 3/4 the way up to the top of the window.  The day it reaches the top of the window I'm going to be worried, or thrilled.  All four of the tomato plants are well over the top of the wire support, with the shortest one about 12 inches taller than the wire.

Here's the rest of the "jungle" as Sean calls it.  I can't imagine what people think when they see all of these plants in the window, but I don't really care.  I like the plants there, they make me happy.  I like planting a seed and watching how it sprouts and then what it grows into.  For example, the marigolds I planted that were tiny in a previous post now are quite bushy.  The flowers began to bloom a couple days ago.

I'm happy I got my green thumb from my father.  I usually let him know when something exciting has happened with my plants.  Tomorrow for Father's Day I'm headed to Sleepy Eye to go fishing with my dad.  Hopefully, we don't get rained out.  I know there's a chance of storms here this afternoon so hopefully it happens today and not tomorrow.  Have a good day and weekend!