Hi;
We have a lemon tree that we bought in January, the main trunk/branch had a clean cut which we assumed was from topping? But he had three very small lemons which we let drop off on their own and seemed healthy. He's been inside all winter but by the glass back doors so getting as much sun as possible without being too close to the radiators. He's been going in and out the past couple weeks to get used to being outside and has been outside fully the past couple days in the sun.

A month or so ago I gave him a prune of any of the dead branches that snapped off with a very light touch. Our red lime tree we bought at the same time has been growing rapidly and has lots of new leaves but our lemon tree seems to have no new growth and even a little bit of sap? On the trunk. I'm not sure if this is stress from a pest problem? Or if he needs something to be healthier, do you have any tips?

We currently do a top water maybe once a week and spray a water/citrus food mix once a week. If particularly dry, I'll fill the sink with a couple inches of water and let both lemon and lime sit for 15mins and then let them drip dry.

Many thanks for reading and any response is appreciated.
Jade

Boy!
I don't think I'd have wanted that one.
Maybe trim back that huge stub back to a fork?

Can't imagine why anybody would chop it that way.

That's not the one I would have chosen either but, at this point, it is what it is. From the size of the stem at the cut, that originally was a very large tree.

Keep the soil damp by watering thoroughly when it needs it. That means water until some comes out the bottom of the pot. Fertilize every other month, while the trees are in active growth, with citrus food mixed at half strength. Citrus are trees, constantly feeding them and sprinkling with water is not what they need. Forcing a tree to grow quickly leads to rapid but weak growth.

Putting the trees in a saucer (or sink) to soak up water is also a good way to water but after fertilizing, at the next watering, run water through the soil to get rid of excess salts from the fertilizer.

I am in disagreement with Lucy on citrus; I have found in long-experience that they are heavy feeders, and few hobbyists feed enough. Especially in a pot, feed full strength with a high-iron citrus food every third or fourth watering in growing seasons. Alternatively, one can use a time-release pelleted cirus food.
I don't know what you have been spraying it with, but plants can't absorb sufficient nutrients through their leaves. Without nutrients there will not be growth.

Nobody mentioned the need for repotting?

Looks like maybe it was chopped because it was too large for the container...

Chopping the top does nothing about the over grown root system...

Thank you all so much! I have repotted him and done a full water from the top until some comes out the bottom. We've had a good amount of sunshine so been out during the days.

The spray mentioned was the diluted citrus food which I was spraying on top of the soil and on the leaves to help humidity inbetween full watering. I'll make sure to mix with the water fully on the third or fourth water instead.

And I'll prune that top stub back too, I was worried it would be too much stress on it after the small prune and repotting. Hopefully it'll be in better health soon 😊