Poor Persian Lime Tree

Question

I am in San Antonio where we had snow about a month ago. I bought this lime tree in early January and never repotted it but it was doing great. I put it in my garage for the snow storm, brought it back out two weeks later and let it be in a little shade for a few more days. There was some new growth. I waited a few more days then repotted. I used fertilizer and watered well. Pretty quickly,the leaves dropped and the green is gone from the branches. When I bend the branches back, some have snapped. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Persian Lime cannot stand more than a few degrees below freezing before it is damaged. Snow on the ground indicates that the temperature went at least to freezing and maybe below, at which point the trunk will suffer damage. Leaf fall may have been first due to low temperatures but will have been reinforced by trunk freezing and possibly root damage as well. The brief regrowth may have been due to localized sap which was rapidly exhausted when the trunk was not able to replace it since the conducting tissues will have been killed.

About all that can be done right now is to keep the root moist but well drained in a warm but shaded place, and prune back the top to the point that cuts produce a moist surface, then hope for the best. If and when it produces new shoots from the remaining structure you can think about reshaping it.