A number of weeks ago I bought a small Mexican lime tree and put it in a container in my house, where it seemed to be doing OK - then I promptly wrecked it. I took the advice about letting the soil dry between waterings a little too literally and it lost about 3/4 of its leaves in one go. Since then, I’ve been watering once a week, maybe about 1/2 a litre, and it’s still losing one or two leaves a week and looking kind of Charlie Brownish, although it is still sending out blossoms. Should I be bumping that watering to twice a week?
Generally speaking, citrus don’t thrive in containers (unless the containers are very large). In groves, citrus like deep, bi-weekly watering. In a container, I would wait until the top inch or so of the soil is somewhat dry, and then water very heavily. Don’t let the roots sit in waterlogged soil for a long time.
FWIW, I grow 20-odd varieties of citrus at my house.
ETA: if this was a bare-root plant, it will take it a while to develop a new root system - keep the soil around the roots moist (but not wet) until it does.
What part of the world are you in? In general, citrus bloom in the spring, and only grow new leaves then.
It’s got good drainage, so in theory waterlogging shouldn’t be an issue, and I’ve been making sure to empty out the draining dish if there’s standing water.
Would water alkalinity be a factor? I know citrus prefer an acidic soil, I wonder if alkaline water could make a plant that unhappy?