From what I've seen in the news, you've had some very hot weather of late. That could stress the plant. Fruit drop is normal for a plant so small. How were the roots after being in a pot so long? If the plant is root bound, that can keep it from getting bigger.

Try watering in the fertilizer The roots can get it if it's on top of the soil.

Where are you located?

Looks fine to me for a recent transplant. I assume it's planted at the proper depth?
Also, to tag onto Lg's comment: how were the roots? Did you bare-root, did you correct
any odd roots, did you spread the roots outward like the spokes of a bicycle wheel?

Did you amend the soil in any way? Add compost, peat, et cetera to the hole at planting time?

How about weeding in a nice big circle, a half foot beyond the edge of the canopy, and adding
a layer of bark mulch up to an inch away from the trunk? The slow-release will work better if
buried under mulch/kept moist.

Josh

lgteacher is giving you excellent advice. Water in the fertilizer so it can get to the roots. If you're having terribly hot weather, consider giving your new little tree a wee bit of shade in the afternoon. Also, be sure to remove all the weeds and especially any grass from under the tree. Grass is a very high nitrogen demander, and will gobble up all that lovely nitrogen in your fertilizer, leaving little available for you tree. Mulch under your tree to conserve water.

Patty S.

Thanks for the replies all.

lgteacher, while it's been crazy hot in many parts of Vic, I live up in the mountains a bit and we've only had one hot day where it got to about 38c/100F, the rest of the time it's been high 20's low 30's. The hot day we had was about 5 days back and it started going yellow a bit before that.
The pot it was in previously was very big and hadn't actually got root bound, I also shook all the soil off and spread the roots out when I planted it. I don't think the issue is from being transplanted as that happened about 3 months back and it immediately looked happier and actually has grown about double the size since being planted in the ground.

greenman28, when I transplanted it, I dug a large whole and put a bit of new good quality potting mix in as the soil where I live can be quite clay like more than a couple of feet down. It retains a lot of water so I figured it might like to have some more free draining soil around it. It's been very healthy and happy until just the last couple of weeks. I also put a little fertilizer in the potting mix underneath it, not sure how long the slow release pellets last for, perhaps they are all used up by now.

hoosierquilt, it does get shade in the afternoon after about 3pm as there is a larger tree about 5 meters away to the west of it.

I'll clear some ground of grass from around it and put some mulch on top and see how that goes.

How can you tell if it's under watered or over watered?

I've attached a better image of the yellowing section, you can see some of the leaves that are still very healthy and the section that has started going yellow.

How is your fruit salad tree doing? Is it still alive?

Post is old, so I will reply to all. You cannot let grass grow under citrus trees.

Grass gives off a gas that will kill a citrus.

what gas is that?? oxygen??............

tetral hydohexal tricianide.

Steve,

Does someone TELL you these things, or do you just make them up?!

All my garden citrus have grass under them; it is because they are part of a garden; it does require a little more diligence and more fertilizer; but to date not one of my garden citrus has been killed.

Some of mine have grass growing in the pot with them and they are all fine...Many of my friends have grass right up to the trunk and only have a problem when they don't fertilize or water enough

John Grass puts out some kind of toxin in the soil, air or both that are detrimental to other plant in order to defend its space. It is best not to have grass growing under citrus trees. That pollutant is not oxygen as suggested. my father was a chemist and he ran the pilot plant for setting up mass productions. I am very familiar with terms that sound like my input above. Yes it is made up with as many hexa, penta tri and octas I could throw in with a well nown poison. GRASS DOES POISON CITRUS.

tetral? so 4, hydohexal never heard of that i have heard hydroxyl which is a free radical and can alter the chemical makeup of cells including DNA and it would also be able to alter plant cells, and tricyanide which is a bonding of 3 cyanide groups. so your telling me grass puts of 4 covalent bonded free radicals that are also bound to 3 cyanide groupings?? well cyanide inhibits cellular respirations in plants and if 3 of them were bound to 4 hydroxyl(which is a single oxygen atom bound to 1 hydrogen atom) then it fares to reason that the 4 hydroxyls could uptake the cyanide into a gaseous form but i have never heard of grass doing this?? im researching this currently as i had a few advanced chemistry classes though i am not a CHEMIST i do know what im talking about. so i will leave it at that compound could inhibit the cellular respiration of a plant in a gaseous form but whether or not grass actually produces this compound i see no evidence of, is it all "grass" species or a specific "grass" subspecies??

Grass has little effect on citrus other than up taking some nutrients prior to the nutrients making it to the trees roots. Next time I am near "the citrus country club" in la quinta I will take some photos of their almost perfect citrus trees that line their streets, they're all planted in grass. They all bear TONS of fruit every year and seem to laugh in the face of this deadly grass gas....haha sorry just having fun.

Evan

joshinya

good write-up. I enjoyed reading it. Citrus and grass do not do well together.

Citrus and grass do just fine together, that seems to be the overwhelming conclusion here.

Josh

Why do we keep telling people to get ride of there grass under their citrus trees in post after post. I am growing spinach and lettuce with my citrus trees and beets with my fig trees. I grew a watermelon plant with my seed grown meiwa kumquat and both did as expected but I would not waist money feeding grass.

Because grass competes for water and nutrients.

If one doesn't mind watering and feeding extra, no big deal.

A third reason to remove grass is for aesthetic reasons.

Josh

I'm with Josh on this; but another factor for Citrus is that citrus are very poor competitors; whereas, something like an avocado is a fierce competitor. In my gardens, where I have avocados, it is the grass that suffers.

John

I sure would be nice if we could graft citrus scions to avocado rootstock, or can we?

Heres some interesting info
And here
Here down in the chemical defense section

"Cyanogenic glycosides are a particularly toxic class of nitrogenous compounds that break down to produce hydrogen cyanide
(HCN), a lethal chemical that halts cellular respiration in aerobic
organisms. Plants that produce cyanogenic glycosides also produce
enzymes that convert these compounds into hydrogen cyanide, including
glycosidases and hydroxynitrile lyases, but they are stored in separate
compartments or tissues within the plant; when herbivores feed on these
tissues, the enzymes and substrates mix and produce lethal hydrogen
cyanide. Glucosinolates, also known as mustard oil glycosides, are sulfur-containing compounds synthesized by members of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and produce cyanide gas when broken down by enzymes called thioglucosidases."-Freeman, B.C. and G.A. Beattie. 2008. An Overview of Plant Defenses against Pathogens and Herbivores. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2008-0226-01

but heres a breakdown some grass does produce cyanide GAS but not common species and it wouldnt be in significant quantities to alter human, animal, or plant function unless we are talking vulnerable states e.g. impaired immune function animals or like seedlings or weak species of plants. but i dont believe grass will kill a citrus it may help aid its death if there are other factors going on like nutrient defficiency pests lack of water, poor photosynthesis blah blah blah. The main reason we pull out the grass is because its a prolific feeder and outcompetes the citrus. but what some have stated is somewhat true grass does emit volatile compounds as defenses at times but not in significant quantities to kill a citrus. id be interested in starting seedlings from seeds among grass seeds and see if there is a difference to a control group of seedling citrus not among grass seeds. Now i can finally go to sleep ;)

Wow^^^^

Sounds like I opened up a can of dead worms

Rhanks john. I have been growing beets and spinach under my citrus and figs and I had wondered if I should not have. I have considered purslane and lettuce too.

Steve,

Anything, but ANYTHING you put under a citrus competes with it for food and water; that is the sum total of reality; compensate the citrus for whatever the plant under it is taking and your citrus will be okay.... Here is a photo