Very sick Meyer Lemon Tree??

10 years ago

Over the last 3 months my Meyer Lemon tree has been slowly dying I think.
Approx. 6 to 8 weeks ago, I over watered the tree and noticed the color of the water was very yellow. I am an inexperienced gardener but I thought this was odd, but overall the tree looked healthy, had lots of fruit and I wasn't so worried. I do know the soil has a cactus soil mix and wondered if this is why the water looks yellow when draining or if my cats are peeing in the tree. Almost every single leaf has fallen off and some of the smaller branches on the lower half of the tree seem to be dying.

I'm not sure what to do other than try to flush the soil as best I can. So I have been pouring a couple pitchers of water at a time and letting it completely drained and then repeating. I have done this 3 times so far today, and wonder if I should continue to flush the soil or will I be hurting it even more.

I do go purchase a soil test kit which I have not done yet but plan, just want to read how to properly perform the test before using.

Anyone have some advice as to how to save this tree??

Thanks in advance :)

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Comments (5)

greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
10 years ago
As much light as possible. Light, light, light.

That's an incredibly well-developed (branched) tree, and would be a real shame to lose it.

What was in the potting mix that decomposed and turned the effluent yellow? Cactus mixes are usually peat-based and hold too much moisture for citrus...let alone cacti. At this point, I think you should *not* re-pot, but you might want to inspect the roots.

Stick a dowel or wooden skewer all the way into the container and use that to determine when the lower layers of the mix have dried out. This will help prevent over-watering.

When/if the leaves begin to re-grow, fertilize the tree.

Josh
blazeaglory
10 years ago
Damn thats a nice Meyer!

Hope it pulls through! And get that sucker some light! I know it might be hard because of the cold weather
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meyermike_1micha
10 years ago
I agree..What a beautiful shape even without the leaves..I hope it does pull through..

Just some simple steps might help.

As Josh say's light which you probably already provide..It looks like a sunny window.
A very well draining soil mix always and if you it not, use a wick on the bottom to help drain.
Flush your mix as you already did since it seems to be in a very fine mix which can collect salts from the fertilizer you use or your tap water which can look kind of orange yellow..
A wooden dowel as Josh says will help prevent over watering..

How do you know you over watered? When did you realize this?
Is your tree free of bugs too?
Has it seen a freeze or at one time been under watered?

Mike
joni
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for everyone's response :)

Hi meyermike_1micha,

I know I overwatered from having the pot sitting on the floor with a plastic water catch thing. It sat in water for a bit before I had someone help me get it onto the rolling crate that it now sits on.

I did notice one really small bug by the underside of the pot when I was flushing the soil. But other than that, nothing else.

As far as freezing, I don't think so. I brought the tree into the house early October, but there were a couple of nights the temp. was around 45-50 degrees, so maybe that??

I had been watering it once a week, with 1 pitcher of water until the time that I watered with an additional pitcher (which I thought it looked like it needed) and then discovered the extra water in the base pan the next day.

I am an inexperienced gardner and have no idea what to do other than getting some additional lighting (grow lights??)

Should I flush the soil again, just in case my cat had pee'd in the pot? Should I give it some kind of food/fertilizer?
jean001a
10 years ago
45 to 50 degrees isn't a problem. Meyers in pots are fine as long as the temp doesn't go below 32.

I wonder if the potting mix has dried out? I would think that size pot would be able to retain more water than you're applying.

Very sick Meyer Lemon Tree??

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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

blazeaglory

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Very sick Meyer Lemon Tree??

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greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a

blazeaglory

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