Indoor Mini Orange Tree Problems

14 years ago

I have a mini orange tree that will only get between 4 and 6 feet max. It is currently 20 inches tall. The problem started immediately after I got it from the nursery. It immediately, dropped new green fruit and leaves within 24 to 48 hours. I suspected that the nursery, screwed up as the tips of some leaves turned brown at the same time. I immediately went to arid recovery and heavy misting. The leaves stopped dropping in mass. But they still drop about once every 2 to three weeks now. I have about a good dozon leaves left.

The tree gets about 3 to 4 hours of direct sun in winter and 4 to 6 hours in the summer. Indirect light is upwards of 5 to 8 hours. I also have added a simple common grow light as the plant appeared to need more lighting.

The problem is no new growth at all. No new leaves nothing. Where stem lost all leaves are now dead.

I am at a loss of what to do. I have done what I can but I think there was a royal screw up by the nursery when they repotted the plant for me as it needed to be repotted as it originally looked under watered and new dropped fruit though green and black were dry stressed.

I moved to light watering and heavy misting as it is an indoor only plant. The temps range in winter indoors from 60Â° to 80Â° depending on weather. Colder when there is heavy ice and snow and warmer when blue skies.

need help please!!

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Comments (4)

meyermike_1micha
14 years ago
# 1 Provide alot more sunlight or artificial as possible at those temp! At least 12-14 hours if you can.
# 2 I would check the roots immediately and while your at it,
# 3 Plant it back into a very porous well draining soil.

You say you have stem death after the leaves drop? A sign of poor root function.
If the roots breath too, you will see your plant react for the better, quickly.
Who knows how that tree was treated right before you bought it. Please make sure roots are ok..I usually do this before I even bring one home.It will save you alot of aggrivation and wasted time trying to figure a problem, when it is as easy as knowing the roots health first.

Can you give it outdoor sunlight at this time of year by day? I would. The most sunniest spot. Citrus seem to heal all ailments with full sun pretty quickly..

In short, check roots, change the soiless mix immediately, provide lots more sunlight, do not feed, do not overwater.
Give it as much as humidity as you can until the roots provide the leaves the moisture once again. I like to stick mine in the shower, let the hot water steam the bathroom, and let it rest in there at nights while door is shut until morning, until I see improvement.

Dead stems and branches almost always= poor root function, or root rot..:-(

These steps I shared have always saved me a many trees:-)

Goodluck!
pmadi
Original Author
14 years ago
The simple grow light I have may not be the best. I was wondering about switching to a HPS light at about 600 watts. Right now the grow light is a 40 watt common bulb that I had for winter ferns and other indoor plants for winter.

Is the HPS at 600 enough not enough? I want to use it because it has better spectrum. But I have debated it for a while to decide what is best. Do not want to get something that is wrong. The nursery here is not worth spit so no help from the so called experts locally.
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I took the plant completely out of the plastic (very large) pot and examined the roots. The medium had no compaction and was not wet....only slightly damp. Inside, I had been watering only when the top 3 inches felt dry. Maybe I was under watering...but still can't see how that had such a dramatic impact on the tree. There were a lot of roots that were yellowish tan and looked healthy. The roots still had plenty of room. If it were the medium I would think I would have seen stress on the plant prior to bringing it inside. The plant was growing new shoots and had blooms and some small oranges while outside. It was almost instantaneous that it started losing it's leaves once I brought it in. I have racked my brain trying to figure this out. I thought maybe the leaves would show some clues as to why it's dying (which is why I included photos). It was near a large window that received indirect sunlight while inside. Humidity inside is around 52% to 56% depending on the day. I have been so excited at the growth of this orange tree...it breaks my heart to watch it die. Since I made the original post I have taken the tree outside and cut all the dead limbs off and watered thoroughly and put it in a small greenhouse inside my barn directly in front of a south window. It gets direct sunlight now (filtered through the plastic greenhouse sheeting and glass window). It will get sun for most of the entire day....however the temperature will be colder than inside. I didn't feel like I had anything to lose at this point and couldn't possibly make things any worse for the tree. If you have any thoughts or advice, I would appreciate them. Thank you.
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meyermike_1micha
14 years ago
I would probably hop over to the "growing under lights" forums and ask this question there too..

The only lights that I am familar with are Halide bulbs, sodium and metal. Also compact florescent ones. They have always worked well for me..

Give it a shot, unless someone here knows more..

Goodluck!

Mike;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing under lights
tsmith2579
14 years ago
(1) Does it sit in a drip pan to catch the extra water which drains through? It sounds like "wet feet syndrome". Repot in a good sandy, loamy soil (1 bucket clay, 2 buckets sand and 1/2 bucket of finely composted leaves or straw.) If you must use a drip pan, be sure to empty it after watering. (2) You must have more light. Go to your local chain auto parts store to get a tripod stand halogen shop light with 2 or 3 light boxes. They will provide lots of supplemental light and heat.

Indoor Mini Orange Tree Problems

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meyermike_1micha

pmadi
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Indoor Mini Orange Tree Problems

Comments (4)

meyermike_1micha

pmadiOriginal Author

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