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Meyer lemon tree lost all leaves

14 years ago

I have a Meyer lemon tree indoors. Due to a bad case of spider mites, all the leaves have fallen off. The tree is not dead (yet). I am concerned about the now lack of photosynthesis. Do you have any recommendations to prevent my tree from dying? Any comments would be appreciated. This is my first lemon tree.

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Comments (3)

seamommy
14 years ago
There's a good chance that it was a combination of the mites and the dryness of the air in your house. When I bring plants in for the winter and the furnace is blowing all that super-dried air on them, they lose leaves like crazy. Last winter I put most of my plants in one room and set up a humidifier in there to keep the air moist. I also shut of the vent in there so the air stayed cooler. A couple of plants were tropicals and I misted them just to provide a little extra moisture to their leaves.

Once you are sure you have eradicated the mites from your tree, begin providing more moisture to it everyday, but don't increase the watering to the roots. If you can maintain the temps in your garage above freezing it might be a better environment for your lemon tree than inside the house. It should begin to put on new leaves within a few weeks or so.

Another thing you may wish to look at is the pot your lemon is in. Have you repotted it since you bought it? If not you may have a pot bound root system that cannot absorb water or nutrients. If you need to repot, use a good mix that includes some grit, like a cactus mix and feed it with plant food designed for citrus, like citrus tone. Cheryl
meyermike_1micha
14 years ago
Cheryl,

You said something in your comments that has worked wonders for me..KEEPING IT COOLER..
I havn't even turned the heat on yet, for now...Thank God.

As far as the humidity. I always had an issue with mites even in the most humid conditions, with a fan going. There are mites that LOVE humdity, don't mind it..I have not gone a year yet without mites in the most humid enviroment.. Not even the local nurseries are exempt...lol

A hose off in weather above freezing is good through the winter, and in door showers definatly helps to avoid them. The tree should be ok, if the roots are ok...Check the roots..;-)

Also as for mine I have downstairs in the living room, with the heat on. No mites yet.. I have heard, fertilizing your plants with Pro-tek, a silaca base product will toughen up plant tissue, especially new growth, and can help your plants to resist drought stress conditions and help be pest rsistant! Try it. Seems to be working thus far.

Make sure you keep them as healthy as possible to resist pest infestation which will your plants withstand an onslaught of pests.

P.s....Cheryl, I just wanted to say it's great to have you here helping us all out...:-)
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Dear Paula I'm going to disagree with a couple things the last poster said, and heartily agree the advice about watering. Your Meyer lemon may be a Meyer lemon. Meyers are not as sour as true lemons, and mine get somewhat sweeter as they ripen. Remember that store lemons are often picked when they are far less than "tree ripe"--so you may be comparing a ripe Meyer lemon to an unripe true lemon. My Meyer lemons are almost round too. They definitely do not look like Lisbon lemons with their nipple ends. Next: I would not fertilize the tree until it begins to grow again. Remember that lemons drop their old leaves in a kind of dormant mode (mine do this in the mid to late fall (around the end of October), right around the time them come inside or shortly thereafter. Then, for a few weeks, they look pretty sparse. Your tree, since it flowered, may simply be just about to leaf out. This is a fairly typical pattern: flower, and then grow new leaves. The fact that the flowers did not set fruit is not that surprising. My trees have a mixed record in setting fruit indoors. This year, the Meyer lemon is doing well and has set about 10 new fruit, but in past years I've had one or two, or 8, or none. Here are my suggestions: First, check the pot to see if your lemon is pot-bound. If it is, this may have caused the precipitous leaf drop and the failure to set fruit, and it will need to be addressed. Second, if it really is getting plenty of light (close to a West or South-facing window, large enough to really bathe the tree in direct sunlight for several hours a day), and assuming the plant still has some green leaves and is not pot-bound, consider giving it a good pruning. By this, I mean cut the plant back a good foot or more. Doing so will stimulate new growth (you may have to rotate the plant to get the growth to be symmetrical if you do it at this time of year). Once you see new growth, you can then consider fertilizing it. You can always just wait and watch: the plant will probably decide to begin growing shortly, since the days are rapidly lengthening. Next and last: don't bother with a halogen lamp. The kind of light that Halogen bulbs produce is not very useful for plant growth. The only electric lamps worth using are 1) Metal Halides, 2) High Pressure Sodium (available as security lights in places like Home Depot), and 3)Florescent (high output, warm daylight, or gro-lite bulbs). As you live in the south, I don't think supplemental lights are necessary. Hope this advice helps. Don
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Thanks MeyerMike those are some beautiful plants. I love how bright green and healthy the leaves look. I ran out of Foliage pro, so im hoping now that I have a new bottle I can get my plants back looking right. I took the last of the 7 lemons off the mother tree. Should I go ahead and give it a little fertilizer to hold it through the winter?! Never been that good at getting and sticking to fertilizing regiment. Inherited a lot of my plants from my dad, so its been trial and error trying to figure out which plants like what and when. Also Johnmerr I think your right about the insects. I keep finding a thin webbing going from branch to branch, but so far can't find the culprit. Do ya'll believe this sound like Spider Mites? Been looking beneath the two leaves left and can't find any sign of them if it is. Thought about taking a piece of clear tape and pressing it too the branches and trunk to see if I can catch what I haven't been able to spot with naked eye so far. I'm thinking it wouldn't be wise to spray anything on it cause it's new growth is really small and fragile still. Any suggestions guys?! Thanks again in advance, ya'll rock for taking the time to help people out on this board.. It's GREATLY appreciated by all that visit I can promise!!
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mn_matt
14 years ago
got any pics?

to get rid of the mites I had. I just mixed some dish soap in a spray bottle. make sure to get the under side of the leaf too. A large aquarium in the same room as my tree helps for moisture. I'm sure the tree appreciates the fish water also.

wonder what the N-P-K is on tank water..
oh how i hate mites

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