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Florida Gardening

Navel Orange Tree in Trouble-Need Help

15 years ago

I have a 12-14 year old navel orange tree in my backyard that, until 2004, gave us plenty of fruit. In the summer of 2004, the hurricanes took off most of the foliage and the tree has never fully returned. The foliage is not full and green and there are whitish-colored spots on the bark and limbs. I've tried a fungicide and an insecticide but nothing seems to help. Can anyone take a look at the photos I have posted and give me an idea of how to get the tree back in shape?

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm218/billbrandi/IMG_0310.jpg

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm218/billbrandi/IMG_0311.jpg

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm218/billbrandi/IMG_0312.jpg

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Comments (5)

fawnridge (Ricky)
15 years ago
Overall, I'd say the tree looks to be in good shape. The stuff on the trunk in photo #2 are lichens, which do not in any way harm the tree. It's odd for a citrus tree to go four years after a hurricane without fruiting, but then again, who knows how much internal damage we can't see.

Here are the photos:
gatormomx2
15 years ago
My 15 foot tangerine trees lost more than half of their height from the hurricanes . One is just now beginning to show some hope but it doesn't look promising . I may just cut down the sick looking trees and plant some other type of fruit tree .
If you still get decent fruit from your Navel then it might be worth the fight . Other wise , cut it down and replace on better , more disease resistant stock .
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I would never use the Bayer product on any edible plant....or most any plant, period. The active ingredient enters the vascular system of the plant, creating a hazard for nectar and pollen feeding critters (insects and birds). Not only that, we should consider what we are ingesting ourselves. It's applied as a soil drench, and is acutely toxic to earthworms, if that's important to anyone. It is also considered mildly to highly toxic to birds and other non target animals. As far as the Spinosad goes, it IS approved by the organic associations, but it should still be used very carefully. As should all organic products. You should also know that Spinosad is not typically recommended for the control of sucking insects such as mealybugs, aphids, and others. It needs to be ingested to be affective....ingested as in mouthfuls! It does not enter the system of the plant. Spinosad is considered relatively safe for beneficials because they don't chomp on plants! It's the leaf eating insects that are affected. But it's very important to avoid spraying the product on flowers because pollen and nectar gets ingested, eventually, by bee larvae. Spinosad does not harm birds. Bottom line....I wouldn't use it for the mealies. And I SURE as heck wouldn't use dormant oil at this time of year.
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There's always room for one more, surely! Haha the Citrus Addict's mantra. Cori Ann i have a Citrus hedge at home that is about 3 years old and i have them spaced about 1.5m apart for the dwarf trees and 2m apart for the full sized. This has worked out well now they are almost at full size, though they will need annual pruning to keep them from encroaching into each other's space. I've done a blog post about it if you want to look....... http://citrusenthusiast.blogspot.co.nz/2016/11/the-citrus-hedge.html My Cara Cara's are one of my favourite trees they are very productive fruiters & also within a short time of being in the ground. Plus the fruit tastes beautiful & has its special dark orange hue. I'd make room if i was you:)
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barbcoleus
15 years ago
Is that mulch underneath the tree? I read that citrus are supposed to have nothing under the tree. I had a lot of trouble with my grapefruit tree. And it seemed that after Wilma one side of it had fewer leaves than the other and the base of the tree had some sort of growth coming out of it. I just kept applying fertilizer with micronutrients and iron. It did have a lot of fruit but the few leaves it had looked awful. It looks better this year. I kept knocking that growth off the base and it hasn't come back.
billbrandi
Original Author
15 years ago
thanks for the comments. There is no mulch; I put down lava rocks to keep the weeds away. As for the fruit, there has been some fruit each year since the hurricanes but nothing like it was before. "Before" means oranges the size of grapefruit, juicy and very sweet.
bluesky7
15 years ago
Hi. My Florida navel orange tree which is about 17 years old was very healthy looking and produced loads of sweet and juicy oranges before Wilma. It took quite a beating during Wilma and lost much foliage and branches. I treated it pretty normally after the hurricane with regular fertilizing. It looked quite shabby for the first few years and produced little quality fruit. Just this year the tree is beginning to look fuller and greener with a decent amount of immature fruit on it. Don't give up on your tree. With a little extra TLC it is liable to come back nicely. Sheri

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