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Florida Gardening

Citrus leaves yellowing

16 years ago

This has probably come up here before. I searched for a similar thread but didn't find one. I even looked on the Citrus Forum but they mostly talk about potted trees. So once again I am turning to all of you for the answer!

My citrus trees - all mature trees at least 5 years old - are turning yellow. The leaves haven't dropped and they look healthy, but the color of the leaves is all wrong. Any idea why? Any recommendation for feeding that might help? I have a feeling they want something but I don't know what it is.

Thanks!

Kate

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Comments (4)

cindeea
16 years ago
CALLING LISA!!! I hope she heard me, Kate. She always has the best advise about citrus, fruits of all kinds. I just have my var. pink lemon baby. So I can't help other than yelling for Lisa!

(BTW-check out conversations if you folks like to cook-I posted an easy delicious recipe)
dghays
16 years ago
Tell us about what fertilization you've done this year, what drainage your soil is like. Is the yellow thoughout, or are the veins green? The exact look of the leaf can potentially say exactly what it wants. Could be nitrogen, iron, manganese, poor drainage...

Gary
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Photos, please. And, what are you using for fertilizer and how frequently are you fertilizing. Impossible to tell you exactly, unless we have photos and know your fertilizing habits and product. Never use a urea nitrogen product with a potted citrus, as you can get biruret burn. You are much better off using a liquid fertilizer that is formulated for citrus, and contains all the micronutrients. Most container citrus folks on this list prefer to use Dyna Gro's Foliage Pro, along with a time release product, such as Osmocote Plus. And yes, you need to check for scale on a regular basis. It is very difficult to get rid of. A high pressure jet of water will not get rid of scale, as it is adhered to the stems and leaves. Patty S.
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I would like to upload a photo but it isn't working, I might have to sign up to a photo posting website, upload the picture, then attach the link on here. I will look for foliage pro. I would love to correct the issue with the tree, I spent an hour and a half in the sun digging a huge hole in our clay garden then mixing in a bag of organic compost. Maybe the drainage is too poor or it has a disease, as it already was showing signs of yellow leaves in store, I was silly to buy a sick tree but a lady who worked at that garden centre recommended this tree, but now I know otherwise.
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Comments (36)
Hey Everyone! Thanks so much for all of your advice, and input. Apologies for my lack of activity recently. Shortly after I realized the fertilizer is what was killing the tree, I repotted it back to the container it came in, with fresh soil. I continued providing love (grow light, root booster, etc) for a couple more weeks until the entire fre tree was brown. Determined to have a lemon tree, I started 10 seedlings from an organic lemon. A couple weeks later I was at the nursery, and I mentioned my situation to an employee. She said I can bring the tree in and they'll exchange it for a new one. They get their next shipment of citrus trees in November, so I'll swap it then. I'm determined not to make the same mistakes with the new free as I did with the first one. I am going to keep a couple of the new lemon trees, and give the others away once they've matured a bit more. @Sunshine: Thanks for the advice regarding manure. I followed the advice of an employee at a local nursery. I should mention it was composted manure. The pot we chose was not only for decor, but also the size. Advice online suggests a white or light colour pot to keep the roots cool during summer. The pot has a 1" hole in the bottom (similar to terra cotta pots). The only reason I added styrofoam and gravel was to prevent the soil from sitting in water before any extra was able to drain. In hindsight, I realize it was unnecessary. I don't think the pot was a contributing factor to the issues the tree was suffering though. I definitely haven't given up. I'm not discouraged by my learning experience. In the end I'll have even more tree, because if not for this experience I wouldn't have started the seedlings.
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Comments (48)
It's best to spray when the light isn't very strong or the sunlight can be amplified by the oils and and damage the leaves. Best time to spray would be early morning or an hour before sunset. Usually the sprays instruct you to use them over a certain period of time because the lifecycle for pests is very short and they reproduce quickly. It's probably best to use the spray or wash with water even if there are beneficials bc of what Mike said about overwintering. The pests do well overwintering on the trees and live through until spring so reducing them as much as possible will help. You won't have beneficials in your house to help.
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solstice98
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi Gary,
They received a not-very-heavy feeding in late January of citrus fert. Then, of course, drought for months with watering twice/week by sprinkler. Now they've had WAY more rain than they want in the past 2 weeks.
Color is all over yellow, without visible veining. I'll try to get a picture this weekend.

I know they need feeding but before I do that I wanted to ask if there was anything special they should receive.

We've had droughts and floods before - and I've ignored their feeding requirements before too! but I've never seen this color. Is there any chance it could be from something a neighbor may have sprayed or applied to their lawn?
treefrog_fl
16 years ago
Hi Kate,
Since they're all over 5 years old and have been healthy all this time, I'd think the drainage should be OK. Unless some changes have been made to the land around them.
Since we're just coming into the rainy season I'd go ahead and fertilize them well. When new growth pops out I'd give the trees a minor element spray. And a few weeks or more later give them a bit of magnesium sulfate, either as a foliar or a granular application. (That seems to green up almost everything)

All my old citrus have been struggling since the bad storm years. Thought the end was near.
I recently gave them a good feeding along with an application of that Bayer product and there's new growth looking better.

Hope yours respond quickly.

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