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Pests & Diseases - Australia

Nude lemon trees

23 years ago

I have an old lemon tree (50+ years, no idea what variety) that has had bad borers. We have pruned all the affected limbs and now have about 1/2 a lemon tree which is healthy and happy and producing lots of fruit. As insurance I decided to plant a new lemon tree to replace the old one. I planted a Lisbon approx 3 metres away from the old tree about 12 months ago and it lost all it's leaves soon after planting. I thought I had stressed the roots when planting so I fed and nurtured it and hoped for leaves in spring. Lots of flowers but still no leaves. Now the flowers have dropped off, leaving a green stem with lots of thorns no leaves or buds in sight. Is it terminal? Any suggestions

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Comments (6)

Giacomo
23 years ago
If the stem looks healthy, perhaps wait and see if there is any autumn growth. I have heard some people say that they had given up on their newly planted lemon trees and expected them to snuff it, only to find that they came good after a year or so. Not much help to you I suppose.
moreton
23 years ago
Hi Jude, some people would say its easy to grow a lemon, but really its a science to grow one these days, with all the bugs,mites,flys,fungis,gallwasps,etc. It seems to me you may have a soil based problem there, as you say the old tree is harbouring the fungi, spores, ants or whatever. I would dig up the old offending specimen and remove the newer one to a new site this winter if it servives and drench the area with a good fungicide (Fongarid) or similar
and leave the area fallow for a while, cover with black plastic (solarize) sterilize the soil/area and or grow something else. I don't know if anyone else is having trouble growing citrus but the weather isnt helping either at present. Good luck. Peter r

Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus
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The picture that Steve circled, that scion is still alive (as you can see a fruit bloom on that branch that is cut). The other picture, the scion definitely appears dead, it may even have been killed by the tape that was used to keep it on the support having cut into the bark as the scion grew. Any of the long shoots that are trifolate (three leave - like a club playing card), like is showing on the ground in the first picture and on the tree, need to be cut as Steve mentioned. For the second tree pictured, if you don't have any leaves that are not trifolate, then you're not going to get any wanted fruit, unless you want to try grafting from your other plant.
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peppystud, there are very many types of lemon trees. However, the two most common in ground planted lemons, by a very wide margin, are either Eureka or Lisbon. I would be very surprised if someone planted a different variety. Dwarf has nothing to do with variety, it has only to do with the type of root stock.
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teddyJ
23 years ago
It is very easy to drown a citrus tree. IME They need to be kept on the drier side of moist but not allowed to dry out too much. Watering should be kept mainly around the drip area rather than close to the trunk. HTH teddy,J
sterculias
23 years ago
It could also be a root problem, typically J root. This is where the main root has been bent up by leaving it in the pot too long or when it was potted on. The root is curled around and will not go down into the ground. What happens is it is effectively still in a pot in the garden. The only way to find out is to dig up and look. I have seen this on numerous occasions and invariably the plant dies because the root ball is very small and shallow in the ground.

Doug.
Giacomo
23 years ago
I have never heard of "J root" before, but I wouldn't be surprised if this problem was much more common than realised. When I get a root bound plant, I slice off all the exposed roots with a Gem razor or sharp box knife. It doesn't seem to worry the plants, and from what you say, it may even be a great help to them.
Jude66
Original Author
23 years ago
OK - So I'll be brave and dig it up to ;ook at the roots. Can I do it now or should I wait until the weather cools down a bit?

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