Leaf drop (petiole remains on tree)- Meyer Lemon

9 years ago

Hi! I have a small Meyer lemon tree that I've had since last spring. I've been learning as I go, and I've done a LOT of reading on gardenweb so I think I have the basics down pretty well.

The tree is in 5-1-1 mix since August of last year. I water as needed (I have a bamboo stake in the soil to check soil moisture), and I mostly use 1 tsp Foliage Pro in a gallon of water. Once a month, I flush the soil thoroughly with tap water to prevent fertilizer burn.

I brought the tree inside in about October when we had a sudden cold front and the temps were going into the 40s at night. As recommended, I moved it from full sun outside, to part sun, to shade, over the course of a month before bringing it inside. The tree has been in a tall, south facing window all winter, and we keep the house between 60 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit. It lost maybe 2-3 leaves over the course of a few months. It has had several blooming flushes, however I have removed all the flowers once tiny fruit formed as the tree is too small to support fruiting, it needs to grow more canopy first.

In mid-December, I noticed soft brown scale on the tree. There were two mature scale plants on the stems, and some immature ones on the leaves. I got all the insects that I could off by rubbing the tree down with isopropanol (rubbing alcohol), which I saw recommended (didn't have any pesticides). I repeated this probably 4-6 times (first inspecting the tree for sap drops/ insects) every few days to once a week, but though the lead drop stopped, they were still present.

I did some research and decided to some neem oil at Lowe's (chosen because it's effective on most sucking insects-- my croton in a different room had spider mites. The infestation seemed relatively mild and I'd prefer not to expose my cats to a stronger pesticide if not necessary). I used the weakest dilution specified on the label (2 tbsp/ gallon, I made half a gallon with 1 tbsp of neem oil). I sprayed the tree down with the mixture using my garden sprayer (which I thoroughly cleaned) at night, let the tree dry, and then put it back in the window. A week later I checked it and still saw some sap droplets forming though I couldn't see any insects, so I re-sprayed it. Both times I sprayed the lemon tree, I also sprayed the croton. (Timing was from the label, and the croton is doing fine).

I also wiped down the leaves once or twice with isopropanol between spraying as I had read that leaving the oil on might suffocate the leaves.

I looked at the tree last week and noticed some leaves were yellowing. I still cannot see insects, so I assume it's from the neem, and I looked online to see if there was a more effective way to remove the oil. I sprayed the foliage down in the shower with warm water.

It's been about two weeks since the last time I sprayed the tree with neem, and the lemon tree is dropping a LOT of leaves. The leaves detach leaving the petiole/ stem still attached to the tree. The leaves turn yellow before dropping. There's only two leaves left on the tree that AREN'T turning some shade of yellow right now, with maybe 15 leaves total left on the tree. The trunk/ branches are still green, which is something.

Sometimes leaves have sap on them, but I cannot see any insects anywhere on the tree, and most leaves do not show sap/ fluid beading. The tree was a lot happier with the minor scale infection than it has been after treating it.

What did I do wrong? If the tree dies, it's not the end of the world (it's so small I wouldn't mind getting a more mature tree and trying again), but I was careful and did my research... and I don't want to kill another tree or keep the poor thing from getting big and healthy by making mistakes.

I've attached a picture of the four leaves that have dropped today in case there's any tell-tale signs that I'm missing.

Thank you for your help!

Here is a link that might be useful: I used Garden Safe neem oil extract.

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Comments (5)

jrl1265
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Google winter leaf drop (WLD) and see if this applies to your circumstances.Good luck, Jack
pip313
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
How often and with how much do you fertilize?
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tobina, I had the exact same problem with leaf drop on my IML. I had left the tree in the 1 gallon pot in which I purchased it in late 2007. I was watering it once a week but it always seemed to be dry. I took it out of the pot and found that it was TOTALLY root bound to a degree which I have not seen before. I have my IML inside in a south window and I thought it was a light issue but after seeing the roots I repotted it. I did a drastic re-pot as I had to cut the root ball to untangle some of the roots. I lost about 50% of my leaves (or more) and 50% of the blossoms before the repot. The tree is now in a much larger pot and is very happy. No more of the flowers have dropped and after the repot I only lost about another 5% of the leaves. I do fertilize my IML with weak seaweed/fish emulsion solution (1 tsp in a gallon water). I saw so many different techniques on keeping citrus indoors in pots that my head was swimming. I decided to take matters into my own hands -and boy am I ever glad I did. Next time I buy a citrus plant I will surely knock it out of the pot at the store to check the root ball. Good Luck with your Meyer. DL
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Hi barbers, I live two hours south of you... the same thing happened to my neighbors lemon tree last years freeze 09. All the green leaves fell off shortly after the freeze. He thought the tree was dying, but come March/April...new leaves sprouted from the healthy part of the branches and up until this last freeze it had a bunch of lemons on it...Now it is doing the same thing after this recent freeze. He did lose about 20%-30% of the branches but the tree survived..hopefully it will recover again. He didn't do anything special to it...except his sprinkler watered it once a week and pruned the dead branches off in middle of March. He fertilized it around April when the new growths appeared... Good luck!
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Thanks all! I did a search of my User Name last night and the original post didn't come up, so I though I had gotten distracted by my toddler and forgotten hit "submit." A common scenario in my house. I'll look for the original post. I got similar advice from the citrus forum folks. The fruit are falling off now, which bums me out. That tree was full of lemons. *sigh*
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meyermike_1micha
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
How does the root system look? How wet is the bottom of your mix after a day or two?
I am having a feeling your roots are not doing too good for what ever reason, either because they are not drying out evenly fast enough or once you accidently let them dry out too much sutting down....

How did you make the 5.1.1 mix? Have the smaller particles gravitated to the bottom?Is the bottom staying more moist than the top half of your container?

Because your root system is so weak, this leaves is open to a host of sucking pests...

MIke
livreosa
Original Author
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Jack, thanks for the suggestion! I think the first few leaves that dropped were WLD, but it's no longer a slow drop-- I'm losing 2-5 a day. The tree is small, so it might lose them all!

Pip, I stated it in the first post but I know I gave a lot of information. :) I use one tsp foliage pro in a gallon of water. I water with this solution most of the time (I generally end up watering right around once a week, or when it feels dry and light). Once a month I thoroughly flush the soil with tap water (I put it in the shower for a minute with cool water since it's already in the house, then let it drain for a half hour in the tub). I don't think I'm over fertilizing, and I don't think I'm under-fertilizing as the tree looked good (and developed a lot of flowers) until the last few weeks, and I've been following this routine for months.

Mike, I haven't seen the root system lately-- when I re-potted in August the roots looked very healthy, with no mushy areas. The roots were small because the tree is very small. I think maybe you are right about the roots (I don't really feel like I've noticed it growing-- just one leaf flush in the early summer this year), but I don't know where I've gone wrong.

I made the 5-1-1 mix by sifting out small particles of pine bark mulch (3/8" and smaller), removing the sapwood, and added coarse perlite (shifted out the dust) and peat moss in the recommended portions (5-1-1). I then mixed it up, soaked the whole lot for a day in water, and re-potted the tree, keeping the roots moist. I used a bamboo stake to get the mix into the roots without leaving air holes. I kept the tree in the shade for a week, then moved to greater sun for another week, before putting it back in full sun (again, this was in August, we had a nice streak of cool weather when I repotted). The tree did not lose any leaves during the recovery, and there were no signs of distress.

The very top layer of the mix (top 1/2 inch, perhaps) has some slightly larger pieces of pine bark and perlite, I think from pouring in water. It's been ~5 months, and it the texture of the mix feels the same (it's a fabric pot so I can feel the texture). I don't think that the mix has gotten too heavy or that it wasn't mixed well enough.

I did notice that the decline seemed to start after I let it dry out a few days longer than normal. Maybe the neem + a longer dry period was too much stress? I'm still at a loss...

I watered it today because the stake was dry to the touch (it was pleasantly damp yesterday). Five leaves fell off. There's about 10 leaves left, and I guess my realistic hope is that the leaves that haven't turned any amount of yellow yet (4) will stay on the tree. :p

My internet is really bad tonight or I'd post some pictures.
meyermike_1micha
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
You are definitely growing in a good media and good pot....
I will tell you though that if you had teh slightest bit of fine hair root die off due to under watering just once, I mean just once, it will take a long while for root recovery even in a good mix....Just watch your watering because ut may take a while for the mix to dry out even in the 5.1.1 mix and you will loose leaves and possible twigs..

Not to worry, as long as it is happy now for it will repair itself..Make sure to keep the bugs off at this time now that it is valnurable with good safe products...The key is to be consistent, even if you can't see the bugs with your naked eye..

Mike

Leaf drop (petiole remains on tree)- Meyer Lemon

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Leaf drop (petiole remains on tree)- Meyer Lemon

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