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Citrus/Orange Tree in Container---Health Concerns

9 years ago

Hi there! So, about three years ago a friend of mine gave me a small orange tree seedling. She said it came from Lowe's, but I'm uncertain of what the actual type of orange is. It was fairly hardy, grew quickly. However, I had to leave it at my parents' house when I left for college. It received plenty of sun, water, and fertilizer. It was transplanted when it grew bigger, but it wasn't kept tied to a stake to help keep it straight as it grew.

However, now that the plant is back in my care, it has a few concerns that need to be addressed. The branches have split, and I can't see where the grafting scar would be to see which part I should cut off to keep the tree healthy. It also has a sticky goo on the leaves and some of the branches. It has flowered and dropped teeny tiny, very immature fruit. I would like to be able to grow it to a full size tree that produces actual, edible fruit.

Does anyone have any advice about what I can do to save/fix my poor little tree?

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Comments (5)

tom1328732
9 years ago
Hi Grace,

When you have a chance, could you attach some pictures for us to look at? If the tree was really small, there's a good chance it was a rooted cutting, so you wouldn't be able to find any graft marks. The sap could be from some sort of mite/insect problem, but again, we wouldn't know until we had a look at it.

-Tom
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years ago
We do need photos, so we can better advise you. First off, if this is a seedling, there is no graft - it would have been grown from a seed. So, it's either a grafted tree or a seedling tree, can't be both :-) And, you wouldn't need to cut anything off unless you are seeing sprouts coming from below the graft line, indicating you're having rootstock growth. If this tree is grafted (most likely, if it came from Lowe's, oranges would rarely be a seedling tree or even a rooted cutting), the rootstock most likely would be some sort of trifoliate, so very easy to identify any rootstock growth, as the leaves would be in a set of 3 leaves, instead of single leaves. Lastly, you have some sort of sucking insect infestation, if you're seeing "goo on the leaves and branches. Most likely either spider mites or scale, so treat accordingly, and many, many times, as both are rather difficult to eradicate. As far as branches that have split, please provide close up photos, as that is rather disconcerting. Not sure why branches would be splitting.

Patty S.
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here's what i would do. transplant into a half a wine barrel anytime. or into a comparable size terra cotta pot. i would first drill a bunch of 1" holes on the bottom of the barrel for drainage, maybe 20 or 30. then put in a dozen or so golf ball to haas avocado size river rocks on the bottom for drainage. then mix 1 part high quality potting soil with 1 part high quality compost and the recommended amount of that citrus fertilizer that you have. some may think this is too much, but i do it all the time and my plants never burn. just watch the amount of citrus fertilizer and if you use chicken manure compost maybe put 1/2 part per 1 part potting soil. this should get it off to a good start. over the year or years you will lose soil through the holes, so try top dressing with compost as needed. do not over water and do not under water. if using a terra cotta pot you might not need so many rocks, wine barrels have a wide base...i would try that with any citrus in sf. good luck!
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Without leaves, the plant cannot make much use of fertilizer. I suggest that you wait until you get a solid 3-4" of new stem growth before feeding. The new growth drop/die-back is of concern. However, you say the stems are still green so therefore it is not dead. Have patience. I stared at my 1 foot tall, single stalk and leafless, transplanted Lisbon for 9 months before it restarted its growth. 2 years later it is nearly 5 ft. tall and producing. Last year, I transplanted another Lisbon that was in the ground 5 years. It dropped 90% of its leaves right away and has been stagnant - until this past February when it began a growth flush. It is nearly re-leafed - - - - I did not add any fertilizer along the way and will not until i get a good 4" of new stem growth. It looks like i will be feeding it in March. :-)
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If citrus dropped their leaves at that temperature, none of us could grow citrus! ;-) And what about the orchards? There is really no reason to try to heat the soil. Don't forget, citrus can survive a freeze quite well when planted outside. (The buds don't like it, but the plant can take it.) As far as raising the humidity: misting your plants doesn't do the job. For one, all you are accomplishing is wetting the leaves, not raising the humidity. Any remote benefit is gone as soon as the leaves dry. Misting might even have some negative effects such as reducing transpiration. It also has a cooling effect, since you're concerned about that. Misting, however, does help keep the foliage clean and allows you a few moments to inspect for mites and insects. Those are good things! Some people raise the humidity in their plant rooms by using humidifiers, small indoor fountains, and the like. A pebble tray is made by filling a shallow tray with pebbles and then adding water to just below the top of those pebbles. Place your pots on top of the rocks. 'Supposedly', this helps raise the humidity just around your plants. However, if your home is very dry, the moisture saturated air rapidly dissipates throughout the rooms.
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You can keep a citrus in the same pot for longer periods of time if you root prune them before they become too root bound. Containerized plants MUST have enough space below ground so that they can always be developing brand new roots. You see, it is only on the very tips of each root that root hairs exist. And it is only within those root hairs that water and mineral absorption occurs. Older, woodier roots don't function that way. The porosity of your potting mix has a lot to do with how a plant's root system will react/function. The more porous it is, the faster a plant will 'take off'. This is because oxygen is essential to cell division and cell growth. Typical packaged potting soils are often too 'peaty'. They can become water logged, causing roots to be extremely slow to grow or maybe even cause root death. I root prune most of my houseplants and other permanent containerized plants fairly regularly. Some go through the process every year. Citrus, like most woody plants, respond beautifully to root pruning. Afterwards, you can pot it back up into the same container with fresh potting mix.
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Grace Larkin
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for posting guys! Here are the photos you've requested. I really hope they do help in diagnosing what's wrong with my tree.

Here's a basic shot of it. See how it's separated/split? The next two pictures are close ups of how it seems to have just gone in all different directions.

As you can see, there's some weird stuff on the stems, which is a little sticky. There's also some leaf discolouration.

Any ideas, guys?
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
9 years ago
The photos are small, so it's hard to tell. I think I see a lot of scale on the stems though. Make sure you get rid of that infestation.
tcamp30144(7B N.ATLANTA)
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Take a paper towel wet it in alcohol and wipe the whole tree down this will kill all scale and spder mites you might have on the tree. The scale comes off when u touch it with rubbing alcohol. Scale sucks the sap out of the tree slowly killing it so u need to clean tree asp. I have to do this on trees i over winter in the house. Hope it helps.

Trace

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