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Help with Dwarf Meyer Lemon Tree

9 years ago

Hello,

The bottom leaves on my dwarf lemon tree are turning yellow and are starting to drop off the tree. I water the tree regularly and it is currently getting atleast 6 - 8 hours of natural sun. I gave it some fertilizer as well to try to get it to become healthier. I am not sure what to do to get it to come back to being completely green.

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Comments (5)

Silica
9 years ago
All in all your tree looks under fed. However the leaves that the tree are discarding are older leaves. Further, because the tree is currently going through a flowers cycle, it is very common for the tree to discard leave. The flowering cycle (and flushing cycle) are the greatest time of the year that a citrus tree discards leaves.
axelrod
9 years ago
Try adding some Epsom Salts to your water...2 1/2 tbsp to 5 gallons of water is what I read (I think...you may want to google.) I added some to mine and it looks as good as new :)
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Thanks for the replies folks. I do want to point out a few observations: 1) The tree was growing fine at the nursery. The problem with yellowing leaves started after I brought the plant home but before I had repotted it into a 15 gallon pot. I am not sure though if I watered it too much or too little during the 1 week it sat in its original pot in my backyard. 2) Regarding the need to fertilize it, I want to mention that I put in some bone meal near the bottom of the container and filled it until halfway point with 2 parts potting soil and 1 part compost; then potting soil for the remaining portion. Is this not good enough? I did add some Miracle Gro solution today based on the recommendations. 3) I recollect noticing that the soil in the original pot (from the nursery) seemed hard. I didn't break it beyond the periphery before repotting. Could this be affecting the roots? Would repotting again help? If so, what things could I do to make things better for my Meyer tree?
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looks like something is snaking on them, my little tree had the same thing and it turned out to be spider mites. im not familiar with the bugs in your area but i would check for that. sift your fingers through the soil and pay close attention because some of the criters are small and hard to notice. also if u havnt repoted it i would recomend doing that. be sure to remove all the old soil from the roots as it can harden there over time and choke out the tree. re pot it in a good draining soil that dosnt hold to much water. theres a recipe for a mix on here called 5.1.1 but you can use a cactus or sitrus soil from a garden center if you wish. if you do find that the problem is bugs you can spray with an insectasidial soap (follow the directions on the bottle) which u can also by at your garden center. you can also ask someone at the garden center for there advice im sure they will be happy to help. keep us posted and let us know how it turns out cheers, chris
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Mark, I suggest you delve deeper. The fact that you say they drain water out of the bottom almost immediately makes me wonder if the water is just going around the root ball and not really penetrating. The leaves turning yellow could even be a sign of overwatering. With your original method, you say the soil got a little dry between waterings, but this is just what is recommended for citrus. They don't like to be continuously wet. I think it would be helpful to remove the trees from the pots briefly, trying not to disturb the roots too much, and try to see what the soil is like in there. Is it dry as a bone in the center? Is it soggy wet? Are the roots white and healthy or brown and dead? Sniff it for rotten smells. Then you'll have more data to go on. Let us know what you find!
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As Steve has mentioned your fertilizer is not ideal. It also appears as though your soil is retaining water, which is killer for Myers (which in my experience can be quite finicky in a pot). I would search the forum for 5:1:1 soil mixtures and repot the plant into this type of soil (which drains much better). Mixing sand into a potting soil mixture often complicates the drainage, and it is for these very reasons why so many folks on the forum are such supporters of 5:1:1 soil mixtures. As for your fertilizer, look up foilage pro and osmocote plus on the forum as well. Good luck! Zach
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BarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
9 years ago
I agree with the not fed enough thought. Plants will often steal the nutrients from the older leaves to support the new growth and flowers, but it's not good for the long term health of the plant. What brand did you use?

It would be better to fertilize on a regular schedule rather than as a occasional quick fix. Osmocote Plus is easy to get and works great for container citrus. Many folks here also supplement with DynaGro Foliage plus. Don't use fertilizer stakes or granular fertilizer, that's more for in-ground plants.

I don't use epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)by themselves as it's easy to over or under dose with them. Too much can be a problem. Most quality citrus foods have Magnesium as a micro-nutrient in the correct amount. Also, to me it looks more like a nitrogen deficiency.
azdoctor
9 years ago
Magnesium deficiency and nitrogen deficiency both show up on the oldest or bottom leaves. Magnesium deficiency causes interveinal chlorosis (the veins stay green; the areas between turn yellow). Nitrogen deficiency causes the entire leaf to yellow. Your photo isn't great, but appears to show nitrogen deficiency.
zwoydziak9bsunset13
9 years ago
How regularly are you watering? What type of soil is it planted in?

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