Mature outdoor meyer lemon tree dying - help ID what's wrong
confused_newbie
9 years ago
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mksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
9 years agoconfused_newbie
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Meyer lemon tree dying!!
Comments (9)Hello, I have a 20 yr old lemon tree that seems to be dying. It used to have healthy dark green leaves and produce a lot of big beautiful fruit. Now there is half the amount of leaves there used to be, all pale yellow and shriveled up, and the lemons are the size of key limes. An arborist believed it was getting too much water, though it was getting the same amount it always had, and suggested we stop the sprinklers and pull up the bricks around it (which we did) to let the soil air out. A gardener thought it was protesting against dirt having been buried too far up its trunk, which we removed. Another gardener thought it wasn't getting enough water, but when he watered it, the leaves did not unfold. None of this has made a difference - in fact it's worse than ever - and there don't seem to be pests or mites. It looks more horrible with each passing month, and we have no idea what else to do! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you... Heather Collins...See MoreEstablished Meyer lemon tree dying
Comments (4)Can't see the root; but the tree looks like the root is gone. Maybe a rat ate the bark off the trunk; or a gopher ate the root; if neither of those you may have a fungal root rot, or a black twig borer. If you have a twig borer, there should be some healthy leaves and stems below where the bore has penetrated; those will grow again, if you prune back to there. It would help if you could post some close-up fotos of the trunk and lower part of the tree....See MoreMeyer Lemon Tree Dying??
Comments (5)Glad to hear it's in a pot that has been moved indoors. My first thought was that you planted it in the ground outsite of it's climate zone. I know a few people up here in New England that have recieved citrus trees as gifts and nievely planted them outside, in the spring, where they showed the same symtoms in the fall before a slow, cold, death. I also have Meyer lemon, but I'm also new to citrus. IMHO bencelest's comments are in-line with what I've read and he generally gives sound advice. I'm sure the tree will recover. Good luck....See Moreis my fruiting meyer lemon tree dying slowly???
Comments (16)I look at it this way in simpler terms of course..... I am brain dead and bored, so here it goes..lol I if don't make sense, pardon me. If I can't or do not know how to grow anything in a pot with a Perched Water Table, which I mostly do not, then I won't use a soil that encourages it. Using bottom stones, or even water proof packing peanuts which don't weigh the pot down never helped me. By the way, if your determined to use bottom material, this is the way to go. No more heavy pots.:-) I have killed a many plants in the past this way. The bottom roots being wet ,stuck in that PWT above the stones, never drying out while the top half of the roots keep getting watered because I keep watering the top of soil that is bone dry. My roots can be thirsting for water even 4 inches down into my pots from the top, while the bottom half of the roots are in that PWT portion staying wet, never drying out. And rocks on the bottom of any pot does not get rid of that PWT. It just makes it higher. The Perched Water Table depending on the soil you use will be there, and maybe not if you use a wick or a fast draining soil. Of course this is not a concern to me in any pot smaller than 6 inches... They dry out fast, especially if they are in clay. I typically use something other than the gritty soil for these. But when I move up to a bigger pot, I am not willing to take the risk of root rot. Some people here can grown plants in any size pot with a PWT and have sucess. Some in 30 gallon barrels! I am not one of those..:-( This is why I use A'ls gritty mix minus the fines that could settle down at the bottom of pot and stay wet while the top of the soil gets dry. Bonsai have very shallow roots, therefore grown in shallow pots, and this is how a many of my friends including myself have killed our Bonsai. You can have a PWT in soil as deep as one inch. We can't afford to have a PWT at all in such shallow pots! On this we take NO chances. I can not afford to have a PWT also in big sized pots for regular plants. Since they and I changed to Al's gritty mix, we have been sucessful, with no Perched Water Table and bottom root rot, even in rainy everday weather if pots are left out all summer. We just have to water more often when because the soil dries out quicker. :-) Jean, I have done the same thing to most of my pots, especially the ones my Clivias are in. They are thriving!! I even drill bigger holes at the bottom of my plastic ones and hammer out a huge circle hole on the bottom of my clay ones, then use screen to stop the soil from falling through. I can only imagine the roots breathing all that air from the bottom!lol,and the water exchange because of this.:-) I love that Container Soils thread, at least what I can understand of it! One thing I did learn, I never knew what a PWT was until I read that thread. That was the culprit to the death of all my plants! Thanks for that thread Al! Thanks for all the great info everyone! Take care all! Mike...See Moremksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
9 years agohoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agomksmth zone 7a Tulsa Oklahoma
9 years agoBarbJP 15-16/9B CA Bay Area
9 years agoconfused_newbie
9 years agogregbradley
9 years agoconfused_newbie
9 years agoWenjing Yu
9 years agoJacques (MP, South Africa, like zone 9)
9 years agoJenny Manley
8 years agoBeen Abong
5 years agonikthegreek
5 years agoHU-970527518
4 years ago
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