I see you are in zone 10. If you are sure you didn't over-water (like something major happened) then Yes, it could be the exact problem you are talking about with soil moisture: un-even water distribution. I have several trees in the type of mix you appear to use and this is the #1 reason I hate it. In our hot weather we're taught to not water until the top few inches of the soil is dry. Well guess what, over time this will develop dry patches that will never become re-hydrated pending constant rain or major intervention. I fought this problem two weeks ago with 3 of my container citrus trees in bagged mixes. I could feel the soil had dried out from winter and I was preparing them for Spring (the trees looked fine BTW). Having experience with this, I was DETERMINED to wet 100% of the soil using whatever method I could. I watered it for the entire DAY -- and the soil below 3 inches was still dry. I watered until it was soaked, went away for 30 minutes, came back and did it again: repeat many times. The next day I submerged it in a container filled with water and walked away for 4 hours. Came back and pulled it out -- still dry inside! This is why I hate peat and bagged soil mixes in a desert climate. If you are trying NOT to over-water and mistakenly wait a little bit too long, you've created a dry patch. The patch will only get bigger the more often you make those little mistakes. If this is the case with your tree, submerge it in water and use any type of dowel (smooth skinny stick) to "loosen up" the soil in the container while it's submerged. The more tunnels you create, the better. The skinnier the stick the better so you don't tear roots. Most of my citrus trees are in the Gritty Mix where I don't have any such issues. I also rest easy when it's pouring rain outside knowing they won't be drowning. However, the gritty mix is a bit of work to make and cannot be purchased. The ingredients can be expensive but they last for a very long time. The bagged mixes are meant for shorter term - like 1 year (or 2 years MAX) before needing full replacement. How long one can make it last depends on how healthy a tree you are wanting.

Hi Saintpfla Since you probably heard all the possible answers on your citrus problems, I am going to tell you what I know and saw at Echo last time that I was there in the tour for the fruit trees and people asked the same questions like you did. The expert planted the tree for demonstration in a mound, he said so the rains don't flood the tree. Made a hole without amending and put the tree in, situated so it looked the best and then added compost only on the sides. The older citrus trees had a big mulch on the sides but without touching the trunk (important) a lot of people asked about this and he said is okay. After that he went on to the bugs that affect the citrus like thrips and he said this year with the cold they had not much problem but otherwise they spray some sort of oil, somebody asked neem? and he said no, he did not give the name because I don't think is available for us. Now I have my private story to tell you, just remember I am no expert. I had wonderful citrus in Arizona, never had a problem or bugs or disease, did not even look at them and they had a crop that I had to give it away. They had small rocks underneath because I xeriscape in my yard. Now when I came to this house I bought some citrus, few of the same varieties like my neighbor, I only found that out when I went to visit her place because she asked for help with the citrus. I went again recently and 2 of her trees are dead and the same 2 of mine are still alive. I went over what they do and what I do, and this is what we did differently, she fertilize with some sort of spikes, I use the Sunniland brand for citrus. When we got hit with the winter, I cover just the trunks of the trees, she only covered the tops. Sometimes when I spray the tomatoes, I will use the leftover spray on the citrus, she does not use anything because she said some expert told her the damage of thrips is only cosmetic. If you try to foliar feed when is not hot just early morning or evening there is a chelated citrus nutritional spray by Southern Ag that you can get I think at HD. I hope that you get your citrus back to health and producing for you. Silvia

Ivan, the tree in your second photo in your first posting of photos is clearly grafted. But, you're saying in your Subject header, "Dwarf Washington Navel (Flying Dragon Rootstock). Therefore, based on what you're saying your tree is grafted. And it's grafted to dwarfing rootsock (Flying Dragon). Therefore - you have a grafted tree :-) Your tree is awfully small to take cuttings from. I would wait until it has more to spare. You can root them with rooting compound in soil, and best to do in spring. Grafted trees bear much earlier, as the scionwood is taken from mature trees that have met their node count, and thus will flower for you, but you really want to wait a year to allow your tree to settle in, and develop enough of a canopy to support fruit. You can see exactly what I'm talking about with bleedingdirt's two photos (very nice tree, btw, bleedingdirt). And he is quite right - often young trees will abort any set fruit in order to develop into a large enough tree to support fruiting. Patience and good care will reward you with delicious oranges, soon :-) Patty S.

I've decided to transform the leaf mould bin into a compost bin sooner rather than later. Instead of emptying out all of the leaves, I've started incorporating grass clippings and kitchen/garden scraps into the bin, making sure it gets a good green/brown ratio. Over time, by turning the existing brown materials in with the new green materials, it should make good compost. The negative about this is that I won't be able to use this stuff for about two years, when I could have actually collected leaf mould in one year. The positive is that compost is more nutrient rich but can also be used the same way, as a top dressing or mulch, for water retention and weed suppression, but giving those plants a boost that leaf mould may not do. I'll work green materials in for about a year (or unless we get it so full that it absolutely can't hold any more) then setup another swimming pool composter up. On appx April 2018, the plan is to collect compost from the first bin. On appx April 2019, I'll collect compost from the 2nd bin. Then, April 2020, from the first bin, and on and on. Meanwhile, I'm slowly building up a small farm, with rabbits, cows, chickens, and eventually, ducks, possibly turkeys, etc. Rabbit poop = instant garden fertilizer + worm food, for vermicomposting, to collect worm castings for the garden, and the worms themselves could feed some fish, for a future aquaponics setup. Cow, chicken, duck, and turkey poop will be composted. As of right now, it's all about slowly moving forward, to try to obtain a balance, where everything works together.