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Eureka Lemon - curling leaves / why?

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

About a month ago I bought this 5 foot tall Eureka Lemon from a local nursery. It has about 10 pretty decent size fruit on it (1/2" or so). It is also setting new buds - but the leaves are curling. What causes this? Per the sales staff, I added some store-bought Magnesium mix stuff (for the yellowing). It is in a clay Pot and gets about 5 hours of very direct/ht sun throughout the day. I water it when the top 2 inches seems dry. Is that too much water? (the pot has drainage holes). This curling of the leaves though is maddening. Pic attached. Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

User
8 years ago
Not enough water.
Tim Caldwell
Original Author
8 years ago
Interesting. I seem to not get the balance right, obviously. I read that Citrus do NOT like to be too wet - and in fact some articles go as far to suggest they need to dry out between waterings. In my case, I had been allowing the top couple of inches to dry out before soaking again. In fact when I dig down with my finger the soil (closer to the root area) is in fact still moist even while the top layer is dry. Confused .... :-(
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There could be a reason...Maybe your tree is starving for nitrogen? Some citrus are just hogs for the nutruient! You can count out Iron, because the newer leaves can noy Another possibility...Are the lower leaves getting plenty of sunlight? Have you let the tree dry out to frequently beyond dry? Seems a deep watering once every 2 weeks during dry spells night not be enough.. Some trees just by nature grow lush and green without much work like my lime and grapefruit trees...Then some such as my ponderosa and lemon trees yellow up on the slightest lack of fertilizer, too high of Ph, to much water, too little, temp flucuations, and so on.. This is just a start...
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My partner and I had some trouble a little while back when we first planted our tree and found out that our tree was nitrogen and magnesium deficient as the leaves were very light in colour and no fruit had been produced. We check the PH and fertilize as required with citrus feed but the pest issue seems to have gotten worse. The leave curl in this picture could be from frost? As we are in Winter here in Australia right now and the tree is in the middle of the backyard with little shelter - aside from the fence. This (see pic) is the first lemon we have seen for over a year and a half, since we got it from the nursery! So I am really hoping we can get a few more without the tree being eaten/destroyed... If anyone knows anything about this or has experienced the same sort of thing, your information would be greatly appreciated!
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johnmerr
8 years ago
Don't stress about curling leaves; yours are not worrisome. Your tree looks good. I don't know where you live; but if you are in a cool climate, terra cotta is not good; because the evaporation from the pot creates salts, and cools the soil. Citrus roots do not like to grow into cool soil.
Tim Caldwell
Original Author
8 years ago
East Bay area of SF .. Gets quite hot here during summer days. I left it in the pot just in an attempt to find a place in the yard that the Citrus actually "liked" ... The last one I planted in the ground died. I just couldn't seem to get the balance of things right. (e.g., too dry, too much water, blah blah ..) I see neighbors with very large & healthy citrus. I struggle. ugh. THANKS!

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