Hi, I have a washington orange tree(dwarf)about 4 feet tall in my backyard and i noticed that half of the branches were dying. It was healthy for a year and all of the sudden this things happened started 2 months ago. Most of the leaves turns yellow and small branches turns to brown. New fruits about 10 mm in size were falling. I watered my tree almost every other day. Applied citrus fertilizer and still not working. How could i keep my tree healthy? Thank you so much.

# 1 Provide alot more sunlight or artificial as possible at those temp! At least 12-14 hours if you can. # 2 I would check the roots immediately and while your at it, # 3 Plant it back into a very porous well draining soil. You say you have stem death after the leaves drop? A sign of poor root function. If the roots breath too, you will see your plant react for the better, quickly. Who knows how that tree was treated right before you bought it. Please make sure roots are ok..I usually do this before I even bring one home.It will save you alot of aggrivation and wasted time trying to figure a problem, when it is as easy as knowing the roots health first. Can you give it outdoor sunlight at this time of year by day? I would. The most sunniest spot. Citrus seem to heal all ailments with full sun pretty quickly.. In short, check roots, change the soiless mix immediately, provide lots more sunlight, do not feed, do not overwater. Give it as much as humidity as you can until the roots provide the leaves the moisture once again. I like to stick mine in the shower, let the hot water steam the bathroom, and let it rest in there at nights while door is shut until morning, until I see improvement. Dead stems and branches almost always= poor root function, or root rot..:-( These steps I shared have always saved me a many trees:-) Goodluck!

Hi all, I am new to this forum, I have read this thread, but would like to double check my information to make certain my little lemon tree is doing okay. Briefly: I purchased the tree in the spring of 2011. I live north of Chicago. The tree spent the spring, summer and autumn on my side deck with a southern exposure;I have many mature trees (50+ years), and this area gets the most sunlight. The tree seemed to do fine while outside, I brought it inside before the frost. My house has floor-to-ceiling windows, so I placed the tree in the same exposure, except indoors. It probably receives strong sunlight probably 8 hours per day on sunny days. Today is 21 January, and recently just about all of the tree's leaves began to shrivel. They did not turn yellow, but they did die (become crunchy) and began to fall off. I was very alarmed, but after reading this thread, I believe the issue may be that the soil/roots were cold. I do not presently have a thermometer (it is after 1 am and we just had 9' of snow!) but the container does feel quite cool. The tree has never had any fruit, just one marble sized green lemon that I have not removed and some white buds, which I have also not removed. Here are my questions: 1) It appears the tree will lose all of its leaves, but that does not mean the tree is in danger of dying, correct? 2) If I am to understand the problem with the contrast of sunny leaves/cooler soil/roots, this problem can be rectified by either keeping the tree in the sunlight and warming the soil (with xmas lights, for example), or by moving the tree out of the bright sunlight so it can "wait" until going back outside in the spring. So, I can move the tree to a less sunny location and it will be fine until the spring, given all other things remain the same? I should add that I take pains not to overwater, and the room where the tree is located is quite dry with little humidity. I have used good soil and, as a bonus, since I have pigeons, I have also used some of the pigeon droppings into the soil. I have done this with great success with my other plants and in my garden, and with this tree during the warmer months when it was outside. Thanks in advance for answering my questions, I really appreciate it. I just want the tree to be happy and to be able to overwinter indoors with as little stress as possible. Thanks again, Bill B.

We need to know more about this tree. How long have you had it? How long has it been in the same container? What kind of potting medium do you have? Does your greenhouse remain steadily at 71 or is that a day OR night temperature? Is your plant watered adequately/properly? Insect infestations can cause stress for a plant. They have to use considerable energy resources to withstand and recover such attacks. My favorite method of mealybug control on citrus (and most other plants) is to keep a misting bottle filled with a solution of one part isopropyl alcohol to three parts water so that you can attack the critters on a regular basis. You can also go after them with a cotton swab dipped in the alcohol out of the bottle PLUS mist them. Don't use the alcohol on bright, sunny days...or anything else, for that matter.