What a relief! I was worried it was some sort of disease or something. Thank you!

#2 looks a lot like the citrus greening disease we're struggling w/ here in FL, but I'm unsure how that could be the case in AZ....?

EVDesert - ditto-.

Young citrus needs consistent feeding and moisture and will respond nicely.

BTW: When the temperatures are high, i only feed with liquid fertilizers and only after wetting/watering well first.

Google citrus leaf miner and see if any of the disfigured leaves have such symptoms. Some of the leaves look like a miner infestation on my sweet lime, but I can't see the underside of the leaf on yours.

carolb - ya, we don't have that here; I looked it up. I realize that we are actually really lucky here in the desert with citrus trees! It's extremely common to have them and now I know why; most pests/diseases can't survive here. Thanks for the suggestion tho - lead me to some good research!

molewacker - thanks! What brand liquid fertilizer do you use during summer? Any preferences or do you make your own concoction?

Tushaar - I see what you mean. Oddly, citrus leaf miners aren't supposed to live here (I'm in phx area- they've only been seen in Yuma). I'm going to have to see if that's changed; the one tree looks like the photos I saw online - but there's no tunneling or "mines". Does that need to be present for it to be a leaf miner?

Sometimes of the tunnels aren't very prominent or there are so many that the leaf looks like a mangled brownish-white mess from underneath. Usually, I have managed stop all miner attacks by removing the afflicted leaves and disposing them far away from the plant.

If you've just got the place and haven't seen these plants growing for a while, I'd suggest some pruning. Further, remove the gravel (add it back on top later), dig up an area 8 inches to 1 foot deep deep around the tree from the stem to as wide as the circumference, add lots of vermicompost, bone meal and stera meal and then water thoroughly (even if the soil is moist). Do this once and then monitor how the soil dries out. If it's hot, water thoroughly once a week (or whatever you think is fine - I don't know your climate). As a rule, if it's moist a foot deep, it's fine for the plant.

As a hobbyist, I do not use chemicals on my plants, though many will tell you otherwise. I use a mix of potting soil, cocopeat, vermicompost, bone meal and stera meal to grow my citrus in pots and I have had flourishing plants. What I advised you, I implemented at a relative's place a year ago and it has yielded good results. Citrus are hardy, they will survive in bad conditions but will flourish if you provide them with natural nutrients through organic matter.

That said, your plants definitely seem to require some nutrients evident from the yellowing of the leaves. Might be water deficiency too, but that is something you can remedy quickly. However, I'm not an expert. There are far more knowledgeable people around here.

All the best.

I don't see CLM damage, but do see sun scorch / leaf curl from varied hydration. [i had/have lots of that from trying to water minimally during our drought here in CA]. Letting a young tree dry out excessively will kill the fine feeder roots and delay growth considerably. Consistent hydration is your goal until the tree matures well enough to have built a larger root structure.

As for liquid food, ...yes my own concoctions. I've used mostly Liquid Gold [Master Nursery], Foliage Pro, and sometimes Miracle Grow in a spray feeder [40+ young trees!]. For my soil and irrigation water (9.4 pH) condition, nitrogen heavy food [like the LG] and the addition of vinegar (1 Tbsp./gal or less) has been noticeably helpful.

Good luck! - George

I agree with evdesert. I see a fair amount of these types of damage to my citrus leaves here in Las Vegas area too. The distorted leaves look like wind damage to me although CLM can exist in the desert (perhaps simply by people planting new trees and it spreading during the right conditions). Make sure your watering practice is sound (the university of Arizona has some good guides online), as the yellowed leaves seem a bit disturbing. I too highly doubt you have citrus greening, but it is a concern as some trees have been reported in Ca and the psyllid carrier is in Arizona.

Thanks all! I appreciate having some solutions. This has been VERY helpful; thanks for taking the time to help me out!

Leafminers are widespread here in Tucson.

Update and question:

After fertilizing, there is a huge improvement! Leaves growing, color is better.

I found distinct evidence of leafminers on the orange tree- cut off all of the leaves that seemed effected and now it looks amazing and the new growth looks healthy.

I'm still concerned about the lime tree. The leaves are still speckled yellow and green and I've been waiting for them to fall - new ones don't seem effected - but a couple (not all of) the limes are speckled too. Never seen anything like it. Could this be citrus greening? I read that Arizona is trying to do a quarantine so we don't have it spread here...

Here's a photo of my speckled lime. Does it look infected? If they all end up spotted, can we eat them? Is my only option to cut down the tree if it is citrus greening?

Thoughts??

Thank you soooooooo much for all of your help. I am grateful to have found this forum!