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Underwatered or not overwatered Lemon tree?

7 years ago

I was bought an indoor lemon tree for a present.

The soil was a little moist still so I waited about a week to water it before going away for the weekend. When we got back, the leaves had dropped and lemons had fallen off.

I'm confused as to if it's been under or overwatered. I read that if a tree has been underwatered, when it's watered, it's leaves will drop. However, when I look at the roots, I'm not sure if it's been overwatered.

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Comments (5)

User
7 years ago
Under and overwatering can show some of the same symptoms. Have you felt the soil to try and see if it feels wet? Did you get the tree and just put it in the pot? Was there any water at the bottom of the pot?

Or you can try something like the chopstick test to see if the soil is overwatered.

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/check-soil-moisture-chopstick-30981.html
Coral Felix
Original Author
7 years ago
The lemon tree is in the same pot that it was purchased in. The first time I watered it was after a week and it was slightly damp rather than wet (the normal point at when I'd water my other plants. Whenever I water plants, I generally water in the sink so that they don't sit in the excess water.

The soil definately isn't too wet anymore as it's now 3 weeks later and I have been checking that the soil is only very sightly moist before watering again.

But I don't know to get it to improve - it isn't getting worse though.
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I would say it is not too much sun as your other plants are doing excellent. As for the temperature monitor, you cannot use it if it is in a sunny location. Our deck monitor often shows 110 - 115 but that is not the true temperature so we need to go by what the standard method is when measuring temps. Going from a sunny location to a shady location can be a 20 degree drop on a sunny summer day (depends on where the temps are read). With a weather app on your phone and your location, you can get a good idea on what the true temps are. I can use the temp monitor on our deck before the sun starts baking it and during cloudy days and be within a degree or two of what the actual temps are. Anyway you can acclimate your plant to those kinds of temps. Here is one of Begonia Dragon Wings and a caladium we had on our deck years ago. It did require a daily watering though. I wished I could find DW again as it seems to have waned in popularity - it is excellent in full sun as long as you keep the ground or pot adequately moist. Then I had some succulents on a baker's rack with this big begonia on the bottom shelf that loved the heat and what light it did get sideways. I bought this begonias as crassicaulis but it just didn't look right. So I nicknamed it to Sprawler. I think I finally found the true name, 'Bayberry Lane'.
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It is common for broadleaf evergreen trees to discard their oldest leaves on an annual basis. Not all leaves, just the oldest group. In Southern Magnolia this occurs each year at the time of the new Spring flush. The tree is never bare, it just replaces the most senescent set of foliage. Healthy evergreen broadleaf trees don't retain leaves in perpetuity.
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Sammers510
7 years ago
From the photos it looks very wet to me, but you may have just watered it beforehand. I killed my first Meyer years ago from over watering by treating it like my other house plants, I treat my current one more like a cactus and it's never been better. Depending on your environment it may need watered once a week or once a month, I let my soil feel dry to the touch when I stick my finger 2-3 inches into the soil, then water until it drains through the bottom, I usually water about 1 GAL for my 5 Gal trees but I have a pretty fast draining soil. I only water about once a month in the winter but my trees are in a cool/cold garage and use very little water at a time. The leaves on your tree are too far gone so your tree will drop those and make new ones (hopefully). Since your soil looks really water retentive I'd use Bacons tip of a chopstick into the soil close to the roots, if it comes out clean its good to water if it comes out with wet/damp soil then wait longer. It may be holding too much water near the root-ball and never fully drying out there even though it seems dryer in other parts of the soil. Hopefully this is the issue because to me its an easy one to correct once you get the hang of what works for your tree. Good luck!
Coral Felix
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi,

Thank you very much for your help.

The leaves have been like this for about 3 weeks and haven't dropped yet - would it help the plant if I pruned it or is it better to leave it?

Coral
Sammers510
7 years ago
I'd let it do its own thing with the leaves. It may take a few more weeks but hopefully you will start seeing new growth.

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