Help! My lemon tree may be dying!
nelliemelba
7 years ago
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poncirusguy6b452xx
7 years agonelliemelba
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Pictures of my lemon tree is it dying
Comments (1)Photos?? See my response to you with your other post. Patty S....See Moreis my fruiting meyer lemon tree dying slowly???
Comments (16)I look at it this way in simpler terms of course..... I am brain dead and bored, so here it goes..lol I if don't make sense, pardon me. If I can't or do not know how to grow anything in a pot with a Perched Water Table, which I mostly do not, then I won't use a soil that encourages it. Using bottom stones, or even water proof packing peanuts which don't weigh the pot down never helped me. By the way, if your determined to use bottom material, this is the way to go. No more heavy pots.:-) I have killed a many plants in the past this way. The bottom roots being wet ,stuck in that PWT above the stones, never drying out while the top half of the roots keep getting watered because I keep watering the top of soil that is bone dry. My roots can be thirsting for water even 4 inches down into my pots from the top, while the bottom half of the roots are in that PWT portion staying wet, never drying out. And rocks on the bottom of any pot does not get rid of that PWT. It just makes it higher. The Perched Water Table depending on the soil you use will be there, and maybe not if you use a wick or a fast draining soil. Of course this is not a concern to me in any pot smaller than 6 inches... They dry out fast, especially if they are in clay. I typically use something other than the gritty soil for these. But when I move up to a bigger pot, I am not willing to take the risk of root rot. Some people here can grown plants in any size pot with a PWT and have sucess. Some in 30 gallon barrels! I am not one of those..:-( This is why I use A'ls gritty mix minus the fines that could settle down at the bottom of pot and stay wet while the top of the soil gets dry. Bonsai have very shallow roots, therefore grown in shallow pots, and this is how a many of my friends including myself have killed our Bonsai. You can have a PWT in soil as deep as one inch. We can't afford to have a PWT at all in such shallow pots! On this we take NO chances. I can not afford to have a PWT also in big sized pots for regular plants. Since they and I changed to Al's gritty mix, we have been sucessful, with no Perched Water Table and bottom root rot, even in rainy everday weather if pots are left out all summer. We just have to water more often when because the soil dries out quicker. :-) Jean, I have done the same thing to most of my pots, especially the ones my Clivias are in. They are thriving!! I even drill bigger holes at the bottom of my plastic ones and hammer out a huge circle hole on the bottom of my clay ones, then use screen to stop the soil from falling through. I can only imagine the roots breathing all that air from the bottom!lol,and the water exchange because of this.:-) I love that Container Soils thread, at least what I can understand of it! One thing I did learn, I never knew what a PWT was until I read that thread. That was the culprit to the death of all my plants! Thanks for that thread Al! Thanks for all the great info everyone! Take care all! Mike...See MoreHELP - Dying young Lemon Scented Gum tree
Comments (3)With some of the potting mixes used, or if your tree was a bit root bound, it may be that while watering the tree may be wetting the surrounding soil, the root mass itself could be bone dry. Scratch away a bit of soil and have look at the root ball. It's alway a good idea to thoroughly wet any container plant before planting out - immerse the whole pot in a bucket of water and give it a bit of a soak. If you aren't on water restrictions (like us), and the root ball looks dry, perhaps you could set a hose on a very slight drip and position it close to the trunk. A couple of days of drip irrigation might revive your tree. You can also set up a temporary drip system with a plastic drink bottle. Put a small hole in the bottom, fill with water and adjust the lid so that the water drips out very slowly....See MorePlease help my Meyer Lemon Tree is Dying
Comments (2)Can it be tap water by any chance? I used to live on the lake and used to take water from it to water my trees, but I moved and have to use tap water. I can feel chlorine smell and taste in that water....See Moreponcirusguy6b452xx
7 years agonelliemelba
7 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
7 years agonelliemelba
7 years ago
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nelliemelbaOriginal Author