Meyer Lemon Tree - Yellow and Brown Leaves
Lem Lem is having a time of it. The leaves that were once yellowing and dropping off are now turning brown.
A closer look provides more detail,
Houzz has been a wonderful forum as to what could be maligning Lem Lem. Based on the wisdom gleaned from this website I have,
- Kept her in the basement under a 15 Watt LED - which is equivalent to 100W incandescent - for 20 hours a day.
- Put a humidifier next to her.
- Stopped watering her frequently.
- Made sure the soil was very loamy so as not to accumulate water.
- Put a heat pad under her to keep her roots warm.
- Added fertilizer with lots of micro-nutrients to make sure she was getting them all. I used Mittleider PrePlant and Weekly Feed. Basically, 17-17-17 fertilizer with Epson Salts, Boron, Lime and micro-nutrients. Added this just once, because it is winter and I didn't want to over fertilize.
- Hosed off all of the spider mites that I found on her.
I am in Zone 7b in Marietta, GA. As a result of the advice I took on this forum, Lem Lem seemed to stop dropping her leaves as readily. It could have been my own bias, but it appeared to slow the problem.
Two weeks ago I took her outside. The only reason I took her outside is I believe the natural weather is better for her than the basement provided it doesn't get too cold. The winter has been very mild lately.
Right now, Lem Lem is in a large 5 gallon pot in the ground. This makes it easier to bring her inside if the weather starts changing too fast. I just pull the pot out of the ground, set her on a dolly and roll her in. The rocks are kept at her base to mitigate the fluctuations in temperature.
Well now she looks worse than ever. I'm thinking it could have been the shock of coming outside even if it hasn't gotten below 50 degrees since she has been out. It has rained a lot lately and this could explain all the petals on the ground. All in all I am confused as to what to do next. How can a plant that has leaves this bad be producing so many flowers? On one hand Lem Lem is saying I am healthy and ready to make lemons, while on the other hand the leaves say she is on her last leg? Would be very grateful for any feedback. Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
John
Comments (8)
Alanna Migliacci
6 years agoMy Meyer lemon had the exact same problem from 2 years of extremely hard water.
12/31
I began watering exclusively with rain water and cut out the fertilizer to flush the soil. Her leaves continued to burn and fall off over the course of 2 months. Eventually she lost all of her leaves. But she had a growth flush pretty quickly. It’s been 4 months of just rain water now and she’s small, healthy. By the end of the summer, she’ll be back to normal.
Today:
All she needs now is some summer sun!
Lem lem will survive.
John Coffey (Zone 7b) thanked Alanna MigliacciRelated Discussions
meyer lemon--browning leaves
Comments (3)New....first off, Meyer lemons are a bit tempermental and you can have leaf drop with these guys. But, your tree needs a bit more heat,and just all around care.You should have a feeding schedule for your citrus.Citrus need to be fed.Find a citrus food,and follow the instructions on the box.Buy and use a moisture meter if you are having trouble watering.It's better to water when needed than to water unnessarily. And last of all, the tree needs more heat, 45 to 60 is a maintainable heat for citrus thru winter,even though it's getting good light. All these things are essental to growing citrus.There are plenty of citrus foods on the market if you don't happen to find any even Azelea food works.But in order to have a healthy and happy tree it needs a feeding schedule,heat,and water when needed, and light.When you water your citrus ,water it until the water runs out of the container throughly.This leeches out the salt residue.Also a handful of OSMACOTE fertilizer is good to dig around the top soil of your Meyer tree too, every 3 months.I use a brand of Citrus food made by "Whitney Farms" it's called Citrus & Avacado & Vine Food.Some of the Citrus dealers have citrus food available for sale.***Suzanne...See Morepotted Meyer lemon tree leaves turning dark green with brown spots
Comments (3)Sorry, this photo was immediately following watering. I usually keep it drier. Good point regarding poor drainage, though, since I am a complete novice. The pot has holes on the bottom, and I set the pot on several bottle caps to raise the pot above the ground and allow those holes to function (theoretically). Do the photos look consistent with either root rot or excessive fertilizer? Thank you for chiming in!...See MoreMeyer lemon tree leaves turning brown and dropping
Comments (6)The leaf drop is most likely Winter Leaf Drop (WLD) due to cold roots and leaves getting a lot of light. See: http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=13332.0 Also, in addition to WLD, your soil looks to be too water retentive which means you may have root rot due to wet soil. Moisture meters are not very accurate. You are better off relying on your fingers. Dig about two inches into the soil and feel if it is moist. Or, stick a skewer to the bottom of the pot an pull it out. If you see soil particles sticking to it that means the soil is moist and the plant does not need watering. If you do have root rot, you should repot into 5:1:1 or gritty mix. Here is the recipe of the 5:1:1: 5 parts pine bark mulch (remove ½” pieces through 1/2 inch screen) (Some people use Repti Bark instead of mulch. They do not screen it.) Try to soak the bark overnight. · 1 part sphagnum peat · 1 part perlite (coarse, if you can get it) · 1 Tb garden lime /gal 5-1-1 mix (measure the 5-1-1 mix) · Osmocote plus (follow manufacturer’s instructions). This is optional. · Moisten well and wait at 2 days before using, if possible. If it is salt, fill the pot with water and let drain. Repeat three times....See MoreWhy are my Meyer Lemon tree's leaves turning yellow?
Comments (7)It has long ago been proven putting rocks in the bottom of a container is a bad idea. Doing so raises the perched water table higher into the container and the tree's root system As to your soil test results, the nitrogen should be high, the phosphorous should test rather low and the potassium should be high. Below I have posted a link showing citrus with a potassium deficiency. https://www.google.com/search?q=potassium+deficiency+citrus&rlz=1C1OKWM_enUS900US900&oq=potassium+deficiency+in+citrus+leaves&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0.27068j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-B AND https://www.yara.us/crop-nutrition/citrus/nutrient-deficiencies/potassium-deficiency-on-mandarin-citrus/...See MoreJohn Coffey (Zone 7b)
6 years agoJohn Coffey (Zone 7b)
6 years ago
Silica