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New lemon tree cold shipping damage help!

5 years ago

I recently received a Genoa lemon tree as a Christmas gift from a family member. The plant was purchased through Williams Sonoma, and the tree shipped from Four Winds Gardens. I was worried about the cold (I live in the midwest) and thus kept on top of tracking. I grabbed the package as soon as it arrived, but upon opening it, all of the leaves were wilted and some dried/curled. The leaves at the top of the tree are completely limp and translucent (they look like cooked spinach). I know this is the effect of shipping in the cold, but at this point I just dont know how to tell how severe the damage is. It’s been three days, and each day more leaves become curled and dried. I have yet to water it, as the soil it came in is already extremely moist.

From what Ive seen online, most forums talk about outdoor planted trees dealing with frost. They recommend waiting until spring to assess anything. Since my plant is potted indoors (will be potted outdoors in summer) I am unsure what to expect or how long to wait to assess the damage.

I have an email out, as of today to Williams Sinoma, but have yet to get a response from them. Im not really sure what to expect from them. If my tree really is severely frost damaged from the shipping, it will be extremely disappointing. But it’s not like they can send a different one either. It would just bring the same results, most likely. Ideally, had I known my Aunt planned on purchasing the lemon tree, I would have asked her to wait until spring. But at this point, it seems my options are limited. Id really appreciate any advice from people with more experience dealing with citrus.

Should I expect to see improvement now that it's inside? How long should I wait? Will the dried leaves die? Are there more steps I should be taking right now? etc.

Thanks so much to anyone who responds.

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Comments (4)

Ike Stewart
5 years ago
I can't help on the indoor stuff, as I grow my citrus in ground. What I can tell you is to expect it to loose most / all of its leaves over the next week at this point, and expect it to be a month or two at least before you see much if any new growth, perhaps much more than that. I had one in ground tree that lost its cover due to the wind on a very cold night a few years ago, I thought it had died, but finally started to leaf out in August. Earlier today I picked a couple of dozen fruit off of that tree.
jenny_in_se_pa
5 years ago
I am surprised that FW actually shipped this time of year. I know of late, they have sent notices indicating that they would "hold" shipping due to weather. I had a couple that they did not ship due to hot weather over the summer and delayed until it cooled so I would think the same would have applied with cold weather, but I guess not? The issue being the box sitting in a non-temperature controlled delivery truck, which wrecks havoc on the poor trees. I know places like William Sonoma hawk these trees for holiday gifts but this time of year to ship sub-tropical/tropical plants, is dicey if you live in the colder parts of the country!

Maybe either William Sonoma and/or FW can offer a replacement "voucher" to redeem for shipping a replacement in the spring. Meanwhile, you may want to keep it so that the roots can warm up (and stay warm) and start to dry out the potting medium a bit (FW uses mostly a stringy pine bark mix) then consider repotting in a good fast-draining mix (many use 5:1:1 barkfines/peat/perlite or some combo of soiless) and after that, it's a waiting game. If the branches/stems remain green, then new leaves could emerge in weeks (with enough light).
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I agree with Paintscribe. He's got it right. also re fertilizer, wait until mid September. Old mature trees should not be fertilized nearly as much as young trees. Instead of fertilizer, I would recomend mulch under the tree out to 2 feet past the drip line. a LIGHT fertilizer, about 1/3 the recommended rate, would be ok for one year but then skip the next year altogether. Or use steer manure or bird manure a little under the mulch, but again a light application. Mature trees that are doing well overall, don't need much fertilizer. Since you say it's loaded to the hilt with fruit, it sounds like the tree is doing well and won't need a lot. Light pruning for structure will help but again wait until the temps are lower. also, if you expose any bark to the sun with the pruning, be sure to paint that bark with white paint immediately. I strongly urge people to paint within 60 minutes of pruning. It only takes a day for the bark to get sun burn.
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tlbean2004: there is pearlite in it. Not like I know what that means... uhh, I do believe the leaves get a little firmer and heavier after I water the plant, but that can just be my imagination. OK, so I will not over water. I would like to now know, is once a week too much? If I stick my finger in and I feel any moisture should I still water? I feel like this is so complicated. Yes, it is in full sun. Lots of good sun, on a sunny day of course. Should I re pot it in a smaller pot? How will that benefit me? If you need more pictures or anything let me know
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Denise Becker
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I agree with jenny_in_se_pa. Four Winds Growers is really good about shipping their trees only when it's safe to do so. I have had to wait twice for the right conditions to ship. Once with being too cold and the other time being too hot. Contacting William Sonoma was the right thing to do.

If this happened to me, I would have called Williams Sonoma's customer service department right after receiving the tree. Emails take too long to respond in my opinion and I hate to wait. lol. William Sonoma will have to work something out with FWG as they are the vendor selling the product. Did you send pictures with your email to back up the claim? I think your options are receiving store credit with Williams Sonoma or a replacement tree, but for how long will the credit be honored because of the weather? I would call Carrie at Four Winds Growers and get her opinion as to your options while you are waiting for a response from Williams Sonoma. Carrie is awesome!
poncirusguy6b452xx
5 years ago
Any updates on your tree and four winds.

Stevde

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