Key Lime Tree - Leaves turning yellow and falling off. Twig die back.
David Munsell
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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joeinmo 6b-7a
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Problems with my Citrus Plants, Scale, Crinkly Leaves and Die Off
Comments (18)Hey Toni, thanks for your complements on my plants. Beleive it or not, all of my plants with the exception of the Aussie FIngerlime have been grown from seed. As a matter of fact, the Grapefruits were personally selected and liberated by me :) . I was out in AZ at the end of 2001, I was out for a evening drive with my wife and sister in law, we went to the highest point in Phoenix, then on the way back I passed a former manson with a radio station billboard on it with some sort of event going on at the grounds. It had a semi circular driveway and the entire very large front lawn was fileld with quite old Grapefruit trees, all seemingly the same type. When I went 3/4 of the way around I stoped said what the hell, jumped out looked at a nice looking tree and picked 2 grapefruits off the tree, the biggest and best ones I could find, and tossed them into the car. I had to wait 1.5 months for the box for some reason to come back to NY that I shipped em in but they were intact and whole. I had the seeds of one of the grapefruits planted for me by a friend and co-worker, since he had better facilities and room for that. Once they gre we split up the bunch. I kept 3 seedling and the other 2 went with him. I think he has one tree left. The other 3 have been growing with me ever since. Grapefruits #1 & 2 were so close together that I decided no to seperate them, they seem sto be doing great otherwise so it has never been a worry. The Key Limes were a bit simpler. Basically I bought a bag of "Susie" Key Limes in 2004, made a key Lime pie, saved the seeds, 15 seedlings grew. I lost 10 of them when I went away for 5 days and the pot they were in was not watered while I was gone. I planted the remainnig 5. One died in a month, another died suddenly of mysterious leaf loss the next year. Now of course I had a Key Lime almost die of the same mystery. The Lemon was planted September of 2005. I palnted 6 seeds,only 1 came up. I thought I had a second plant but it turned out initally to look like a weed. I figured I would let the weed keep the lemon company for a while. I was almost ready to pull the weed and then it flowered, then about a month later I found a whole bunch of small thai peppers growing on it...lol. It was a seedling for when I planted some in the same pot 2 years previous. As you can tell I just stuck the seed in existing dirt. The Kumquat I bought at the local Stop and Shop in December of 2005 and got 2 seedlings from that. I will be transplanting them soon. The Aussie FIngerlime I bought from a place in South Carolina. I will be looking up the name of the place when I get to work tomorrow. Anyway that is my story, so no grafts except on the Aussie, all is from seed. VTY -Mark...See Morekey lime leaves yellowing & falling off
Comments (8)Ok..I am going to make a bold statement, not on what I believe, but what I have seen.. Count the too much sun or not enough out.....I have property in the Carribeans, where I have citrus growing under trees that are greener than the ones in the sun all day. The leaves are always yellowy on the ones in the all day hot sun, but produce lots of fruit and flowers. The ones under the trees, produce lot of green leaves, and less fruit and blossom. 1. I would first check the soil and make sure your roots are evenly moist, not wet or dry. If the soil is cruddy, then amend it for the roots sake. It has to be well draining and not compact, or it will affect root function causing all these problems. While your at it, take a gander at the roots. They should be whitish.. 2. I would then check the next most important thing you can do to keep a healthy tree, your PH. If your PH is not on the acid side, no matter how much you fertilze your tree, it will not take up nutrients properly. 3. Next, check for bugs. If it is being attacked, the leaves will fail, turn yellow and drop. Almost always though, the most common casue of problems for citrus is unhappy roots or the wrong PH. Usually the "soil" which causes your roots to fail and not to their job.... As for the sun, too much or to little, I have many that are perfectly healthy here and on the islands that are very healthy in either or. My problems along with my friends in Florida have always been root related due to poor watering habits, or poor soil, or root rot. Attack these three first, then make your next move. Forget the fertilzer for now. Please, make sure your roots look good and are doing their job first, before applying fertilzer. They could become toxic instead of beneficial such as happened to mine in the past. Roots should look white and soil should be well draining..:-) Once you have done this and all is ok, we can come here and suggest some great fertilizing methods for ya..ok It's not to late. Hope this helps you rid one problem at a time. Mike..:-)...See MoreBeginner Gardener Key Lime Leaves Falling Help PLz
Comments (31)Again, check the soil way down at the bottom, Mile High. You made up your own mixture, and believe it or not, it may still be retaining too much water at the bottom of your pot. Cactus mix and perlite will still retain too much water. Especially when you bring your tree inside for the winter. Which is why Mike shared with you using the 511 mix. O don't even use cactus mix and perlite in S. California, where it is almost as dry as Colorado, and I can keep my trees outside all year. My customized 511 mix is 3 parts bagged mix (usually MiracleGro Vegetable Soil), 1 part perlite and 1 part small bark chips (usually reptile mix or coarse orchid mix). I think the issue you're having is from past and possibly continued root damage, some of it a delayed response, and possibly some of it a response to continued root damage. I think the roots are damaged enough that the plant cannot sustain growth at the apical ends of the branches, and they are just dying back (called Die Back, interestingly enough). So, I would make absolutely sure you're not continuing with more root rot. I think the chlorosis you're seeing being caused by inadequate root growth, not inadequate fertilizer. If the roots are so damaged that they cannot take up nutrients, you'll see chlorosis, despite fertilizing. Your best bet? Re-pot now, with 511 mix. Trim off any dead, rotten roots. You may even have to flush the pot with a weak bleach solution to stop the root rot (I think Mike has had to do this in the past, so search the forum for the bleach to water ratio, you don't want it to be too strong, or you'll kill your plant). Then, once re-planted with a properly porous mix, start fertilizing with 1/2 strength Foliage Pro until you start to see some recovery. Once you do, you can move up to full strength Foliage Pro, and add some Osmocote Plus time release fertilizer (please do not use anything else, many of the time release fertilizers have too much urea--based nitrogen, which will burn the roots, and also do not contain micronutrients, as Osmocote Plus does). Patty S....See MoreLime tree leaves yellowing from bottom up
Comments (1)Your soil looks to be very peaty. Many of the premixed soils being sold are horrible! Citrus like sharp drainage (something they share with palms btw). If your mix is peaty, it is holding on to too much moisture. I would hold off on watering and repot in the Spring with a better soil. Some citrus growers advocate a "gritty mix" (I don't use it, because I grow many outside for a good part of the year, and can't keep up with watering in the stuff.) Citrus will be happy though with your standard soils used for palms (one that drains well). P.S., Even those premixed soils marketed as being for Palms and Citrus are bad--too peaty. P.S.2, Persian lime in container....See Morenorwoodn
4 years agoJames (zone5b)
4 years agoKen B Zone 7
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoSilica
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoVladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agogardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agojoeinmo 6b-7a
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoLemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
4 years agojaydub83
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agoDavid Munsell
4 years agojoeinmo 6b-7a
4 years agojoeinmo 6b-7a
4 years agojoeinmo 6b-7a
4 years ago
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