Please help! My lemon tree is dying!
Skadoodle66
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
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Silica
3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years agoRelated Discussions
Are my lemon trees dying?
Comments (2)agree with dano ... but you shocked them.. incredible stress.. leaf damage is not surprising.. as to 'seeing' growth.. lets keep in mind.. its a tree.. it has basically one growth season per year ... and if it grew from seed over winter.. i dont know what more you want.. think in terms of tree years.. rather than an annual/perennial.. that grow like the weeds they are ... trees have VERY HIGH drainage requirements.. and as such.. when pot grown.. require SPECIAL potting media ... and again.. not the stuff for annuals/perennials .. what did you use??? a pic will get you much further than pure speculation ... ken...See MoreHELP - Lemon Tree Dying?
Comments (3)Fumiris, Pardon me if this is late! I would say you should check to make sure you haven't put the tree into too large a container. I have an orange I started from seed about 35 years ago, and by keeping it pruned, I still manage to winter it in a 22 inch diameter pot in the living room (the tree, not counting the pot, is about 5 feet tall, but only because I prune it relatively ruthlessly a couple times a year). If you do choose to repot, and notice that the rootball is still confined to only half or so of the container, I think you should downsize. Not doing so means there is a good chance you will either underwater or overwater, since the tree will not be accessing the water that may or may not be in that extra soil. Regarding soil choices, I would go with a good "soiless" mix potting soil. Don...See More***help*** lemon tree dying ***help***
Comments (14)Oh boy. Even this "citrus nurse" is going to struggle, here. Okay, first off, let's get rid of all that grass under the tree. This poor tree is struggling enough as it is for nutrients, but the grass is simply using up any Nitrogen that might be made available to this tree's feeder roots. So, clear a very large circle under the tree. For this tree, I would suggest twice the drip line (edge of the canopy). Mike is right - paint the trunk white, never black. This may be the cause of the issue - you may have literally cooked the cambium layer with black paint. It is customary to use flat latex house paint cut in 1/2 with water to paint tree trunks. I would definitely try re-painting the trunk. The dog's damage may have girdled the tree, in which case nothing we tell you to do will save the tree. This tree is too small to have this many dead branches requiring pruning, so that clearly should be a clue something is drastically wrong. The leaves appear to be burnt. If you're applying any kind of oil to the leaves, you must make sure your outdoor temps do not exceed 35 degrees F (29 degrees Celsius), or you'll risk burning the leaves. Again, spiders are the "good guys". If you're referring to spider mites, that's an entirely different insect, and is often a sign of a stressed tree. Find out what insect you think is a spider, and get it ID'ed so you know whether or not you're dealing with a pest or a beneficial. CLM can be treated with Spinosad, with or without a hort oil added in (depending upon your air temps). You should be able to find it where you live. Be sure to use Spinosad in the later evening, when the bees have gone back to the hive, as Spinosad can kill bees. Spray every 3 weeks, 3 applications during your CLM season. You can use a hort oil to help the product stick better, but only if your air temps are low enough. Lastly, back to the watering issue. It looks awfully wet in the soil. We need to know what kind of soil you have. Is it clay, loam, sand, DG? You say you "water occasionally". Is this tree getting hit by lawn sprinklers? If so, that is certain death for citrus. They don't like their trunks constantly hit with water. It will damage the bark and leave the tree open for all kinds of fungal infections. If you're watering by hand, you want the roots to receive a good, deep (to about 18 - 24", or 7 to 10 cm) watering once to three times a week, depending on your ambient temps, humidity and type of soil. Check to make sure the tree actually needs to be watered, before you water it, so you can gauge your soil's water retention. I just use a cheap green plastic-covered plant stake, and push it into the ground. For me being on DG, if I can't push it in at all, my soil is dry (turns into cement when dry). If I can push it in, and the stake comes out moist, I'm good. You're heading into Fall now, but I think you can still get away with another application of fertilizer. Use a good quality citrus fertilizer with the proper NPK ratio (citrus require a lot of nitrogen, so you'll see the N will be higher than the PK, the best ratio is 5:1:3 in general for citrus), with the full complement of micronutrients as well (Ca, Zn, Mg, Mn, Fe). Stay in touch with your local gardening center, someone who knows citrus. Let us know how your little tree fares. I'm a little concerned about all the damage. I'm not sure if it is just how the tree is being managed, or if we're looking at something more serious, like a virus or infection of some sort. The good news - citrus are very resilient. Let's see if some better management allows the tree to spring back. It may take until next spring until you see some serious recovery, so be patient. And, remove all the fruit for now. Your tree cannot possibly support fruit production, it needs to use all its energies into recovery. Patty S....See MoreHELP! Yearling lemon tree is dying.
Comments (7)Thank you, everyone. I appreciate your responses. I did think it looked like sun damage but I didn't realize that the damage can continue to appear well after the plant has been removed from the direct sun - thanks for this insight. My plan is to repot Larry (the plant) into a smaller/lighter pot with some proper soil mixture and to slowly introduce him back to the sun. I think the pot we have is too large anyway and my husband recently injured himself and can't help me move it - maybe why I rushed his transition to the outdoors over a few days as opposed to a week or two. We're at high elevation and the sun is very powerful here in CO so perhaps moving extra slow is even more important. A few lingering questions... 1. Does anyone have a conversion chart or recommended formula for adding fertilizer to such a young/small plant? The "dosage" chart given on the bag of citrus fertilizer I have seems to be for much, much larger trees and I want to make sure I don't overfertilize. 2. Any ideas as to what the initial few white spots/defoliation might have been from? Those spots did not progress like the sun burn spots and happened several weeks before moving him outdoors. They are shown in the first image. Thank you again! I am happy to hear that Larry should recover....See MoreSkadoodle66
3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years agonorwoodn
3 years agoSilica
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSilica
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoMeyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years agoSkadoodle66
3 years ago
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