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Citrus Trees Container Gardening

Lemon tree leaves wilted and roots rotted, can I save it?

4 months ago

last modified: 4 months ago

This lemon tree had been happily growing from a seed, until, I suspect, the soil kept retaining too much water and the root health suffered. Before I had read on this forum the benefits of well-draining soil, I reported it to a new pot in, sadly, big box store potting mix. The leaves continued to wilt, dry out, and fall off. Now there are no leaves left, and when I dug up the plant to examine the roots, most of them fell off, rotten. How can I save this tree? I have it in clean, oxygenated water at the moment to keep an eye on the roots, and I have made no cuts or trims to the remaining root bits. Do I need to make tiny holes to convince roots to form? I want to get the roots established before I get it back in proper, well-draining soil. Please advise, and thank you!

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Comments (4)

Vladimir (Zone 5b Massachusetts)
4 months ago
No leaves and no roots so i don't hold out much hope. I would put it into a well draining mix like 5:1:1 and hope for the best.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 months ago
i agree.. i dont think there is much to save ..

but if i were to try.. i would moisten some media mixed with bark chunks.. repot it. water it in.. and shove it in full bright shade [when its appropriate to put it outside] ... and see if it has any life in it in the next 6 months ... im not even sure i would water it again ... trees prefer a sip of water.. full complete drainage.. and to go near dry before the next sip ... [this is where the no name media failed... it held too much water for a tree in a pot ... and you watered it too much]

and for sure.. they arent houseplants ... nor are they aquatics.. so i wouldnt leave it standing in water..

and i never heard of drilling holes in roots .. thats just too much love ...

the fact that your plant was so tall .. indicates to me.. it was probably lacking the full sun most trees need ...

frankly .... at this point.. it would be irritating me so much.. id just be done with it ... life too short to fret over an experiment ...

try again if you wish .. but do a little better perfecting the plant culture.. the basic variables needed to succeed ... light.. water..drainage ... etc ... and see if you can do better ..

one definition of a real green thumb .. is that they have killed every plant 3 times... before they learned how to deal with it ... and after strike 3.. who needs that piece of garbage in their life anyway ... lol ... find something else ...

ken
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Nope - if they started rotting, there is no reverse. If you just repotted them - it can be some wilt from disturbed roots - depending how bady you disturbed them - and I usualy cover my repotted plants with a plastic dome for a week to avoid it. If there is some green leaves on a top - you can try to save the crown or leaves - they root easily, if it is all wilted - it is dead. If you touch your leaves and they are quite limp - you need to check roots. Usually you can tell just by trying to push the stem a bit if it is not holding well - probably roots are goners. But you can chuck your plant out of the pot carefully, remove some soil near the stem - and you can see if it is blackened. When you repot - try to water just a bit - because the plant cannot absorb all this water until it regrows the roots back. I.
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Hi kthycer, I live in N Phoenix with several plumeria cuttings growing on my apt balcony. You should be safe to fertilize now that you have a handful of leaves, just go easy on it as the root system is still quite small. Because it is in a standard potting soil, you still may have issues with rotting. Plumies really need a very well draining mix, especially when rooting a cutting. As soon as the plant is able to handle it(at least a few months away) I would re-pot it in a more porous mix. With a more porous mix you will be able to give it a proper thorough watering. It's better to let the water flow out the bottom of the pot as this helps to keep salts and fertilizer from building up in the soil. I have been using terracotta pots as an extra precaution against rot because of their 'breath-ability' and to keep them from blowing over. In regards to fertilizers, I have just started using Jobe's Oganic Knockout Rose Food (granular). It's a 3-4-3 and loaded with all kinds of beneficial bacteria and fungus that makes the soil 'alive' which is supposed to help the roots in nutrient uptake. A much more natural environment for the roots than what a chemical fertilizer can provide and no risk of 'burning' from the fertilizer. I hope these suggestions help. Tom
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I don't like seeing that much soil in a pot. There isn't even 1" from the soil to the rim. It's tough to put enough water into a pot planted like that. Imo, one should have at least 2-4" between the top of the soil and the rim of the pot. That way you can fill that baby up to the top and get a good amount of water into the soil. If you water so that the pot is filled, and you see bubble coming up into the pool of water, you know it's still not saturated enough. If you have so little room that you can't get a pool of water before it overflows, you have too much soil in that pot. There is a lot of fear of over watering citrus, and that can be a real problem, but under watering is just as bad, and even if you correct it, you may have lost your crop. A tree that is water starved will abort the fruit to save it's life.
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Your tree looks hungry to me. Make sure when you are watering you soak slowly for a long time and wait longer between waterings. Don’t worry about your clay soil, there are plenty of citrus groves here in the Coachella valley planted in clay type soils mainly in the thermal/ Mecca area. These groves produce tons of lemons, grapefruits and oranges with no soil amendments. Unfortunately, this time of year is tough on our trees, my trees also get chlorotic due to the cooler temps and less sun, you’ve compounded the issue by planting your tree in a grass area. Citrus trees are bad competitors for nutrients, the grass will get them before your tree does, so you’ll have to feed it that much more to make sure it’s getting enough npk. What type of fertilizer are you giving your tree? Do you know what root stock your tree is on? I can’t seem to feed my My Eureka tree enough, like my Meyer I usually give it 1.5 times the recommended rate of fertilizer when I feed it. Here’s my tree, in ground for 4 years on Volkameriana root stock. Evan
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bklyn citrus (zone 7B)
4 months ago
I agree with the above, learn and move on, if the hobby interests you get a grafted tree and everything you need for it to succeed (proper pot, proper soil, fertilizer, emergency horticultural oil, indoor light and timer A seedling tree wouldn't bear for years anyway, so you'd be not getting a lot of enjoyment of getting the fruits. I have three seedling clementines (rare to find a seed) nd they are all vigorous and somewhat attractive so I keep them, and one yuzu from a fruit on a tree I grew. I started a few lemons and they were slow growing not worth taking up the space so I ditched them. Good luck
bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
4 months ago
I would agree that it's probably not worth the time and effort to save, if you want fruit, a grafted tree, some well draining soil (if you want to go bagged there are some good ones, depending on where you are, but you need to look at what's in it), a good pot, and some lights will get you a lot closer to fruit.

If I did want to try to save this, I'd probably treat it like a cutting I was trying to root. Trim off everything dead with a pair of clean scissors wiped down with alcohol to sterilize. Then make some holes in the bottom of a clear plastic cup, fill it with some sterile seedling/cutting soil, moisten it, plant what's left of your tree, then flip a second plastic cup over the top and tape all the way around the rim to seal it. Cut a few vent slits in the top cup, set over a plate to catch any drips and then leave it and wait and see. If it's going to survive, you'll eventually see new growth. If it dies, at least you gave it a chance.

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