Am I loving my lemon tree to death?

last year

I have a small potted lemon tree. It had only been just okay for a couple years, and then started flowering and growing fruit. But the fruit has grown so slowly, and there's little new growth. I added a single Jobe's potted citrus fertilizer spike. No change. I then noticed the leaves getting sticky and small scabs along the underside so I hand washed the entire plant to wipe off all pests, and sprayed with an organic insecticide. I was then inserting another fertilizer spike when I discovered the old one had become a truly foul smelling slime! I've asked the manufacture if this is normal but haven't heard back.

At this point, it has three golf ball sized fruit. Last year, I'd put it outside and something ate all the small fruit. So I hoped they were big enough to be safe, and placed the plant outside again. But now the leaves are blanching -- something I've never seen it do before. And there's some sort of scab on one of the fruit, and I'm seeing small scabs along the top spine of the leaves.

So... Did my fertilizer turn rancid? Is that where the flies came from? Am I over-fertilizing it? Is something else eating it now? I'm truly at a loss for how to make this plant happy.

P.S. I'm located in Boston.

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Comments (11)

Silica
last year
Actually your tree looks quite healthy. The insects along the mid rib look to be scale. You can kill them with a horticulture oil spray, soapy water spray, or neem oil spray. The large spot is caused by birds picking on the fruit.
Chris Crowley thanked Silica
Chris Crowley
Original Author
last year
😅 Thanks! Any guess why the leaves are turning white?
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Thank you hoosierquilt, but the potting mix is a citrus mix and drains extremely well. There is no problem with draining. Water runs right through it and out the bottom. I live near the coast. Some mornings are foggy, and as I said temperatures have been cool as of late and not getting much sun so the soil in all my plants is not drying at all. You can even see the moisture on the leaves. These pictures were taken early in the morning. Also, the roots are not sitting in water. The pot is elevated above the saucer so the pot (nor the tree) is even touching the saucer underneath. Both those issues are not the problem. I'm hoping it's just sunlight and once the sun starts shifting further north in a few weeks it will be fine. Thanks again. This post was edited by ariel.s on Tue, Jan 21, 14 at 22:55
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Well, the roof rats may, indeed, be the cause of the demise of your tree. I see a large amount of bark chewed off, which means the tree may have been girdled, thus cutting off the supply of nutrients traveling up to the tree's canopy. I agree with Mike, here (citrange). It could also be due to Phytophthora infection which can cause foot-rot as Mike mentions, as well as traveling up the tree (the odd discoloration on the branches and bark). Whatever caused the bark damage at the base of the tree (roof rats, a weed whacker, sprinklers hitting the trunk of the tree and the bark simply rotted and fell off) are most likely the cause of the death of this tree. The other concern I would have is how close the tree is to your house and roofline. You are providing those roof rats a clear path to your roof, and thus your attic. Which is where they love to live. We have a serious issue with the Norway rat (also known as roof rats or citrus rats). I would make sure you remove all trees or vegetation from the sides of your house the provide a "ladder" to your roof. Plus, the roots aren't good for your house's foundation and plumbing, either. Set traps or bait stations around your house to reduce the rat population (they carry disease as well as damaging your fruits, and what you're seeing with your lemons is clearly rat damage. They eat the sweeter skins of your sour citrus, and will hollow out the insides of your sweet citrus - classic rat damage). They are unhealthy pests, and you need to get rid of them. Bait stations can be set with non-kill through bait, so you do not kill birds of prey, just know that there is not antidote for that type of poison, so don't let dogs or small children get into the bait stations. Patty S.
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Follow-up, 13 days after re-pot. Unfortunately my tree is in trouble again! Less than a week after repotting, the veins of many of the leaves started to turn yellow. The yellow then spreads outwards, and the leaf drops off (see photos in the link below). It looks like the little tree will lose most of its leaves :-( Searching through the forum, I found a thread from a year ago where Mike had a tree with exactly the same symptoms - did you ever find out what was wrong? I hope your tree survived! Do you think it is just a stress response (I pruned some of the roots when I repotted)? It also developed flower buds, which I know can be a sign of stress (I removed most of these to help the plant concentrate strength). I have had it in the shade since the repot and it has only been watered on the day of the repot and once since. I haven't checked the pH of the new soil, but I made it as per instructions (including lime, although perhaps I didn't include enough?). Would it be worth checking the pH? On the positive side, I have noticed a few tiny new leaves forming at the end of a couple of the branches (but not lower down on the branches). Do you think the tree will drop all it's leaves and then recover? Or is it a goner? Yours hopefully, Lindsay PS I have some Foliage Pro due to be delivered next week that I planned to start using, if the tree is still alive... Here is a link that might be useful: New problems with lemon tree
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bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
last year
I agree about scale. Did you gradually put your tree outside or just straight into direct sunlight? I would also advise against the spikes. Jobes granular works just fine and it's cheaper too. The spikes just don't seem to do as well.
Chris Crowley thanked bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
I may be wrong, but I am slightly dubious that the green bumps along the leaf veins are scale. Do they come off very easily with a finger nail? If not I suspect oedema.
Chris Crowley thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
Chris Crowley
Original Author
last year
Thank you all.

@bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening, I did just move the tree outside so instead of 2 hours of afternoon sun it's now getting about 6 hours of morning sun and midday heat. Does that shock the plant? Having done that a few days ago, should I just leave it be for now?

I think @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK might be right about the non-scale. They don't wipe off easily, and there is none on the underside. I'll make sure to drain its saucer when I water and see if it improves.
bonsai_citrus_and_indoor_gardening
last year
floral_uk may be right about the oedema, looking at it again on my tablet it looks a little less like scale. As for putting the tree outside, just like you'll get a sunburn if you're indoors all winter and then go spend all day outside in 90 degrees, trees can get sunburned if you don't acclimate them to outside gradually. I suspect that may be some of the lightening you're seeing on your leaves. Once the damage is done, it's done, so now I'd just water as usual. If the plant is outdoors, I wouldn't place it on a saucer, I'd just let it freely drain over the ground. Maybe elevate it a bit so that it can drain more freely. Elevating the pot can also keep the populations of undesirables from the ground down a bit. I've dealt with sunburn even on my own trees this summer just with how intense the sun has been this year when it's been around. Not much you can do other than just let the tree grow.
Silica
last year
last modified: last year
oedema in citrus normally shows up on the back of a citrus leaf, not the front. Further the swelling spots of oedema are much larger, than the spots shown in Chirs's photo. Whatever, Chris has nothing to worry much about her tree. It looks healthy. As to the question Chris asked, the answer is Yes, Chris you are loving your tree to death.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
If they don’t wipe off they’re not scale.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
last year
First thing, don't use fertilizer spikes. Dig out the old gunk, and switch to a liquid fertilizer and a slow release supplement such as Osmocote Plus.

Josh
Meyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
last year
I agree with Josh! I was thinking the same thing.
Alex [Zone 6a Lithuania.]
last year
last modified: last year
Photo 1, 2, 4 - this is from the sun.

Photos 3, 5 - other, describe what you did in more detail. What and when you sprayed?

I ask you to donate the originals of these photos, send them by Email or in another way.

Can't find a way to send a private message.

Look at my name, in parenthesis E-mail, instead of () insert @

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Am I loving my lemon tree to death?

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Silica

Chris Crowley
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Am I loving my lemon tree to death?

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