Hi, I have a washington orange tree(dwarf)about 4 feet tall in my backyard and i noticed that half of the branches were dying. It was healthy for a year and all of the sudden this things happened started 2 months ago. Most of the leaves turns yellow and small branches turns to brown. New fruits about 10 mm in size were falling. I watered my tree almost every other day. Applied citrus fertilizer and still not working. How could i keep my tree healthy? Thank you so much.

welcome to the forums ... try to load a pic in a reply... so we can look at it ... it goes without saying.. its stressed ... and it needs time to settle down... make sure it properly watered ... and otherwise ignore it ... the key is to try not to love it to death .... its stressed.. not hungry .... fert is not a reasonable response ... i presume its indoors ... if not.. full shade until it gets its act together ... i hope you put the seller on notice... a good seller.. would replace it ... but i know how online vendors can be .... soooo.. what do you do.. relax ... try not to stress.. and give it time to de-stress ... sometimes ... benign neglect is the best thing to do .... believe it or not ... ken ps: there is also a houseplant forum .... you might enjoy ...

Chemical messengers tell the plant how productive leaves are so plant central can 'decide' if the leaf is worth keeping. A week of darkness is enough to convince the plant the leaves aren't doing their job, so an irreversible shedding process has begun for some or all of the leaves - nothing to be done about that other than allowing Mother Nature to have her way, and be very careful not to over-water. Fortunately, if you don't over-water, the plant should recover nicely, and the new leaves it puts on will be pristine and perfectly suited to the light level where the plant is sited. I would recommend that you start using a "tell", which will tell you if it is/isn't time to water. More about using a "tell". Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support good root health, which is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to a build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

Ali, Steve made a great point! At least 16 hours of light by now. What kind of light is that and how strong is it? Does it get any sunlight at all in a south facing window? You could use any good soilless mix you find there, but youwould have to gauge how fast it dries and whether or not it's good for the environment you have it in. Options You could use a clay pot with a good soilless mix. Miracle grow will work if you add more perlite to it, or even bark mulch, pine that is. You could use straight 'pine bark' or 'hemlock mulch with added lime. That would be very porous. You could use the mulch with added perlite even more porous. You could use mulch mixes with peat and perlite. As you can see, there are options, just become creative with a mix that does not hold perched water and that can rot or suffocate your roots. In your situation you most likely need a mix that is very porous and that dries out evenly and quickly like within a couple of days which I likje ro wthin at least a week. ) I wish everyone that grew citrus in containers could understand the concept or how water behaves in planted containers and how to make mixes work best for their trees and grower. There is plenty to learn at the container forum if you ever wanted to know more) While you stay safe, here is something you might enjoy reading) https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5894651/container-soils-water-movement-and-retention-4-11-20#n=14