Help! Calamondin plant shed all leaves but still blossoming?

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by Basha, Feb 21, 2017.

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  1. Basha

    Basha New Member

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    I bought a calamondin plant 2 weeks ago from a nursery. At the time it was covered in buds, leaves, and a few fruits. After bringing it home, I placed it indoors as it was still very cold out, but by a sunny window. Within a couple days it started to drop leaves. About 5 days ago when almost 70% of the leaves had dropped, I took it out on a sunny day and repotted it as the soil it came in from the nursery was very dense/clay like and had completely caked around the roots (although the roots still looked fine). I used a mix of peat, bark chips, compost and perlite. It's quite a breatheable mix. I brought it back in, but the leaves continue to drop. Now it has almost no leaves, but the buds have started blooming? It seems to be dying because the branches are browning at the tips gradually...what can I do to save it? I have no idea what to do. I've very much slowed down the watering since it has no leaves, but I am still misting it a couple times a day because of the very dry climate...
     

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  2. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Exposure to extreme cold temperatures during the transport home would have caused the leaves to dry up then fall. That does not appear to be the case. The tree is under stress as evidenced by leaf petioles, minus the leaf, that are still attached to the stems; this is supported by the appearance of blooms. Is the room fairly cold? The tree is sitting behind an uninsulated wall and perhaps on an uninsulated floor (can't tell from the photo). Citrus root activity slows at low temperatures and stops at 13C. Exposure to light under those conditions would cause the leaves to be shed in the manner described.

    Low humidity may be a problem. If that is the case, misting will be largely ineffective in changing the humidity level. A wide, water-filled pebble tray would be slightly better. By the way, it was a good choice to go with a porous medium. At this point, keep watering to a bare minimum - just enough to sustain the plant - and withhold the application of fertilizer.
     

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