Will my lemon tree leaves grow back

Discussion in 'HortForum' started by dolphin2, Oct 22, 2010.

  1. dolphin2

    dolphin2 Member

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    I have a lemon tree I grew from a seed from a grocery store lemon as an indoor potted plant. I just recently noticed it has spider mites. I may have been a little too vigorous in trying to remove then and seem to have damaged the leaves. I tried to spray it with a solution of dish soap and water. It seemed as if there were even more a couple days later so I took it out side and soaked each leaf with the solution and rubbed each leaf with a paper towel. I may have been too rough on the poor little thing and now the leaves have brown spots and look all dried up. Some of the leaves have also fallen off. Will all the damaged leaves fall off and will new ones grow back, or is that it? My plant is about 3 years old and has been doing great until now. I still have the spider mites but they seem to be a lot less.

    I also have a meyer lemon tree that I just got in July and that one has lost a lot of its leaves as well. I don't think I over watered it because I followed the same watering routine that has worked for my other lemon tree and that was doing fine until the spider mite incident. I also have a pot with a lot of drainage hole. From reading other posts I believe it was a mixture of not enough fertilizer and winter leaf drop. I didn't use any fertilizer when I potted it because I thought the potting soil had enough. I was also keeping it in my sunroom and the nights started to get chilly. I have moved it inside and fertilized it and the leaf loss has lessened. I've only lost a couple since. Will the leaves grow back and make it look more full?
     
  2. chilipepper

    chilipepper Active Member

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    I would treat the mites first before worrying about the leaves. Try buying some natural pesticide or you can boil some chopped chili to spray on the infected area. As for the leaves, cut off the dead ones and leave the healthy ones alone but try to keep as much foliage as possible.
     
  3. dolphin2

    dolphin2 Member

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    If I remove the dying leaves will new one grow back in there place?
     
  4. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    The damage has been done. Leaves will grow back if the tree has enough reserves to do so. Place it in a warm location with plenty of light. Minimize watering - just enough to keep the soil moist. Fertilization may actually be detrimental at this point. I would not remove any existing leaves unless there's little doubt they're dead or will soon be.

    The loss of foliage is a good opportunity to eradicate the mites since there's less surface area in which to elude soap sprays. Apply the sprays every 7-10 days until the mites are gone. Treatment must be repeated at least once since the spray is ineffective against the eggs. I would use an insecticidal soap that is formulated for plants.
     

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