I've got several trees, Trovita orange, Meyer lemon, Meiwa and Nagami kumquats, limequat, key lime, kinnow mandarin. The limequat, keylime and mandarin are struggling. Limequat looks like its dying fast. Oddly, the others mentioned are doing AWESOME, and all are treated exactly the same (temp, water, medium, sun, food, you name it). ok, so some citrus are obviously more sensitive than others. that is lesson 1. But what am I doing wrong? Trees: 2-3 yr from fourwinds (bought 5 weeks ago) Location: Seattle Sun: full 6+ hrs outside Medium: CHC + Peat Containers: 12 inch, beige color (reflect sun ok i think) Watering: once a week, or when my rapitest moisture meter reaches 2 Humidity: blessed with 40-80% for "free" in seattle :) Temp: 70-90F lately Temp night: 55-65F Fertilizer: none for a month (just got me some 25-5-15 though) Insects: I did just recently find one red mite and 3 tiny black bugs that are slower moving, will start oils tomorrow. Symptoms: The limequat has me worried big time. multiple symptoms that seem to contradict one another: wilting on new bright green growth upward leaf curl on old growth, with leaves now pointing downward Leaves look dry (when they near falling off point anyway) 30% fruitlets dropped off, the rest seem to be staying leaves dropping are mostly inner leaves, not out at the ends of the branches One branch is almost completely bare now, BUT one strange thing... it still has 5-6 leaves out at the end, and they are the only ones NOT curled or showing signs of issues. The keylime has exactly these symptoms, but is further from deathly looking (no bare branches, slightly less leaf drop, etc). And the mandarin is only experiencing leaf curl, while still maintaining its fruit and minor leaf drop. Keylime and limequat never had fruit, so not worried there. I can send pics next post. What is the deal? I thought I was overwatering due to wilting (watered every other day), so I now wait only until my moisture meter signals the need. but then it looks like its drying out. I just dunno. could it be the fert, lack of food for a while? I dont think its the bugs, just doesnt seem to be a huge infestation. Temp is a question. we did have some hot days for seattle, 90F, and the plants are sitting on a concrete patio. i havent checked root temp, but did not think it an issue when my containers are not dark, and when I know its not below 55 deg. Plus... mandarins are keylime are among those that LIKE more heat, so surely they cant be overheating whem my nifty trovita and Meyer lemon are just cruisin happily along. Help!? I have read the forums for hours over several days, but am not coming up with the right ideas, and now its getting critical. Things to try next: fertilizer check soil temp (less likely too hot, but heck, maybe its in fact not warm enough for the heat loving varieities??) humidity - ok, I admit, it does sometimes drop below 40, maybe lower than 30% at the peak of the hottest days. I'll watch this more closely.
Old thread, but I thought I would update for all those viewers seeing this. I saved ALL my trees! Not that anyone replied to my post to help, but this forum was so loaded with info... it rocks. I could not have done it without reading through info here, and understanding everything from food, water, to humidity and temp. How did I do it? I simply moved the trees into the shade for a month or so Yep, thats it! Poof, leaves stopped dropping, and started new growth. That is WHAT I did, but I still dont know WHY this was necessary. I noticed that the Lime trees really freaked in full sun. This is confusing to me, considering it was summer, roots are warm (well above 55 or 60 at night, 80 day), and Lime especially LOVES HEAT compared to other citrus... apparently not so much for mine here in Seattle. My lemon and other citrus trees did great all summer in full sun, in Seattle's hottest summer in history, nearly. The other thing I did was water like crazy without fear of over watering, since I was using CHC as the medium, no prob. But I am certain that watering was not the issue. Leaf drop was directly related to sun exposure on the lime. Toward the end of summer the lime did ok in full sun. So there you have it folks. A resolution to my prob and successful summer for first time citrus grower. If someone can explain the odd response of the Lime in this case, great! But now I am on to a new challenge: a successful winter season of indoor survival.
Roachslayer, I've only just noticed this post at your second posting or i would have been able to tell you that not all Citrus likes full sun. In Mexico it is often planted on the side of a hill or mountain to get partial shade. They can stand a fair ammount of water but don't like sitting in damp either. I grow Citrus outside in my garden and have a wide variety like you. They are all thriving and can stand a lot of cold but not a lot of damp, so as winter approaches I make sure that the damp can't get in any where which as I'm living in the UK at the moment isnt easy. The trees are all planted at the side of my driveway which is concrete a foot thick and I made a foot diametre holes to protect them, They can stand the frost but the roots are protected anyway and I can cover around them in winter to stop too much damp getting in. Nath
I have grown citrus for years. I presently grow just about every variety of citrus (over 100 +varieties), both in the ground, and as containerized plants growing in CHC. I don't know of a single citrus variety that does not like sun. Although, citrus do not require full sun to stay healthy, but ALL CITRUS VARIETIES grow much better, and produce larger crops when grown in full sun. When a container citrus tree that is placed in direct sun begins to drop leaves, 98 percent of the time it is caused by an imbalance between the leaf's surface temperature, and the root zone temperature. Remember, that the root zone temperature of a containerized citrus tree growing in a 70F room, will be lower than 70F, due to evaporation from the surface of the container. To prevent leaf drop of a containerized citrus tree that is placed in direct sun, the root zone temperature MUST BE AT LEAST 64F or higher, day and night, and if any leaf drop is noticed the root zone temperature should be immediately raised to 70F. If these root zone temperatures cannot be constantly achieved, then the other alternative is to remove the tree from the direct sun light, which will then put a citrus tree with a colder root zone temperature back in balance. However, by doing so, a lot of growth will be sacrificed. - Millet (1,194-) Give the Nobel Peace Prize to someone who actually deserves it.
