Hello, I am hoping you can help me. I have a Meyer Lemon I bought 2 months ago and seems to be having some issues. I re potted the plant when I got it and it never seemed to go into shock. It had several blooms on it when I got it and had a few more in the weeks to follow, but now has none. The blooms it did have left little lemons behind, but most of them have turned yellow and fallen off.The original 4 lemons that were on it when I bought it are still there, but no new ones have survived since. (And the tiny ones that are there do not appear to be growing...) Now the leaves are curling or cupping and some of the leaves are turning yellow and falling off without their stems attached. Known pests: As far as pests, I have had some Fungus Gnats from the transplant soil, but now there are very few. I think I caught most of them with cups of soapy yellow water sitting in the pot over a period of a few weeks. There are a few surviviors. I have noticed in the last week that I think I have the beginnings of a spider mite infestation. (Their appearance parallels the leaf curling I think). I will spray the tree with soapy water tonight in an attempt to head them off. Watering schedule: Right now I am watering it about once a week maybe less because I was trying to dry out the Fungus Gnats. I just stuck my finger around in the soil to see if it needed water again and I did notice that the soil is the most dry right next to the trunk. i.e. in the original root ball area. Is it possible that the water is rolling right down the sides of the pot or not soaking into the immediate soil where the roots still are centrally located? I noticecd that the water is rolling away from the trunk as I water it but figured it would be ok. My tree must be planted a wee bit higher than the soil level possibly. Is that really bad? I have attached some photos of my tree to assist. Any thoughts? Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate it! ~Jessica
Yes! It is possible the water run down along the side and not reaching the root ball. Press down firmly the soil around the pot to stop the water from draining right out first, than give-it a good soak.
So do you think that the yellowing leaves and lack of blooms (and lemon loss) is a result of not getting enough water too?
I can only see a few yellow leaves near the bottom. They could simply be old ones being shed. Webbing and stippled leaves are usually indicators of the presence of spiders mites. I don't see either in the photos. If there is an infestation in its early stages, that would not result in the curling of the leaves. The shedding of fruit in their early stages is not uncommon although I've noticed they're usually green when that happens. The tree appears to be healthy aside from the curly leaves which may be a sign of lack of moisture. That should be easy to verify by checking the medium a couple inches down from the top. Does the container feel relatively light compared to when the tree was potted up (and watered)? If the soil is bone dry then it may be necessary to sit the container in a dish of water for a short time to rehydrate the soil. Were the side and bottom surfaces of the root ball loosened when the tree was repotted? Not doing so would discourage the even distribution of moisture throughout the medium.
