I have a lemon tree about 4' in height, it had 3 lemons on it when I bought it and lots of buds, I left the lemons to grow to a good size and then picked them, they were gorgeous and very juicy, the tree began to flower like mad and each time a little baby lemon started to grown I got very excited, then they always turned yellow and dropped off, the flower buds got more and more and smaller and smaller, I called the plant store where I had purchased the tree and they told me to make sure it had lots of water and, I gave it lots of water and the leaves started turning yellow and the plant continues to shed flowers and baby lemons. They told me to move it to full sun which I did, another plant store told me I was overwatering it and to let it dry out. I bought some citrus fertilizer and spread about 1/4 of cup on soil top and lightly mized it in as instructed. My poor lemon tree is not doing well by my hands and I am very sad, can any one help? When I bought it a few of the big leaves had holes in them, looked like maybe a caterpillar was eating them. thanks Jacquleine
1/4 of a cup ontop? Im no expert but I got told off for over fertilising my tree when putting one teaspoon to 4 pints of water and adding that. What do the instructions say? If you put your tree in full sun, make sure the roots are above 60F (get a meat thermometer), as they roots will not be able to provide the leaves with moisture. The biggest mistake is to give it too much water, I have killed many trees by over watering and causing rotten roots. Dont water unless the top two inches are completely dry!! Then give it a good watering, should last a good week. Is the climate in LA not acceptable for you to put your tree outside? It is here and I live in cold England! Post a pic if you can, Im sure Skeeter will be along to help you soon (resident pro). Have a search on this site, there are many discussions about this very problem. I too started one recently. It sounds like the plant is in shock, if it were me I would place in a warm place but out of sun for a good while until its recovered, check for root rot also before its too late.(roots should be cream/white, not brown/black)
Hi Jacquleine, I am guessing that your tree is inground, if so 1/4 cup of fertilizer is not too much, but it will need that every month during the growing season. Also if it is inground and has gotten established, you should only have to water it during a drought. If it is in a container, the amount of fertilizer is dependent on the size of the container--not the size of the tree. It is easy to overwater container plants, especially in winter-- don't water until the soil is dry at least 2 to 3 inches deep--that can be a week to even a month down here in the south depending on the soil type and temperature. Soil should be fast draining with lots of air. There is a catapillar that eats citrus-- it is the larvae of the giant swallowtail butterfly and the catapillars will look like bird poop. I keep the eggs picked off my trees and rarely find a catapillar. If you want to use a very specific pesticide that kills only the larvae of butterflies and moths, you can spray with Dipel-- it is a bacteria (bacillus thurengensis--not sure of the spelling) that infects the larvae. Insecticidal soap will also work if you spray it directly on the larvae. Skeet
thanks so much for your help, the plant is in a pot, so I gave it 1/4 of a cup of the citrus fertilizer just the other day for the first time, it says every three months but maybe I'll do every month, do you think? I am sure I have been overwatering it, the soil is the one it came in the pot with so presume it's correct. I am here in LA and the tree is outside on my patio. The buds have started growing bigger, they got smaller and there are tons of them, I cut the ends of the branches today, thanks again, and any other tips would be appreciated if you have them Jacqueline
That means it is probably a slow release fertilizer which is good. It will release a small amount every time you water. Follow the instructions which should give amounts based on container size. What is the NPK ratio of your fertilizer? Container citrus use NPK in the ratio of 5-1-3 so try to get something as close to that as possible. Osmocote makes one that is 19-4-8, but it does not contain trace minerals which you need to add separately if your fertilizer doesn't contain them. As for your lemons falling off, only a small percentage of the flowers will set fruit, and even after the initial fruit set, the tree will drop the fruit that it cannot support (often called the June drop). Skeet
Hi Skeet, thanks for your advice, the ration is 12-5-8 with minor nutriements, made by vigoro. The pot is about 8" diameter. Good to know the fruit and flowers drop, I have been removing the lightbrown/pink flowers, I think it's still recovering from too much water. It is time released the food, is 3 months intervals good, 1/4 of a cup mixed in top soil? The tree has tons of buds, should I prune some branches? or leave all the buds? thanks Jacqueline
In general, pruning is not recommended for citrus except to correct an imbalance caused by loss of roots. In this case if it is sending out new shoots, it is because the roots can support the growth-- if the roots were in bad shape they would not be sending out the new growth. Just keep the watering on the dry side and your tree should do fine. It sounds like you are on the right path-- the slow release fertilizer with micro nutrients is good and that is pretty close to the best ratio you will find. Skeet
