My meyer lemon tree needs some help. Iv had it for just over one year and it was doing fine till scale came and I got rid of that now it just wont grow. No new leaves nothing at all. It has never flowered and all the fruit that it had when I bot it is all gone. I water it about every 2 weeks and give it miracid acid-loving plant food 30-10-10 about every 3 weeks. Please help! What can I do to make it better?
Your soil looks like it is getting a good bit of salt build-up--you should flush the soil by allowing water to flow through it for at least 30 minutes. Do this a couple times a yr. It also looks like you probably had some winter leaf drop (WLD) and have several dead limbs--you can trim the dead limbs back to about a 1/4 inch above the green--leaving a little of the brown so that you can tell if it is getting worse. You can search for post on WLD, but it is caused by exposure to direct sunlight while the roots are cold (below 56 F). Skeet
I would offer three possible reasons. 1). I agree with my friend Skeet, that you need to flush the soil in the container. The white growth on the bottom of the stem, and stick is a buildup of soluble salts. You should always flush a containerized tree times a year by pouring clean clear water through the medium in the amount of four times the volume of the container. Soluble salts comes from the fertilizer and the irrigation water you use. 2), As a *GENERAL* rule you should transplant a containerized citrus into a larger container, or add new soil at least every year. Also for smaller sized citrus trees, they generally require transplanting when the height of the tree is greater than 3 times the width of the container. 3). Have you ever checked the pH of the growth medium? When the pH of the growth medium is too low, in the range of <5.5, a citrus tree will still maintain a rather healthy appearance, but the growth slows way down or comes to a halt. A fertilizer formula of 30-10-10 is a very acid formulation, and if I remember (I never use it) it has a higher proportion of the nitrogen coming from urea. If you have never flushed the growth medium, and looking at your pictures I would be very surprised if you have, the soluble salts are high and the pH is too low. I would also assume the roots are beginning to circle around and around the container's walls, as the tree has been in the same container for a year or more. As for the dead small branches, just remove them. Small branch death is more or less common in citrus. The tree does not look all that bad, so if corrections are made soon, everything should be fine. Good luck to you and your tree. - Millet
Ok, what is the recommendation on a good type of potting soil and fertilizer to yous. How would I change the ph of the soil if it is to high of acidic.
There are many threads on soil types, have a search, I used 4 parts Coconut Husk Chips, 1 part peat moss, with some slow release fert and some grit. The main aim is to have some air in the container, hence the CHC's.
A very common potting soil mixture used by commercial nurseries is 3 parts pine bark, 1 part peat moss and 1 part COARSE sand, its inexpensive, and the ingredients are readily available. For my trees, I use 4 parts CHC (Coconut Husk Chips) and 1 part peat moss. CHC's do not degrade nearly as fast as other wood chips. Citrus roots always absorb nutrients from the soil in the ratio of 5-1-3. It is best to find a formulation in a ratio as close to 5-1 3 as possible. People do use a fertilizer with the formula 30-10-10 (a ratio of 3-1-1) with more or less good success. Flushing the container 3 or 4 times a year should take care of any toxicity from soluble salt build up. - Millet
I just did a ph, nitrogen,phosphorus, potassium test buy AccuGrow this is the results ph 5 to 6, nitrogen D, phosphorus D, potassium B to C. Does that tell any one anything. I hope.
its in a 20 inch round pot. the roots are still in the shape of the pot that I bot it in and thats about 10 inches around.
the root is too high above the ground (this shows in your 4th picture), the soil needs to be changed to something better (buy it from home depot - they have good mixes). or if you don't want to change it, you can use a shovel and loosen it a little bit. for fertilizing (to get your fruits), i would recommend you to use "miracle-grow for citrus trees." i bought this before. it's a fertilizer that you stick into the ground. you only need to do it about twice a year, i think... i have a few citrus trees at home: lemon, orange, lime, tangerine; you name it. and i love them, since they give me so much fruits. i feel sorry for this plant of yours:) i hope you can revive it and get it to bear fruits! but it doesn't look sick. the leaves are a vibrant green! i think you should plant it in the ground instead of in a pot. trimming the stems a little bit, like 3-5 inches down would help too.
Supermanbala, test strips of any brand are not all that accurate, but are generally somewhere in the ball park. A pH of 5-6 is a little low, but should not be a problem. As roselover wrote, your tree is planted a little too high, but again because it is a citrus tree, it is just fine. For citrus, it is much better to be planted a little too high than being planted to low. There is a saying, "Roots Grow As A Bullet Goes", meaning a root will constantly grow in the same direction, until it meets some form of resistance, such as a rock, soil hard pan, on in the case of a tree planted in a container, the containers walls. Therefore when a root bound tree, (which is any tree where the root system has already started to circle around and around the container's walls), is transplanted the roots will continue to constantly grow in the same direction. I your tree's case that direction is around and around. You should have removed 1/2 - 1 inch of the soil and straighten out the roots, before you transplanted, or transplanted before the roots begin to curl. It will take a long time if ever for the root system to fill the new container. The foliage of a citrus tree will only produce new growth, AFTER the root system has finished it growth cycle. Your tree root system is still very compacted even though you put it in a larger container. - Millet
