My lime tree in a pot (don't know what kind, the nursery had it tagged "lime"), no bigger than 2 ft high, had done well since last summer in the greenhouse, flowered beautifully this year and started producing little limes. Then aphids got in there and smothered it. I sprayed and hand picked for a while but they were relentless. The hot weather seemed to be arriving and I thought it would be better off out on the south deck to get a break from the bugs. I think that was a mistake... the hot weather was not consistent (wet coast summer) and even though it was close to the house and under the eave (didn't get over-watered) it dropped all its leaves. Before the last one fell (and all the little limes too) it started shooting clusters of new leaves close to the main "trunk". Then the flowers emerged. It appears to be dying on all the extremities, branches are going dark and brittle. My question is: Should I leave well enough alone and let it try to recover on its own? I moved it off the south deck where it's now very hot, to the east side, where it's warm and fairly sunny but not baking. I'm wondering about pinching off the flowers and hope that it can leaf out enough to survive. I've only watered it when it felt dry several inches down into the pot, and then would give it a good soaking til it came out the bottom. I was giving it a citrus fertilizer once a month since early in the year. I'm not sure what else to do to give it the best chance to pull through. Thanks!!
Hmm it could be that the tree cooked. The soil getting too warm in relation to the top growth etc etc. If I'm wrong the resident citrus experts will correct me I hope :D. Apart from that, I have no clue if the tree will pull through. In my opinion though it sounds like the poor thing is on its way out. Did you manage to get some seeds from the fruit? If anything the seedlings may be able to live on in its place (or you might be able to purchase another tree from a local greenhouse if you're lucky). Still, if not all of the tree is dark and brittle it might still bounce back but I would think that it would be at a severe disadvantage for a long while to come. Cheers, Ryan
The tree is flowering in response to stress. You can pick the flowers if you want, but not that much energy goes into flowers, by the time they are big enough to pick most of the energy has been used. It is difficult to say what caused the stress based on the info given. Was it in a black pot in the sun? If so, roots can get cooked. You say it was not overwatered, but are you sure--how much was it watered--what kind of soil? Was there anything else done to the plant?
The nursery said to make sure I only watered when the top three inches felt very dry, then to give it a good soak, and that's what I've done since buying it a year ago. It was still in its original soil, they'd just repotted it and said to leave it for a couple of years. But you're right about the black pot - we'd thought of that, and put it inside a larger white one... but it'd already had a day or so of sun... so maybe too late. Thank you both for that suggestion, that's probably what happened. I'll leave it alone and hope it pulls through.
If it has green leaves that are not all wilted, it will probably pull thru. It will reduce the top to what it can support with the roots that are left.
Here's pictures of what's left... it's recuperating on an east deck, so gets morning sun and bright indirect light for the rest of the day. The new growth looks quite vigorous, but as you can see the extremities are looking brittle. With luck (keeping aphids and meteorites away) and a few years it may be okay. thanks again
It certainly is alive and will pull through. It may recover faster than you think. You can trim away any wood that is totally brown now or wait until it is more clear where the dead wood stops.
