Hello. About 10 weeks ago I bought a potted Moro orange. It did gloriously for a while but then the leaves began to curl. The nurseryman told me to put it in the ground (ultimate goal anyway) with a mixture of firmulch, native soil, pumice, and citrus fertilizer, water it, and make sure there were no air pockets. I did all that. Two weeks later, no change. I then watered it. No change. See attached photo. I have been told: a. It's underwatered b. It's overwatered c. Such curling is normal. The underside of the leaves appear fine. There are no aphids, etc. I don't want to lose this tree. Might you please suggest what is going on? As ever, thank you for your kindness and knowledge.
The Tree appears underwatered. If you have only watered it 2-3 times in 10 weeks, it is very unlikely it is overwatered--unless the basic soil around the hole is like a clay pot with no hole. Given the heat that CA has had this summer that makes even more sense. Until your tree is established in the ground, you may need to water more often. It is not good to have a specific schedule, it is best to determine the soil moisture and the need of the tree. If the tree is showing symptoms like here and the soil is dry 2-3 inches down, water it --at least within a day or 2. Once the tree is established, it may not show symptoms even when the soil is dry 2-3 inches deep. As I said in other post, the symptoms are of overwatering are often the same as from underwatering--you need to know the soil conditions as well to know for sure.
Overwatered young trees tend to show a droop (wilting effect) to the leaves more so than a cup shaped curl. Also, too much water in a heavy soil can result in a chlorosis to the leaves with some tip burn in areas that have accumulated salts in the soil. Aside from the curling of the leaves the color of your tree looks okay, no overall yellowing or net veining or leaf webbing - that is a good sign. I agree that this tree does seem like it has been underwatered, not watered often enough or not enough water applied at each irrigation. Some Blood Oranges can take longer to adapt to an in ground planting than other Sweet or Navel Oranges do. We have a Mandarin in a 15 gallon container that for two years all of the new growth, sans the older leaves, were curled like your tree but I am happy to tell we've seen none of it this year. Some of the curling is normal for that particular cultivar of Citrus combined with the rootstock used as an understock until the roots become more established and then much of the curling we see in the new growth will subside. Another thing that will exacerbate a curling condition is any warm to hot winds to exposed trees in the landscape with insufficient water flow in the tree. It is when we see the new (younger) growth and the old growth both have the cupping is when we better know we have a growing issue. In your case it is due to perhaps a combination of factors (some may not be fully evident yet, such as a nutrient imbalance that may be being masked by Nitrogen) but the one thing that is common in all of those factors is that the tree is not getting enough water.. Jim
