My indoor grapefruit tree is dropping leaves like mad! I have recently moved and this is its first “ winter” The temperature is about 68 indoors. I am watering it in the usual fashion. I have had this tree for 41 years! I am getting stressed every time I see a leaf drop. At this rate, it won’t have any leaves by spring. HELP
There are multiple reasons citrus drop their leaves. I have listed and described the ones I know about here: Problems and Treatments | Aprici ... since you recently moved it indoors you may also want to peruse this on suitable locations for citrus Location | Aprici
Does your new location has radically different heating system? Plants may suffer if to move them from oven heated house to central heated flat, etc. Huge change in lighting conditions (I understand, that you moved from the south to the north) can also cause leaf dropping. And transport itself is also source of risk, especially for indoor plants. If your tree is 41 year old, then it should be quite large. When transported on an open truck load, its leaves may suffer drying and mechanically damaging from intense air flow, from sun burn (if it was sunny during the moving), from frostbite (if it was cold), etc.
I appreciate your response. I moved in August. The plant was doing well until the weather changed and the heat clicked on.. So, I agree that maybe the heating system is affecting it. At my previous house, the heat seemed to come from the bottom baseboard. The townhouse in which I’m living now has its heat delivered through vents from the ceiling. It may be that the plant doesn’t like the overhead heat. I’ve been here now for four months, so I think it’s acclimated to changes from the moving van. It was only a 2 Hour drive , so it’s not as though it was a major problem. Oddly, my Amaryllis and Christmas cacti and aloe plants are doing well
Leaf drop. My poor plant is dropping healthy- looking green beefy leaves. S( He ) may be in shock from the crazy temperature changes and change in natural light. The leaves otherwise look healthy. Now I have bare branches with only the thorns. I’m presuming I should probably cut those naked branches off so they don’t drain the rest of the plant ?????
If possible, post photos of the tree. It may have been damaged during transport as @Sulev suggested. Was it exposed to cold temperatures at that time? Do the leaves look like the ones seen in the following thread? Meyer Lemon tree losing green leaves. The loss of leaves will result in much less moisture being transpired; you'll want to reduce watering accordingly.
I would not prune back any of the branches unless they're dead as you'll be removing the tree's energy reserves. Going by the hunch that overhead heating is the cause, perhaps you can deflect the air flow so that the tree is not in the direct path of the drafts coming from the vents. Winter leaf drop is often caused by a tree being exposed to light while its root system is cold; the roots reduce their activity at lower temperatures and go completely dormant at 55F. That does not seem to be the problem in this case as the temperature is around 68F. However to be safe, if the container is sitting on bare flooring, you could place some insulating material like a cork coaster underneath the container. If you have an old meat thermometer, use it to verify the soil temperature. Perhaps the tree is not getting enough light. If possible, place the tree in a spot behind a window with a southern exposure where it will get the most light during the day. Also give the tree a quarter turn every so often so that all the leaves will receive equal exposure to the light. Was the photo taken sometime ago? The tree appears to still have a significant number of leaves. If indeed the tree is just down to bare branches, as mentioned earlier, be sure to maintain minimal moisture level in the soil. Do not water on a schedule and water only when the soil has become somewhat dry. Also, do not fertilize until the tree shows signs of recovery with the appearance of new growth.
I came home and he dropped more leaves! I am freaking out! These have fallen since I’ve been home! Someone help me
I suggest you to remove all the flowers and flower buds as the plant is probably directing all its energy to flowers now.
I see snow outside which reminds me of another alternative. Do you have an unheated garage where the tree can be moved to? What is needed is a location with temperatures below 55F where the tree can be kept in darkness. It can then be forced into dormancy to overwinter. The room seems quite dark. You could try supplemental lighting.
During the day, there is adequate light. How do you explain that in 41 years, this is the first time that such changes have occurred? I have never placed the tree in a dark cold place before to force dormancy. Why would I do that?
This is the first winter for the tree in its new location. It seems reasonable to think there's something different from before to which it does not agree with. I'm suggesting an alternative to get it over this winter rather than watching the tree continue to decline and possibly die. In the meantime you can reassess the situation and look for other options.
You could try posting your question in another forum if you are unable to get a satisfactory answer here. There are some knowledgeable growers in the citrus forum at Tropical Fruit Forum - International Tropical Fruit Growers - Index who may be able to help you. To save time, provide a link to this thread to let them know what has already be discussed.
From the additional photos the location definitely looks too dark. Citrus prefer sun and will definitely lose leaves when moved into a low light location.
If poor lighting is the main cause of your leaf dropping, then just add a grow light on top of your citrus. I'm located near to 60N latitude, much farther north and darker conditions than you, and have lots of young citruses over wintering. All the plants, that are not under artificial lighting in my empty fish tank, have dropped their leaves, although they are on my windowsill, wery close to the glass. Your plant built itself according to the lighting conditions in your old location. In winters it was probably in strong light deficiency even there, but because of each leaf was built specifically for these condition there, they survived. Now they are moved to radically different conditions. Leaves, that were lit the best, may be in much worse conditions now, and some leaves, that had the lowest light there, may have more direct light now. Your plant has not adapted to the new conditions yet. It starts to rebuilding itself, and drops those leaves first, that mismatch their lighting conditions the most. As the plant is beginning to flower, it may exhaust its resources, before building new leaves. But, as I mentioned earlier, humidity is an important factor also. For such a large tree it is hard to take local measures to improve humidity, so try to keep relative humidity of the air in whole of this room around 50% (not lower!).
