Hello, Not sure if I'm in the right place. My calamondin is having trouble surviving indoors. I may have over watered it couple months ago , but now it's all dry because I was afraid to water it. Tips of the leaves are turning brown and fall. Healthy fruits too :/ I have a growth lamp on for extra couple hours. Plant gets ~7 a day from window because it's winter time now. Should I turn it off ? +18 C in the room. http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/9288/dscf0137k.jpg http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7820/dscf0139i.jpg There was around 12 fruits, over two months it lost 8.
The damage at the leaf margin could be from an accumulation of soluble salt in the soil. However I don't see any further leaf damage in the photo of the tree. In fact it appears to be quite healthy. Salt can build up over time if the soil is not flushed regularly. Hard water can contribute to the problem. With the exception of the spots where it was recently watered the soil seems rather dry. I would water the soil such that moisture is distributed evenly then allow it to dry moderately before applying more water. Some fruit drop can be expected and is normal for citrus. What size were they when they fell and what condition were they in?
Thank you very much for replying :] Very recent ones were biggest and yellow, like in the photo. They looked healthy too. I was just cleaning the leaves a minute ago and bunch of leaves fell off, most of them were healthy and green. No new leaf growth over three months. Maybe I should've kept tree in a colder room for winter ? I could transfer it now, but I guess that would be too much of a stress. I'm watering my Calamondin with rain water. Well I'll keep an eye on it and update.
It sounds like the recently fallen fruit were simply ripe (and good to eat). The shedding of healthy looking leaves could be problematic. You don't want to lower the room temperature and yet continue to expose the tree to light. The root system slows down in cooler temperatures and goes dormant at around 13C. The tree will then suffer leaf loss from the inability of the roots to provide moisture for cooling the leaves. There are two options. Continue to expose the tree to light while keeping the roots warm or keep the tree in total darkness and at a temperature slightly below 13C, allowing it to go dormant.
Another fruit fell off today, this one was still green. Oddly it hasn't grown at all comparing to the other ones. It's like the tree doesn't get enough minerals to supply some of them. I think I'll keep it warm and continue exposing it to the light for now. I'll put it in a colder room if it keeps dropping healthy leaves. I just hope it survives until spring, should be fine after that. I'll make a better pot drainage and repot it. Thanks again ! :]
