Hello, I moved to a new house 1.5 years ago and brought along my dear lime tree (it was probably about 2 years old at the time). It stayed in a pot for probably 7 months before we planted it in the garden. It was planted in a sunny area, but about 1 foot from the wall (is that bad, does it end up getting less sun?). I think it didn't like to move from the old house - it is not doing well ever since. There aren't any leaves for probably one year, let alone limes! We took it out of the soil today. The roots were very short, probably about 4 inches from the trunk. The soil was humid, but did not seem overwet. We put it in a pot now, with a mix of the original soil, compost and plant food. And before we did all that I cut a little piece of the trunk to see if it's still green... It was, at around 1 foot from the base. The tree is probably around 3 feet and from the middle up the trunk seemed dry (I say that because the cut in that area was "whiter"). Any hope for the poor tree? What do I do? It'd break my heart (and the kids!) to see that we have now killed the good old tree. Thanks for the help!!
There have been no leaves on it for a whole year? The roots should be almost as deep as the tree is tall, so if you only found four inches of roots, that is very bad!
Personally, what I would do, is purchase a nice new tree, and have a service for the old tree. You can tell the kids, that the old tree has gone to citrus heaven, and heaven has sent the kids a brand new tree to take its place. (I'm sorry, but it sounds just about hopeless for your old tree). - Millet
Thanks Millet. I laughed at your reply and thought it was a good idea to talk about tree heaven with the kids. :-) I've given the tree an ultimatum though - I put it into another pot with food and not as much water as before. If leaves don't turn up in 2 months, I'll schedule the service. Thanks again.
