I have a Kumquat Tree that has been potted for years in a large plastic pot. It was flourishing over the years but for the last half year, it has lost many leaves and many branches have died. It is currently Winter here in Australia so the loss of leaves and the start of the branches dying happened towards end of Summer, especially after a few days of record breaking heat. There are still live branches mixed in with the dead, even on the same main branch. I'd approximate 1/3 of the branches have died. On the live branches, fruit is still bearing. I'm wondering whether I may have also contributed to this problem by implementing what I thought may have been a smart idea but putting a ceramic dish under the pot which allows a 3 cms / 1 inch of water retainment when I water it. I'm now thinking it may be a problem because: 1) The days of record breaking heat would heat up the water making the tree absorb hot water? 2) The water retained at the bottom of the pot would effectively mean that the roots at the bottom of the pot are submerged in water most of the time? Are kumquats susceptible to 'wet feet'? Hope you can help me. I haven't remove the ceramic dish yet. I'm planning to prune back the dead branches next week. Michael.
One thing is absolutely certain, the tree's problem is inside the container (root zone). NEVER EVER put a drip pan under a citrus tree, this always causes problems, mostly form high soluble salts, and or, from root rot. My guess is since you have a drip pan under the tree's container, you never water the tree enough to over flow the drip pan. Your tree must certainly be suffering from a toxic level of soluble salts. The symptoms of high soluble salts, are, 1). Slow or no new growth, 2). leaf tip and margin burn, 3). leaf tip yellowing, 4). Branch and twig death 5). Branch tip die back. When you water a citrus tree, you should always pour enough water over the top of the medium so that 20 percent of the water drains out the bottom of the container. Your tree might also be suffering from root rot. You can easily check the root system by simply slipping the tree from the container and visually inspecting the root system. Also if your tree has been in the same medium for an extended time period (2 years or longer) it surely has compacted to the point that it has eliminated a great portion of medium's air porosity. Does the container's medium still have rapid draining? I would flush the root zone with clean clear water in the amount of four times the volume of the container to flush out the soluble salts that have built up. Then every time you water your tree, water it well, so that 20 percent of the irrigation water drains out the bottom drain holes. This will flush out any soluble salts, and prevent a further build up. Get rid of the drip pan. Good luck to this tree. - Millet (1,301-days to go)
Thanks so much for your advice!!! I do water it enough for it to overflow...however, drip pan is going!!! Thanks once again!!!
Just a quick update...the drip pan is gone and I've filtered through a lot of water. Is there any issue with using specific types of mulch? I'm using eucalyptus tree much in the planter.
If your using the word "mulch" as a decorative covering on top of the potting soil, then remove it. Never mulch a citrus tree. If you using the word "mulch" and an ingredient blended into, and as a part of the medium, then I would say, that I would not use eucalyptus. HOWEVER: I am not sure if eucalyptus causes any difficulty to the tree, but eucalyptus as a wood contains a lot of oil. I have never heard of anyone ever using it. Normally either Coconut Husk Chips (CHC) or pine bark chips are used. - Millet (1,296-)
Thanks Millet. Off goes the mulch (top covering) as well then. My poor kumquat tree...I was killing it x 2.