I am glad i found this forum...i have been looking for a long time for answers to my questions. Alright, here's as much info as i can give you. I have a 7 - 8 year old key lime tree i raised from a seed. the seed was from a tree in Vieques, Puerto Rico. I nursed this tree from seedling to a 6 foot tall tree. it is in a 14 inch inside diameter by 14 inch tall pot. the medium is regular ( good ) topsoil from PA plus i added sand for drainage ( my best guess at the time since it was from that kind of soil ). i put the tree outside from may to approx end of sept..first of oct..... before the temp goes below 50 F. when inside the tree is under a grow light during daylight hours. a year and a half ago i got fruit. lovely little key limes...this year the flowers fell off....leaves falling have plagued me. I read this thread and began the following measures. using filtered water to water....about a cup a day....and using filtered water to mist...once or twice a day..use the Miracle Grow spike ( 1/6 of the big spike for fruit trees) every 4 to 6 weeks. my leaves still fall off... they turn yellow in the center of the leaf and drop to leave a bare branch that dries out and dies. the leaves fall in order from where it branches off from the main to the end...with the end the last to drop. i see no bugs...expect cob webs on occasion. what am i dont wrong and how can i fix it?
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves I hate to say, but you are doing many things wrong. Soil--Container citrus trees should be in a very fast draining media-- something like 4 parts pine bark to 1 part peat moss or potting soil. Watering--Never water on a schedule--it is a recipe for disaster. Citrus should be watered only when the top 2-3 inches are dry. Then water so that at least 10% of the water comes out of the bottom (helps prevent salt buildup). Fertilizer--Spikes are probably the worst choice when it comes to fertilizing citrus, but at least you have been giving fertilizer. Container citrus use fertilizer at a NPK ratio of 5-1-3, but also need trace minerals. I prefer a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote or Dynamite (something like 18-6-12) with trace minerals---be aware you apply fertilizer by container size not tree size. You can also use soluble or granular fertilizers with a similar ratio, but you need to fertilize more often (like once a month). Temperature--Exposure to outdoor temperatures of 50 is good, it will help stimulate blooming, but if your soil temp is below 65 and the tree is exposed to direct sun, it will cook the leaves. Same applies indoor --exposure to direct sun or intense artificial light when soil temp is below 65 can cook the leaves. Soil temp indoors is often as much as 5-6 degrees cooler than air temp. When bringing citrus indoors for winter you have 2 choices-- keep it out of direct light or heat the roots. As for the current damage, wait until the stems turn brown, then trim them leaving about 1/4 inch of the dead wood. Your tree will probably recover and do well if you follow these guidelines-- Good Luck---Skeet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves You may want to double check for spider mites. Do the leaves have a speckled look?
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves guys thanks for the help.... junglekeeper, no spots to speak of. a speck here or there...on a few of the large old leaves..brown dots underneath. wouldn't know a spider mite if saw one but will look it up. skeeter, when i was doing this everything i found at the time said NOT to use potting soil so i didnt. i tried to imitate the soil i remember it was in. my media is very fast draining but wrong i see. where can i get pine bark and is this like finely ground or like mulch?? will fix the watering. will try the fertilizers you spoke of...are they available at LOWES? i do realize i am feeding a container that is why i only used 1/6th of a spike....best estimated guess of soil/fertilizer ratio. grow light is a 60 to 65 watt bulb couple feet away. the leaves closest to the light fair no better or worse than the rest of the tree. house temp is 65 most of the time so i will cut down the time the light is put on. thanks again for both you help and ideas. i will let you know how i make out. but do let me know more about the soil, please. dale
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves When you read not to use potting soil, they were referring to regular commercial potting soil that is mostly peat moss-- you can use that instead of peat moss for the 1 part of the 1:4 pine bark mix. As for the pine bark, actually any conifer bark will do(cypress, juniper, cedar or pine--- but bark not a mulch mixture that contains a lot of pieces of wood). As for size, you want a variable size from about an inch down. I have run out of pine bark from trees I cut down in my yard that I crumbled by hand and have bought a bag of pine bark nuggets at HD-- I go through that by hand and pick out actual bark (leaving the pieces of cambium) and crumble them by hand if they are too big (use gloves--it can cut your hand it they are tender).You can also look up Millet's recipe for Coconut husk chips and use them--they will last longer, but require preparation. You should be able to find the fertilizer at any of the garden centers--Lowe's, HD, Walmart. The artificial light you are using is not causing the leaf drop (not high intensity and not too close). If you are not exposing it to direct sunlight, the cause is probably root damage from wet soil. If it is only a few leaves it can be just older leaves being dropped to help the tree adjust to lower light levels. Good Luck-- Skeet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves What is the name of the product and who is the supplier? I wonder if it's the same as what we can get up here.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves Reading this post I am quite intrigued. I find it amazing that you have grown a Key Lime in common garden soil for 7 or 8 years and are only now experiencing problems. Actually, a seedling Key Lime should begin to bloom in the second year, or surely in the third year. Perhaps your tree took seven years due to the soil that you are using. Concerning the leaf drop, I believe Junglekeeper is correct concerning his assumption of spider mites. The Key Lime probably either had or has spider mites. Without a glass, ecotrekker probably cannot detect them. Second, this is the normal time of year for Key Limes to drop many of their old leaves. The normal symptoms of a Key Lime leaf that has out lived it life span, (which is normally 18 - 24 months), is a yellowing generally starting in the lower center of the leaf blade near the petole and working up towards the tip. As stated before, when a citrus leaf requires more energy than the leaf provides to the tree it is quickly dropped. This is also a common time of the year when many of the small branch-lets also die back. If the leaf drop continues to an unacceptable level, than their is a problem, probably in the growth medium. - Millet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves The company was Earthwise out of Stuart, FL, so it was probably a local or regional buy. I would think that bark from Douglas Fir or Spruce would be very similar and probably very common in your area. I actually prefer the slabs of pine bark I get from down trees or pine firewood logs, since the cambium has all been eaten by bugs and the remaining bark is much more durable. Skeet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves Thanks, Skeet. I asked because I'm working with a product of similar quality but have no idea what type of bark it is because of the generic product name (Western Bark Nuggets). It's actually imported from the States. I think it's intended for use as a mulch. It's certainly not clean like orchid bark - I get mushrooms growing from them.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves I have used the orchid bark chunks and they are a lot cleaner and more uniform size, but also a lot more expensive. We also have pine bark mulch available here, but it has lots of pieces of wood. It probably depends on what the trees are being used for-- if used for lumber, they probably shred all the slabs they slice from the logs-- if used for paper, they just remove the bark and cambium.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves JK is this the Western Bark Nuggets product you are using? http://www.sleddnursery.com/Mulch.htm I notice that this site also recommends hard wood bark for use in containers. Generally, hardwood bark is never used in containers due to the very high manganese they contain. - Millet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves I'm using this. The pictures show a much cleaner product than what you actually get. It includes a small amount of hardwood along with a few rocks. I pick out the larger pieces.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves The leaves will not have a speckled appearance in the early stages of an infestation. A few strands of webbing is a usually a tell-tale sign of the presence of some mites. Then again, the strands could have been left by a stray spider. Monitor and treat if necessary. A simple method is often mentioned for detecting spider mites: Place a sheet of white paper underneath the foliage before giving it a good tap then look for moving red specks on the paper afterwards.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves i will do that. its simple enough. per chance i do find mites, what would be the best treatment?
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves Have a look at my comments regarding insecticidal soap in [thread=35022]this[/thread] recent thread.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves did the white paper technique and was pretty aggressive too. no bugs. none now at least but i will use this on a regular basis. so for now i am watching my watering and changed my fertilizer and plan to change the soil once i get a decent day outside to do so. let ya know what happens. thanks for all the help.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves ecotrekker, Sorry, I dont't have any advice for you, you already got the best ... Millet & Junglekeeper, thank you for your advice in the past, the first time i get to pick my own Key Lime, all 8 of them, so I thought I share this picture...
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves ET2007, WONDERFUL, because you persevered, and did not give up, your tree rewarded your efforts. Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your harvest. Take care. - Millet
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves et2007, That's one of the things I like about citrus - the chance to literally enjoy the fruit of one's labor. Can you detect any scent from the key lime flowers? They're reportedly lightly fragrant or scentless.
Re: My indoor citrus tree has lost it leaves Junglekeeper, the true is I didn't smell the flowers so I don't know if it fragrant or not, but the lime is very fragrant not like the lime that you buy in the supper market + it is small so it good for my tea or water. I hope it will have more than 8 next year... by the way I remember the Persian lime flowers are very fragrant, my die two years ago. Thanks again.
UPDATE: its not looking good. i cut back watering and that seemed to help a bit. actually got a couple blossoms which died within a week or so. i bought souther pine bark and peat at home depot. i had to thaw it out a little at a time and crumple it up. most of the pieces are the size of a dime or smaller. then i mixed it with the peat.... 1 part peat to 4 parts pine. the pine did have that turpentine smell to it. on the warmest of days i transplanted outside. i was careful not to break too many roots off and didnt. re-potted the plant and figured i would get some reaction due to the shock of re-potting. leaves continued to fall. no bugs...looked with high powered magnnfying glasses....did the paper test...watched like a hawk. that is not an issue here. with the warm weather finally here i moved the tree outside for sun, breeze, etc. i water only when the top 3 inches are dry and with filtered water...fertilizer has been sprinkled on the surface of the soil....Osmocote. i am losing this tree. the leaves now getting a brown coating. not brown like in the fall...but looks like someone sprayed them with something. its almost the same color as the soil. what is up? what can i do to fix it. i am ready to go back to my regular soil mix of sand, peat and top soil. as a back up plan i would like to prep one of the good branches to ( and i dont know the proper verbage here )...root and cut. saw long time ago a trick to pack peat around a branch and then bind it with pantyhose. water it for so long until roots grow then snip. that is my fall back plan. long and short i need help and lots of it.
I do not think the potting mix is your problem. That mix works well for many people. Is it possible the tree got sunburned--it happens when a tree is not use to direct sun and is suddenly placed outside. If that is the case, your tree will recover. As for air layering or Murcotting, you can do that-- one way is with a small clear cup so that you can see the roots when they develop. Cut the bark off of a section of a limb about 1/2 long, split the cup and cut a small hole in the bottom--slide it over the limb, fill it with peat moss or potting media and then wrap with plastic wrap.
ok skeeter, hope you are right. think i will move it onto the covered porch where it will get plenty of sun but not direct light until it get used to being outside. just is strange that it never did this before. but am going to air layer to hedge my bets...thanks
