My orange tree is large, I purchased it when it was about 7 feet tall. Seeing as I live in Wisconsin, it is too cold to keep outside. I moved it inside when it was time, and transplanted it into Miracle grow potting soil, but the tree has dropped every leaf, and I have branch die-back to the central leader of the tree. This was costly to ship from California, and I would like it to live! What am I doing wrong? From reading the posts earlier, I should be using a better more drained mix of soils, and it should be warm and humid. I know that root rot is not the problem, they all appear creamy, and are not rotten. I had a large infestation of aphids on the tree, but I treated it and they are gone. Should I prune off all of the dead wood, or wait until it stops? What should I use as a soil mix? Thanks for any help!
could you post up some photos? i'm a new member here but have had a similar experience with my meyer lemon. all the leaves dropped and am having bad twig die back which is worrying me. i had a MASSIVE scale infection(didn't even know what scale was while it was going on) but have since treated that and haven't seen any more scale on it, even tho i still continued to drop leaves and have die back. -Luke
Citrus like warmth, bright light (some sun) and humidity. Are any of those missing from your situation(s)? Citrus here in the ground in Texas won't sprout new growth until temps have reached the 80's and 60 at night.
Can you layout the time frame a little better for us. when was it shipped from california. when was it repotted. when was it brought inside. and during all this when did it shed it's leaves? If all of those events are close together i'm leaning towards shock. You should clean your pruners with rub alc and trim back the dead twigs. can you also elaborate on the current environment it's in now? whats the humidity inside. is it near a window? NSEW facing? is there a heat vent that's blowing on it? -Luke
I will do my best to recall how and when things started to happen! I purchased this tree from a reputable nursery this past August. They told me that they just got the shipment in from California. I re-potted it immediately fallowing with no problems. By the time I brought it inside, it was September, and it could not be outside once temperatures got too cold. I had it in until early December when it started to flower. That was when I notices that it had aphids on it. Soon fallowing it started to drop leaves, so I treated it for three weeks every day with a heavy mist and an organic insecticide. It's leaves started to discolor, but I thought that this was probably from dehydration of the leaves from the aphids. I managed to kill all of them at this point, but it continued to drop leaves. I thought that it may still have a bug in the soil, so I re potted it in Early January. Since then I have been trying to find better soil for it because I read that miracle grow is not a good soil for citrus. It started to die back, and has continued to decline since then. As for the humidity, I have no idea what it is at, I humidify the room, but the humidifier is too small. It is next to a south facing window, and has a heating vent about 5 feet away from it, but it is all hot water heating, and does not blow on the plant. I do not mist it, maybe I should move it further away from the heat, and mist it daily. What do you think I should do?
are you sure it's just not overwatering? partly from watering too frequently, but also because the miracle grow soil is holding on to water. make sure to let it dry out 3" down in the soil before watering. It's very easy to see the top 1" dry and think "oh no its dry i must go water it!" but in fact, you should let it dry 3" down! this was my biggest mistake when i brought my citrus indoors. sometimes they needed to be watered every 2 weeks, sometimes not until 4 weeks. just make sure you check and water it when it needs, not on a systematic schedule. when i bring them outdoors, because the sun is so intense and the air is so dry here in CO i water daily. Also when you do water, thoroughly soak the plant. don't just pour in a liter and call it good. hope that helps? compare that to what you are currently doing. and again, i am not a plant expert, just an avid new-comer one. -Luke
"so I treated it for three weeks every day with a heavy mist and an organic insecticide. It's leaves started to discolor, but I thought that this was probably from dehydration of the leaves from the aphids." Sounds like phytotoxicity, you're supposed to spray once a week for three weeks not daily.
Thank you so much for the help! I will check to make sure the soil is dry 3'' below the soil surface before I water it! If water is the issue, my guess is I under-water it, but I guess the truth is in the soil! As for the phytotoxicity, I am not ruling that out, but based on my understanding is that the active ingredient in my insecticide is clove and garlic oil, can this be toxic to the plant?
Oils are especially prone to cause leaf damage when over applied. Also the non active ingredients might be harmful as well.
Alright! Thank you everyone for the help! I am going to try re-potting it, using a better soil, and fertilize it on a better basis. I will also keep a closer watch on watering, temperature and humidity! Lets see how this all plays out! I will try to keep everyone posted!
