I ordered a mexican lime tree about a month ago...got a large container, filled it with potting soil, planted the tree, it was budding both flowers and new leaves were growing, then i forgot to turn on the growing light (i keep it indoors) and my guess is that the temp in the room dropped below 65 degrees...cuz when i came home, the majority of the leaves have fallen off...it continually has been losing leaves and i've been careful not to overwater...i have law school finals coming up & am wondering if i cant let the tree stay at my parents with the growing lamp constantly on, or should i do i have to turn it off each night...if so what's the ideal day light/no light growing ratio?
The grow light is not your tree's problem. The problem is your kindness toward the tree. By planting the tree in a "large container, filled it with potting soil" you have greatly reduced any chance of a long healthy life for your tree. Even though you have tried to watch the amount of irrigation applied, a large container that is filled with common commercial potting soil will constantly have too much water due to the high level of peat moss and the container's perched water table, and not enough oxygen in the root system. Common potting soil is mostly peat moss with a little perlite added. This is a terrible growth medium for a citrus tree. If you wish to successfully grow a citrus tree you better purchase a soil thermometer. Because of evaporation from the surface of the container the potting soil will be 5 - 10 degrees less than the room temperature. During the winter months keep the root zone at 65F-70F, or remove the tree from high light. Further, "potting soil" greatly compact after a month of watering, resulting in an elevated (toxic) level of CO2 in the root system due to pour aeration. Approximately 25-30 percent of a good growth medium for citrus should be empty pour spaces. I could go on with ten other things that are probably wrong, but I will stop here. A good medium to grow your tree in is as follows: Three (3) parts pine bark chips or CHC, one (1) part peat moss, and one (1) part COARSE sand (concrete sand, not play sand). Good luck on your law finals, my sister is a lawyer, so I know the long struggle. Take care, and good luck to the tree. - Millet
Thanks Millet...great advice, yesterday i added gravel & this mixture to get get more Oxygen to the roots = over winter break i will finalize make all of the improvements = what additional improvements do you reccomend other then the ones listed?
If you mean you added a level of gravel to the bottom of the container to "aid" in drainage, this is not a good practice, and does not help drainage, in fact it hurts drainage. The reason is because a bottom layer of gravel raises the perched water table higher up in the container, giving the plant less growing room. I would GENTLY wash away some of the potting soil and transplant the tree into the growth mediums listed above, and keep the root zone between 64F to 70F. Good luck. - Millet
