Hello! i am in Houston Texas and my lime trees were planted last year. The leaves shriveled up last september and I have had a hard time getting them back to normal. I pruned back this year in March and since then i have been battling the leaves turning brown on the tips and look dead. I have been treating for bugs and fungus and can no get straight answer as to what it could be. Any suggestions?
Why did you prune? Any chance you could post a picture? What fertilizer, how much how often? Container or inground? What about water and soil?
Sorry for the delayed response. I have been treating for the leafminers and the fungus. I was watering my grass everyday and the trees were caught in the watering. I have since cut back on the watering. I pruned in March to help shaped the trees better and because they did not look good from the winter. I am feeding every 6-8 weeks with Nutri star Citrus and avocado food. It is a 12-10-10. Any help will do! Thanks.
The damaged leaves look like salt damage, does your water have a high salt content? I would try to keep the sprinkler off of the tree that could be what caused the damage, but it could lead to even worse problems such as root rot in the future. Pruning is not reccomended for citrus trees in general. Most will develop a full shape naturally with time. Does the fertilizer you are using contain trace minerals? If not you should try to find one with trace minerals or add them separately.
I have a salt water pool about 30 feet away. Could this be causing the problem? I have only been feeding the plants with the nutri star, and I was using scotts as a fertilizer. I have swtiched to an organic. It seems ever since the bugs got to the leaves last year the plants have not been the same. They produced fruit up until November last year. What does a good watering schedule look like because I have heard of the root rot a few times now.
The saltwater pool could cause the problems seen in the picture if the water or aerosol (if you have an aerator) from the water gets on the leaves. It is difficult to get the proper nutrition for citrus from organic fertilizer alone. Citrus are heavy feeders and need a good deal of N --up to 1.5 pounds of pure N per year for mature lemon trees (that is 15 pounds of 10-10-10). They also need trace minerals. For established inground citrus, a good watering schedule is almost never. My younger inground trees without fruit go for at least 2 weeks before I would consider watering, but for some of my trees with fruit, I have been watering them once every week if it does not rain to help prevent June drop. My lemon tree, which is over 12 ft high and has fruit has been watered maybe twice in the past year. I live on a sandy cliff about a 1/4 mile from the bay.
