What a great site!!!!!!!!!! I can't seem to do anything right. I live in northern Oregon and it rains a lot with cool to cold winters so my sweet little tree only goes outside in the summer and stays inside during the winter near a window so it gets sun light. Okay here's my problem(s).......... all of the leaves fell off after receiving it in the mail. A friend of mine gave it the last rites but I refused to give up on it. I put it in a 15 gal pot ( the tree is about an 1 to 1 1/2 wide at the base so I think it's a few years old). After about a month new leaves started growing.......... it's alive!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy. About 2 months have passed and the tree was looking pretty good and it actually grew one blossom which never opened up before it dropped off ( about 2-3 weeks old). I think my problem is not using the correct fertilizer. I was using a slow release type, watering as needed using the 3 inch rule with my finger. New baby groups of leaves were starting to grow but never really seemed to get much bigger over a few weeks and now some of the new ones are totally maroon in color and some of the older ones just the tips are maroon. They seem healthy but just a different color than most of the mature leaves. The weather is still not real warm (55-70) during the days and 50-55 at night. I'm guessing that is part of the problem as well. Should I keep the tree in at night??? If so, when can I leave it out? What's causing the maroon leaves??? Am I fertilizing correctly? I love this forum and I sure would appreciate some feed back on my problems Bill
The maroon coloring of the new leaves is normal for lemon trees. The color is lost as the leaves mature.
Thanks Junglekeeper for your fast response. That's interesting because up to now I've never noticed the maroon color before. Any other ideas concerning my other issues??? Thanks, Bill
Lemons like cooler temperatures than other citrus varieties. The temperatures you post are fine for lemons - put it out side. As Junglekeeper wrote above, the normal healthy color for new lemon leaves is maroon. You say your tree is 1-1/2 ft. wide, but did not say how tall. 15 gallon container is a quite large container for a new tree. If your tree is over potted the tree could be experiencing trouble in 6 months. - Millet (1,349-)
Hmmmmmmm, I thought the bigger the pot the better. The tree is between 3' to 4' high, measured from the base to the tip. If my pot is too large then what size should I use. Any issues with plastic vs clay pots??? Thanks Millet
