Two weeks ago I purchased and planted three trees (navel orange, valencia orange, and key lime). The valencia and key lime seem to be doing fine, but the leaves of the navel orange are falling off. I followed the directions given to me (watering every day for a week following the planting and after two weeks, I am to apply fertilizer). I am puzzled as to why the other two trees seemed to "take" but the navel is dropping leaves. Also, my neighbor has a lime tree (about 8 ft tall and full of leaves) that has NEVER borne any fruit. Is this a pollination issue? Fertilizer issue? I live in Central Florida. Can anyone help? Rballruss
I just noticed this thread was unanswered. The problem with the naval orange may be too much water. Watering every day is a bit much unless you have really good drainage. Citrus trees need more fertilizer than most trees-- a mature tree needs about 1.5 pounds of actual N per year (ie-- 15 pounds of 10-10-10) spread over 3 applications during the growing season.
All the leaves of the navel orange have fallen off, yet I am noticing some blossoms now emerging and looks like new growth beginning on all parts of bare tree. Am I out of the woods?
I am no expert, and in fact I am a complete novice, but from what I have been reading about citrus over the last cuple of months is: don't over water them. I purchased a moisture meter and what a lesson that teaches... I was definately watering more often than I needed to. Of course you have to take this with a grain-of-salt but it's worth noting :-)
You may have been over watering and you may not have been over watering. Generally, people tend to over water much more than people under water. Howerver, I would not put much credience in your water meter. I know many more people who have gotten their tree into trouble relying on water meters, than people who use their finger, or the weight of the container to determine when it is time to water their tree. My best advice is get rid of the water meter, and learn to determine when to water on a personal level. - Millet