I was recently given a potted Meyer Lemon tree (~1.5 feet tall with nice and full shape). I was out of town for the holidays for just over two weeks and when I returned, found that most of the plant's leaves were dried and curled up. Before leaving town I gave it a pretty full watering, but I suppose it dried out too quickly for the time it was left alone. I immediately gave it water, but most of the curled up leaves proceeded to fall off. After a few days, all but four leaves (top most) fell off. It has now been two weeks since then and the four leaves have remained and appear quite healthy (full, deep green color) but I see no new growth. Most of the branches are still green and feel alive while some of the outermost growths feel dry and dead (they have a "twangy" feel). I have kept watering it as usual (waiting for the soil to dry before watering) and have kept it by a window where it receives direct sunlight. My questions are: will this plant come back to life and what should I be doing at this point? Should I prune off the dead branches or wait for new growth to come back first? Should I be watering it more or less than normal? Should it be getting less sunlight? In the process of reading through other threads, it seems temperature is a recurring theme with Meyers and leaf drop. Since my apartment stays at a pretty comfortable temperature (probably ~70F) I don't think the roots are too cold...but if heating the pot would help the plant in its current state, I could do that.
It would not hurt to get a soil thermometer to make sure of the root temp as it is often significantly cooler than room air temp, but it sounds like your tree will make it with proper care since it still has a few green leaves. As for trimming dead branches, you can go ahead and do that-- leave about a 1/4 inch of brown wood so the tree does not have to make new repairs and you can see if the dead wood is progressing. Citrus always grow in spurts and then the top rest while the roots grow. Most container citrus plants will only have about 3 "flushes" per year. You have obviously been reading about WLD--there is lots of good info in old post and you can find it using the search function at the top. Read up on fertilizer, trace minerals, potting media, and watering and you will have all the routine care info you need. The only other problem to worry about is pest, but hopefully you won't have any. If you do or if you have any other questions there are plenty here that can help. Skeet
I just re-read your post and I have a question: Is it possible that your appartment was cooler while you were gone--maybe the roots dropped below 60? If so that could be what caused the leaf drop. If your turn down the heat when you are gone for a while, you should probably take the tree out of direct sunlight or provide additional heat for the roots. Skeet
I suppose your concern is a possibility, but unlikely. I left my radiator off when I left...but I rarely turn it on even when I'm around (somehow my apartment stays warm without the radiator on--the apartment must be well insulated). For example, in the last two weeks that I have been around, I haven't turned on the radiator a single time and I've been completely comfortable temperature-wise. I don't know if this is possible...but perhaps the leaf drop was due to cold conditions during shipping. I believe the plant was shipped about 1-2 weeks before I left town, and there was some minor loss of leaves during that time...but none of the leaves were curling up and drying out like the ones that fell off after I returned from vacation. Thanks for your suggestions. I will get a soil thermometer and see what the temperature actually is. Once I get it, what will be the ideal temperature to keep it at during this recovery phase? So I've been going back to older threads and reading more about WLD. I'm a little confused as to whether this is the proper diagnosis in my case. The few leaves that fell off when I initially got the plant appeared healthy when they fell (can't remember if it fell off with the leaf stem)--which would indicate WLD. However, the leaves that fell off after my return from vacation were all curled up/shriveled and dried out. I did notice that only the leaves would fall off (not the stem)...although the stems would readily fall off upon touching them. Would the leaves shrivel up and dry out if it were WLD? Am I perhaps experiencing a combination effect--Initially WLD as a result from shipping chill...and shriveling as a result of not having enough water? P.S. I have inspected for pests and I can't find anything. I will continue to check regularly, though.
Exposure of the tree to freezing temperatures during shipping could cause some damage, but you should have noticed that fairly soon. The typical WLD scenario is caused by exposure to direct sunlight while the roots are cold enough to stop them from functioning, therefore they are not able to pump enough water to cool the leaves. At about 55 F the roots are completely non functional, at about 60 F their ability to function is minimal--often low enough to allow the leaves to get cooked in direct sun, so try to keep the roots heated to the mid 60s if you are going to expose it to direct sun while indoors. You can setup a shade screen that only lets 30-40% of the sunlight pass --citrus leaves are at maximum photosynthesis at about 30% of full sun. You can move the tree to a North facing window or even to a cool dark place like a basement (it will go almost completely dormant as long as the temp is in the 40-50s).
I happened to re-check for pests with a high power flashlight and did notice some webbing (see picture). It's on a few of the branches, and there's not a lot of it. I went inspecting for the responsible critters (spider mites?) and eventually found them--on the tops of two of the (four total) leaves. They are incredibly tiny and I only found five of them--all on the tops of leaves. I moved one onto a sheet of paper (see picture) and sure enough it started running around the place. Unfortunately, I don't have a magnifying glass, so I can barely see any details or coloring in order to identify it. Since there aren't many leaves, I'm going to take them all off by hand, but I was wondering what else I should do (besides continuing to monitor). I should also note that on the undersides of those two leaves, there were very small white cotton-like clumps (see picture). I pulled some off and they were all webby; they didn't move around, though. Are these eggs?
Just a quick addition: I've been looking through other threads and looking around online regarding what kind of pest I have. I would have to guess that it is either a spider mite (two-spotted variety?) or a scale crawler. Either way, it seems that the solution is to spray with soapy water or horticultural oils. I have two questions: 1) Since I have so few, should I just wait and see if there is any recurrence (since I hand-picked them off already)? 2) If I spray, should I cover the soil so it doesn't get soapy? Would I be spraying the entire plant or just the (few) leafy areas?
No need to cover the soil, soap will not hurt the roots, but you can just wipe the leaves down with a soapy solution on a cloth if you want. Some have also wiped the leaves with alcohol, but I have not done that. Keep an eye out for any recurrance, you may need to repeat in a couple weeks. I often notice the scale from the tiny yellow dots on the leaf where they have sucked the juice out of the leaves. Skeet
yes, go ahead any spray anyway, because even though you killed the adult bugs, there are probably some eggs that are about to hatch. i would recommend spraying twice a week for two-three weeks to be certain the bugs are completely gone. This is the reason i have stopped putting my plants outdoors during the summer- they just come back in infested with bugs that require weeks of treatment, that seems to out weigh any benefits : /
