Hello All!
I've been doing some quality lurking/searching/reading on this site for some time now trying to learn as much as I can but this will be my first post.

I'm having some issues with my Cara Cara Orange tree that I planted in February of this year (2014) in my front yard (Houston, TX - near downtown). The tree primarily gets a western exposure. Over the 6 weeks or so I've noticed the leaves turning brown in brown patches, along the edges, and in spots. Some of the leaves are curling upwards as well. This plant was exposed to Houston's last freeze in February (2 weeks after planting...ugh...thought I was safe...) but I don't recall noticing any immediate damage to the plant.

Pic 1:
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Pic 2:
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Pic 3:
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Pic 4:
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The native soil is really bad, about 95% gumbo clay so I remediated it with compost that I purchased from my local master gardener group and unfortunately big store tree and shrub soil (a mistake I now realize...). I dug a square hole about 3'x3' and about 4' deep (wanted to get thru the clay layer). I created a mound so to plant the tree above the surrounding soil (grass) level. I believe the pH of the soil to be around 7-7.5 (I wasn't impressed with the soil test kit I bought).

When I first got this 3 gallon tree none of the issues were present and after planting it put out a healthy amount of flowers, new leaf growth (it already had 2 fruits on it). Things have since stalled quite a bit but it again recently put out flowers and has a few new leaf growths and a few fruits starting. The original fruits that it had when I planted it turned a yellow green color so I cut them off.

I have not applied any granular fertilizer but instead I've been watering it with FP every other week. I have also added ProTekt to the FP watering (in the correct order). I have not added any vinegar to this water. I deep water it slowly in the week between that but always check the soil first for moisture content with a wooden rod. I also applied 3" of Fir Bark mulch last week (in the pictures you will see it too close trunk, I've since fixed this).

After lots of lurking and reading I know I made some amateur mistakes in both using big store soil, perhaps in digging the hole, and initially having the mulch too close to the trunk (probably some more I haven't realized yet).

I'm most certainly new to the citrus game and have learned a ton in the last few months (I only wish I started reading this forum long before I planted anything).

From all the reading and searching I've done I think I'm dealing with Orange Scab but I'm certainly not ruling out it something I'm doing or not doing.

Any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated. And also a very hearty thank you for all of those who have contributed to this forum over the years which I've been trying to read as much as possible whenever I can.

~Rob