I wish I live in Florida. I will drop everything to go to that HD. LOL

Crenda, your plant looks fine.....

Marie

Marie - I couldn't believe the price! Today, same size was $7.50.

I know it needs pruned, but I wasn't here this past spring to get it done. And maybe I can prune any time of year because the weather is always pretty good. I hope you are right that the plant is fine, but it just looks funky to me. I can deal with that, being a bit of an odd ball myself. :)

Here's what it looked like last year -

I was thinking about pulling the plant out of the pot and checking what is going on down there. I'll repot in new soil, maybe let it rest a few weeks and consider pruning after it is not in the high 90s and low 80s at night.

Thanks!

I think there could truly be something wrong with the plant (sorry Marie and Pagan). The leaves and flowers are not looking robust. Crenda I am currently treating several of my plants with a boron foliar spray. Here is a great article about afflictions and deficiencies that DR face. There is much debate amongst breeders about a virus that causes mottling of the leaves. Many breeders who believe that it is caused by a virus have gone through their stocks and removed all infected plants in an effort to stop the spread of it, costing them a great deal in inventory. There is nothing out there forcing other breeders to do the same.

Tracy

Tracy, I was going to mention the same. Certain deficiencies can cause flower and leaf deformity. If I can locate an article I'm thinking of I'll post it for you.

Edit: wow I'm tired. Just realized Tracy already posted the article I was looking for and had posted before deleting. Please ignore me. look under boron. It states that the leaves will deform if boron deficient which causes the base or middle of the leaf to be deformed like it's too small. Also note if it is the leaf tip that it could need calcium. Either way it's a great article on nutrients, pests and diseases.

Good luck fellow Floridian :)

Hm. Now I have to find a fertilizer mix without boron and see if I can induce this red tinge on the leaves. And pick a plant with nice, perfect leaves. This is worryingly exciting.

Whatever you decide to do, please do not forget to update us, Crenda.

I was hoping someone would tell me it was a nutrient problem, but I certainly didn't know if that could be it. Or what nutrient it could be. I generally use MG. And I dilute it for my succulents, so I do the same for my DR. Should I not do that in the future? And there is probably a better fertilizer out there. Summers are difficult for using a liquid fert due to the rains and possible overwatering.

So back to the boron - drench or foliage spray? Both the first time, and follow up with drench only? And pruning - go ahead and prune while doing the drench only, or not?

Thanks so much for all the suggestions! This will be interesting.

If you spray the leaves you will want to rinse them before putting the tree back into full sun. The drench has helped one dormant plant begin to put out new growth. Some others I am treating for wavy leaves with the foliage spray. I have posted a link to the boron foliage spray in another post somewhere.

Tracy

Crenda, I don't want you to assume that I am saying that this is definitely a boron deficiency. It could also be a zinc deficiency or even viral as you originally suspected. After reading the article on Tropica Nursery, it gave me some direction on things to try to get the plants to respond. I am hopeful it will do the same for you. MG isn't really a bad fertilizer, it just doesn't contain many of the additional micronutrients that you get with the Dyna Pro line of fertilizers, which may leave you in a position that you must supplement.

Tracy

Oh I understand we are sort of spit-balling what could be wrong. I found a place nearby that carries Dyna Pro products, so that will be good for the micronutrients that the plant is missing. And if it turns out to be viral, c'est la vie! I'll deal with that after eliminating this possibility. This may take a while to track down or correct, but the plant has hung in there for the past year - even improving a little - so I think it can be done.

Thanks for your help and suggestions!

I would think that a virus in the scion would spread to the grafted plant as well, no? Sharing bonded body tissue and bodily fluids.......isn't that like THE best way to pass on a virus?

Just an update. The leaves may look the same, but the flowers and buds are great!

My neighbor is a botanist. He's a phd who actually gets his hands dirty and is constantly gardening. He took a close look at the plant, couldn't find any pests, closely examined the mottling of the leaves and said he sadly thinks it is infected with a virus. He said if I keep sucking insects under control, it won't spread to other plants. It's on my screened in lanai, away from other plants as a precaution.

We both agreed that as long as the flowers look great like this, I can tolerate some funky looking leaves.

Thanks for the help everyone! Sometimes, you still can't cure the patient. We gave it our best shot, tho!

Crenda, thanks for updating. I mean, seriously! I can't tell you how many threads I have read here with zero closure!

I still love those flowers, virus and all. I guess this will be your plant in a plastic bubble. Did your neighbour have any idea what sort of virus? Hopefully not one of the crop-destroying, food chain disaster, civilization-ending kind.

Pagan