Please help -- chinotto orange / myrtle leaf orange looks sick..!!

10 years ago

Hi everyone, Last year I bought a myrtle leaf orange (AKA chinotto orange) from Logees. This is actually the second one I bought because the first one died for reasons I couldn't figure out. This one is basically just a baby that up until a couple weeks ago was growing very slowly. Then a few days ago the leaves on the top started to blacken in color, became hard and brittle, curled, and fell off. The symptoms appear to be moving from the top of the little tree down!!

The only thing I changed, I can think, was I sprinkled a little bit of Dr Earth organic fertilizer on the soil when before I was sprinkling liquid dynagro. I wonder if I over fertilized?

I unpotted to look at the roots and they are a healthy tan color. No issues there. I also checked the soil pH, and it looks to be quite acidic (around 5.0? see pic). But I didn't think that such a condition would kill the plant, so I don't know if thats it either.

Any ideas what is happening and what I can do to fix?

hANKS!

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Comments (5)

hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
A lot of people say terra cotta is not good for citrus, I use it on my citrus and I like it but when I pot up I will switch to plastic or resin.

Your soil looks heavy and compactly, research 5-1-1 mix here. I tried a gritty mix but I think it dries out too fast with terra cotta pots so that's why I would recommend 5-1-1.

Here is my chinotto, it is my favorite tree and it grows like a champ and fruits even though it is still quite small.
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
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myermike_1micha
10 years ago
Hobby, that is a BEAUTY!! I have yet to grab one of these tree.s..They just grow so different..Do they get fragrant flowers too?

William....I buy from them all the time and I HAVE to treat them for bugs before I even think about growing one from there...Did you treat for bugs?

If that is a cutting which I am assuming it is, it's very important to grow it in a mix that does not compact and that is porous...If you are growing in peat, has there ever been a time it was left to dry out too much? Have you ever exposed it to cold? To the full sun?

To me, it looks like it's being eaten away from spider mites...I would spray with a Neem oil solution of any horticultural soap just a safe precaution...Always first...Yes, always first to check that off your list of possibilities...Then focus on the soil mix............. What's in growing in anyway? It doesn't look like any mix I have ever seen before..It looks like pure sphagnum moss
hobbyartisan (Saskatoon, SK Canada, 2b)
10 years ago
Hi mike thanks! Yes the swoopy arms are cute aren't they? I can't wait to pot it up this spring and watch it really take off!

It's gets nice flowers, they are very small though and clustered, much different than say a Meyer. They smell nice but since they are smaller they aren't as pungent as my other trees. That being said haven't had a big flower flush all at once yet so here is hoping!
Ainsley
9 years ago
beautiful, hobby artisan! I am a chinotto lover and have had mine for 10 years! Sadly i have had a bad freeze this year and then some bugs over the canadian winter too... hoping it will bounce back!