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norbert_t

Meyer lemon - collar rot?

9 years ago

Hello Everybody!
I have bought a Meyer lemon tree in 2015 and I am growing it indoor 24/7/365. It got through difficult times since (red spider mites, serious leaf drops, etc) but until now it has always fully recovered and it was growing fine in the last few months.
We have moved to a new flat in last November and it is struggling quite bad since.
We live in London so the circumstances are not the best, especially in the winter.
Unfortunately it took for a while until I have found out why it has started dropping leaves one after the other and only realized that I have problem with over watering when I got few fungus gnats and white mold on the top of the soil.
Our flat is quite cold ( 55ºF - 65ºF) with high humidity (65-75%). In the first few weeks after we have moved I was not paying enough attention to the tree and kept it in place where it didn't get enough light.
Now I know, the cold temperature, the weekly watering, the lack of light and the damp soil put it in a bad condition.
Since than I have made few changes:
I have bought a complete grow tent set: got a 136W LED light with full spectrum (Vivaspectra), fan, tent, heating mat. The temperature is set for 75ºF, humidity is between 45-55%. The heating mat keeps the pot slightly warm. I put the tree there permanently, usually gets 12-14 hours light and 8-10 hrs darkness.
Now it's been a week since the tree is in the tent and I have noticed few new buds growing, however at the same time I have noticed that the stem just above the soil line is dark/black.
If I touch it, the bark seems normal to me, it does not come off from the trunk, but this black discoloration made me worried.
Before I bought the tent kit, I have tried to warm up the soil and tree with a little 50 W halogen bulb, it has damaged few of the top leaves despite it was at least 10-15 inches away. Later I turned this halogen close to the soil so it can dry the soil a bit, is it possible that this dark discoloration is the result of heat stress of the stem? It was just slightly warm for my hand but probably it was hot enough to hurt the stem if it managed to damage few leaves at the top.
Later I thought it must be the bad potting soil mix (basic citrus compost (peat/composted bark + little bit of grit), so I have decided to re-pot it as an emergency solution.
I have mixed up a little bit of this soil with a lot of coco coir and perlite, the soil mix has now a perfect drainage, also made few more holes at the bottom of my terracotta pot as it only had one hole at the bottom. At the bottom of the this soil mix I put some cow manure pellets as I have read in many forum that citrus is quite hungry and cow manure can feed it for long as longest it is at the bottom and there is at least one layer of the soil between the cow manure and the roots.

Please have a look at the pictures and tell me some good news that my tree is not dying and that black discoloration is not something what my tree can't survive as it is started having new buds at the end of the branches.

(I know the pruning is very bad as I don't have a lead branch but 3 main branches, that's how I got it from nursery and I will prune it in March).








Many thanks!
Norbert

Comments (7)

  • 9 years ago

    The cambium is alive, I had to cut off some of the top branches few days ago with no leaves on it, and they were all alive.
    Unfortunately I live in London, United Kingdom so no coast here I'm afraid :-/
    Is this vinegar or H2O2 brushing is not dangerous for the trunk? Should I dilute it before I use it or not?
    Thanks.
    Norbert

  • 9 years ago

    Your tree looks like it may be okay; but you definitely still have issue. First thing is if the soil is below 60 F, the roots will not grow; and if the roots don't grow, the plant won't grow. Maybe you could put some sort of heating pad under the pot. Next is the pot itself; clay pots (terracotta) evaporate water through the pot, which cools the soil; and citrus roots do not like to grow into cool soil. Your tree is a Meyer; so it is very sensitive to changing light conditions; it will drop many/most/all of its leaves to later replace them with new leaves better suited to the new light. If you treat it well, it should recover. If you over water it, it will drop leaves; if you let it get too dry, and then water it; it will drop leaves. Cow manure is a very good fertilizer for Meyers when they are planted in the ground; I am not sure about in containers; you may get a salt buildup. Most container growers on this site are big fans of Foliage Pro. Welcome to the Meyer lemon family; and good luck.



  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    #johnmerr thank you very much for your advices too.
    Yes, I already got a heating mat which I have placed under the pot.
    It supposed to heat up the soil 10-20 F above ambient air temperature, hopefully this will increase the root growth. At the moment my Meyer tree is in a tent, gets 12-14 hrs light and during these hours it gets around 75 F, 45-50% humidity and little air ventilation trough the hole on the side of the tent.
    When I re-potted the lemon, I placed the cow manure at the very bottom part of the soil mixed up with a bit of soil, than I had one layer of mixed soil on that and than I put the lemon tree on that as I was advised to make sure that the root won't touch the manure directly.
    Thanks again for the help and the warm welcome, all the little help and suggestions means a lot to me as I really would like to save this tree as it has proved to be such a little warrior :)
    Norbert

  • 9 years ago

    Use the vinegar or H2O2 as it is in the container. Alcohol should be diluted 50% water. You'll use just enough to wet the trunk every other day for 4 days then see how things progress.

    norbert_t thanked poncirusguy6b452xx
  • 9 years ago

    Norbert,

    You are putting a lot of energy and resources into your tree; let's hope it responds positively. When grown in containers, Meyer lemons have a deserved reputation of being "finicky" (not my word, which is why the quotes); but the rewards are great. My company's motto is "If life gives you lemons, pray they are Meyers".


    norbert_t thanked johnmerr
  • 9 years ago

    #poncirusguy
    Should I dilute the vinegar before I use it?
    I have heard that a little bit of vinegar + water mixture would decrease the pH and prevent salt build-up on roots, but what will happen if I brush a little bit on the trunk and why is it beneficial? Does it have something to do with fungus infection?
    Sorry, I'm curious before I try it because I never heard this before.

    #johnmerr(11)
    Thank you, yeah, it's been a lot of energy so I do hope that our tree will be thriving soon. :D

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