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k_hynes07

Eureka lemon tree trouble.

9 years ago

I have had trouble with the tree since day 1. Had spider mites, fought them for the last year with neem oil, then got scale bugs- treated those by wiping down every nook cranny and crevus with a rubbing alcohol cotton ball, would let dry then reapply neem oil, I was having green healthy leaves drop off but summed that up to a winter leaf drop, while discovering scale bugs end of March, I noticed the twigs/ branches were starting to die back from tip to truck. Turn black and dying. So I replanted it to a citrus soil and added in some sand to increase drainage. The last pot , I found out was not draining well. But the root ball looked healthy, no root rot. This was about 3 weeks ago, I trimmed all the dead black branches. I had 2 lemons on the tree and since transplanting, both lemons (still green) fell from the tree on their own. And now still have twig die back, still having leaves fall, and now while on the tree the leaves are shriveling up.. I'm at a loss at what to do .

Comments (13)

  • 9 years ago

    branch still trying

  • 9 years ago


    overall tree

  • 9 years ago

    have to wait till daylight to get good pics.

  • 9 years ago

    Where do you live?

    Are the blinds open or closed during the day?

    Prevailing temps indoors?

    How about outdoors?

  • 9 years ago

    It could be that the tree just needs time to recover. It was stressed, was then replanted for more stress. Give it time, do not overwater (the soil looks damp - could just be the photo). Do not over fertilize. Citrus are generally pretty hardy. I just about killed one of mine and it's slowly putting out new growth.

  • 9 years ago


    damaged twig

  • 9 years ago

  • 9 years ago

    I live in colorado. Denver to be exact. It's in a southern facing window. Blinds open. Temp inside around 70. Temps outside vary right now . Last week 70s in day and 40 at night. Too cold to go outside o feel, however I bought it a tear ago todat and think I left it outside but I bought it outside.. I get it is stressed but the twigs continue to turn and die. I use fertilizer sticks. Don't know brand and I just left for work. So I can't look. I have read other posts that when they replanted they kind of stripped the root ball of the old dirt and dead roots, I did not do that. I did not really disturb the root ball at all. Should I did it up again and get a the old stuff off? Thank you for all the time and help

  • 9 years ago

    Denver, so does that mean sunny and 80 one day and blizzard conditions the next, LOL. You guys experience a lot of rapid temperature rises and drops so I can understand your reluctance to put it outside. Frankly, I would be tempted to just grow it indoors already as your sun exposure is terrific and Colorado probably has some to the most intense quality sunlight in the country year round (given your altitude, number of sunny days, arid climate, and reflected light off the SNOW and into your house). I would echo what was said above about going light on watering until you see new growth. Also, your container looks large for the plant but I would leave it alone at this point (Citrus do best when slightly snug in their containers as less of a chance for overwatering.) If you want to transplant to a lighter, less peaty, more gritty mix, I would wait another month. Outdoor conditions work MAGIC on Citrus but just not sure about your temps into May and even June (but as long as temps stay in the 50's at night, they'll be fine.) I would not fertilize at this point at all. Cut out all the dead wood you see (it will look black and not greenish), if you have a doubt about what wood is still alive, just scratch the bark a bit with your fingernail. Healthy, living wood will be GREEN just beneath the bark. Believe me, I have have had multiple Citrus trees come back from 100% defoliation .(within a few weeks outdoors). Once you do see new growth, you can increase fertilizing but go light on watering until it is either replanted or it recuperates sufficiently. If you do decide to put it out later in the season, be care if new leaves have sprouted indoors..., your intense Coloradan sun will scorch it until it is acclimated. Good luck!

  • 9 years ago

    Take out the fertilizer sticks.

  • 9 years ago

    There were no fertilizer sticks to take out. . I did dig around the root and loosen up that dirt so it could dry out . I left the tree alone and stopped pruning and stopped everything. Well then it started growing new shoots from the base of the tree..... what do I do now? Continue to ignore it ? I have left it inside in the same south facing window spot . . The upper branches are still dying back . . Should I just prune /cut back the whole dead top? Do i need to seal those branches, they are dead...

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If I am not mistaken it looks like most if not all of your new growth is trifoliate, meaning its rootstock. (the top right shoot in the first picture may not be) Cut off all of the new growth that grows its leaves in 3's instead of 2's, its not your lemon. I personally have no luck growing my tree's indoors and would have put that tree out in April at your first posting and just brought in in when the temps dropped below 38ish degrees, I have left mine out to 34 with only minor leaf drop but mine may be on different root stock as well as they were in a more protected location from wind etc. I imagine you probably still have spidermites or the damage from them is hard to recover indoors and without proper sun, air flow, and fertilizer the tree is just going to stay in its condition. I am sure your window is great for wintertime but in spring/summer the best bet (in my limited experience) is putting it outside. My Meyer lemon looked pretty sad when I put it out in late march/early April but has since perked up a bit and my day temps were high 40's low 50's with low's in the 40's. Transition it out into a shaded area, then part shade, then full sun with 1-2 weeks between transitions, if your intense sunlight is too much a part shade environment or early sun and afternoon shade may be better but you'll have to experiment. At this point your tree appears to be dying and you have nothing to lose so I would put it out and start feeding it lightly with foliage pro or something similar, fertilizer spikes are notoriously bad options for citrus and organics don't usually work well in containers. I have a New Zealand lemonade tree that I accidentally let dry out and it dropped every leaf, now a month and a half later its got quite a bit of new growth. The magic of the outdoors is real for me, hopefully it helps you as well. It sucks to lose a tree you put so much time/energy/money into.

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