You write that bugs are still in the medium. What kind of bugs are they? You use FP dilutely, why is that? Citrus are heavy feeders and require more nutrition than most plants. You also say you were over watering, but how can you over water a high draining medium like the gritty mix. The tree looks undernourished. This could be from not enough fertilizer, or root damage from the bugs in the medium.. Also, if you water a rapid draining mix like the gritty mix with clean clear rain water several times in between applying the dilute FP application, I'm sure you are leaching much of the FB out of he root zone.

Thanks for your input. My issue with taking it out of the pot is that it is in so much gritty mix that there is no way the roots filled the whole pot yet, and I'm afraid it won't come out in one solid root ball. Any idea how to take it out without totally bare rooting it? Also, what would I be looking for in the roots?

Sorry silica, I see we posted the exact same time. I don't see any bugs in the medium right now, but I did just notice some webbing on the new leaves like you can see in the center of the second to last pic. I use a 1/4 tsp. of fp per gallon as recommended. Isn't that enough? Also, as far as over watering, Al told me a while back that every 2-3 days is way too much for my tree in that size pot. I think the disadvantage is that the roots never dry and are in too much salt from the water, even in gritty mix, as the turface does hold water. You would recommend just over fertilizing? Now, that you mention it I actually doubled the fp to 1/2 a tsp. per gallon the last month or so without noticing much of a difference in the coloring, but it may have prompted more new growth.

If your watering with rain water, then there are no salts in rain water, except from the little amount of FP fertilizer. You are not applying a dilute rate of FP as you wrote above the amount of FP you are applying is the recommended rate. Some of the leaves show a magnesium deficiency, but then their is magnesium in FB. Does that sack that the tree is growing in also drain quickly?

1/4 Tsp of FP may be the rate recommended by the manufacturer but I, and many on this forum, use more. I use 2 Tsp FP/gal and others use 1 Tb FP/gal.

It IS possible to overwater gritty mix. I almost killed 3 Japanese Maples from overwatering because I was afraid it was underwatering due to how freely it drained. I would have to agree With Silica and Vlad. You are undernourishing, then flushing the remainder of nutrients when you overwater. I waited till the trees looked a bit wilted, took out the bathroom scale and weighed the pot. I then watered slowly until about 10% of the water and weighed it after watering and used that to get a reference until I got the hang of watering with GM.

Another way to check to see if it needs watering is to dig down about an inch or two and see if it feels and looks moist.

Ok. Thanks everyone. I'll try putting in 2 teaspoons per gallon of fp for now and see if anything changes. I'll also try to be more careful about checking with the bamboo skewer. How long should I expect to see improvement in, if the problem actually only is undernourishment? Also, Silica, I use tap water to water them, do you think I should invest in a rain barrel?

All depends, on the water's pH and amount of soluble salts in your tap water . Call your water supplier and request a diagnosis. I once watered with well water, and had to change over to rain water, due to the high bicarbonates in the well water.

nobody seems to mention the condition of the root system. Am I wrong thinking if there is root rot from mold and over watering that the tree needs to be out of the pot and roots trimmed and get rid of the mold/bacteria? All adjustments would not really help if the roots are sick and can not take nutrients, or so I thought.

Susanne, you are correct in that the roots need to be looked at for root rot but also to see if those bugs are still there. The danger in doing that is that I doubt that the root ball is yet well established and when the tree is removed from the pot, the root ball will fall apart and the fine roots will be broken. So, does one take the gamble and take the tree out of the pot?

Good point. But a 2 1/2 year old plant should have a really good root system. I understand that the roots are not holding the soil together as to get a compact system out of the pot. But I think that is not necessary? More important to make sure the tree is healthy below the soil and get it growing again. I would take that risk. If the roots are so weak that the whole thing is falling apart then the tree is dyeing anyway.

It was repotted 8 months ago. I thought it over. I would repot being very careful to try to do as little root damage as possible.

wilzerbernard, if you do repot, note the condition of the roots. What color are they? Are they mushy? Do they stink? Are the bugs still there? Take pictures.

OK. I will try to repot with pics. I'm thinking of cutting the fabric so I don't have to yank at the tree to get it out. But mu y only question is, being that this has been going on for around 4 months already, wouldn't it make more sense to try waiting 3 weeks with increased fert. and see if things improve, and if they do there will be no need to repot. Or maybe that won't help because even if it improves with more fert., maybe the root system is still damaged and having difficulty absorbing nutrients and therefore needs tons of nutrients?

My 2 cents, of course you can try to see if fertilizer helps. I don't know where you are located and how you get the tree over the winter. If the roots are rotting, I would think the sooner you get it cut out the better. Let the soil dry out a bit then squeeze the bag gently on all sides before popping out. Should be no reason to destroy the bag. If you discover that the roots are indeed damaged and in need to cut of, use a smaller pot for letting the root regrow. Hopefully it is an easy fix for you.

I'm in NJ, and over the winter I have a tent with lights. Problem is I need to buy more light and a bigger tent for this winter, but I don't want to spend all that money if the tree won't make it. I guess I'll try more fert. and give it 3 weeks from today, I f it doesn't help I'll follow your instructions on the repot. I'm just getting nervous thinking I may need to replace some of that GM if it is indeed moldy. It took me so long to make!

You might be able to clean/disinfect your gritty mix, I think I've read of that being done.

Ok. I'll ask about that if it comes to that.

My best bet would be water that has a high pH; it makes it hard for the plant to absorb nutrients. Check your water pH; and if it is over 7, try adding a little vinegar to the water/fertilizer mix.

Johnmerr, I actually tested the water with strips a couple of times and it seems to be right around 7. I have been adding a teaspoon of vinegar for the last few months that brings it down to around 6, but it didn't seem to make a dent. I'm hoping that its also a result of the fact the we've had a pretty rainy summer here in NJ, and although I try to add some fert. when I water the next time after a rain to make up for the missing nutrients, I probably wasn't careful enough with that. I would guess that there is a big difference between dirt and gritty mix as far as skipping fert. feedings. I would think that in dirt some of the nutrients actually get absorbed in the dirt and stay even after the water dries up, so when it rains the next time they are still there. Where as in GM I would think that they just stay in the water and don't stick around for the next rain, making it crucial to make sure to always add to the dosage next time.

Ok. I've increased the fert. and haven't seen an improvement, so I'm getting ready to take a look at the root system. What should I do if when I take it out of the mix I see mold or bugs ect.. I don't want to repot and then have to take it out again to fix it up after I post the pictures of the roots and get instructions. I assume I should cut away any unhealthy looking roots, but is there any way to remove mold from healthy roots without damaging them? What about bugs, can I spray the roots with insecticide?