Meyer lemon small fruit and leaf drop

8 years ago

I'm having problems with my meyer lemon tree. Its 5 years old, in full sun, our soil is clay base but its been mulched around the drip line since it went int. The tree is failing to thrive. It produces a few small fruit (smaller than a passionfruit), and is struggling to have enough leaves (which seem to drop off). We did have a scale infestation last year which we got under control with white oil. Its putting out some new growth now but has also put out lots of little branches 1-2 inches long that don't seem to do anything. Any help appreciated. We are in Tasmania.

Featured Answer

badfish8696

8 years ago

What is your water like? Browning at the leaf tip can be a sign of too much salt in the irrigation water. Also how are you watering? Citrus does not like to be sitting in water so if you have really heavy clay soil you need to make sure the soil drys out somewhat before irrigating again. Deep infrequent watering is best, especially with clay soils.

Your tree is almost completely defoliated, it is hard to tell from the picture if the bark is burned but that can be a problem with so few leaves and harsh sun. I would recommend painting the trunk and exposed branches with a thinned white latex interior paint (50:50 paint water).

Good Luck

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Comments (8)

Susanne Michigan Zone 5/6
8 years ago
What fertilizer are you using? How often? Maybe the soil is not suitable for the meyer?
doodlefish007
Original Author
8 years ago
we use a general purpose citrus food (cant' remember the name) in spring and then sheep poo and pea straw mulch rest of the year
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Susanne Michigan Zone 5/6
8 years ago
Citrus are heavy feeder and need more feeding then just once. Do you have a picture of your tree?
doodlefish007
Original Author
8 years ago
Heres a pic of the tree. Its only a bit over a metre high. I've also added a pic of the leaf. It gets a brown burn on one end and then drops off the tree.
doodlefish007
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks for the tips - I will try that and see how we go.
badfish8696
8 years ago
Just wanted to clarify, painting the tree won't correct the problem it has but it will prevent sunburn from killing the tree.

Irrigation can definitely be your issue though.
Silica
8 years ago
Looks like a very big hole you dug to plant the tree. When planting a citrus tree the hole should be just large enough for the root ball to fit into, and only the dirt removed from digging should be used as back fill. I bet the large hole that was dug has created a basin that is now a pool the tree's roots are setting in every time the tree is watered.