Desperately needing help with dwarf citrus
I am a newbie citrus fan and in need of some serious help. I have 2 dwarf Yuzu I bought from Four Winds Grower a year and a half ago (they were 3 year old trees). They were doing fine until about 6 months when many of the leaves suddenly turned yellow and dropped and some branches died completely. I also have a dwarf Kaffir lime tree and a dwarf Rangpur lime tree I bought at the same time. The Kaffir is doing great. The Rangpur would not stop flowering and did not have much vegetative growth since purchase evem though I pinch off most of the flowers.
Here is some relevant info on the plants:
- They are container plants, and have not been repotted since arrival.
2. They are indoor only, and I have two 250w equivalent CFL, 6500K Full Spectrum bulbs in floodlight reflectors on stands. They are on from 6am to 8pm. This picture shows the setup. I just added the LED panel from Aero garden a few days ago.
3. For the first 8 months, I didn't fertilize them. But for past 6 months or so since they weren't doing well, I fertilized them about once a month with Jobe's Organic Fruit & Citrus Fertilizer (3-5-5). This initally stopped some leaf dropping and there were a little spurt of new leaf growth on the top of the Yuzus, but the fertilizer seemed to have made all the trees flower, and I am afraid they are too weak to flower right now, so I have not applied any fertilizer in a little over a month.
4. I water the trees only when the top two inches of soil feel dry, then I water deeply and don't let them stand in any water on the trays. About 3-4 times a year, I bring them to the bathroom and give them a good rinse with the shower head with gentle pressure.
5. In the winter, I have a humidifier that keeps the room humidity at about 35-40%.
6. The soil pH is 7 and the soil temperature is 75F.
Here are my questions:
1. Is the lack of light an issue for the trees, causing the leaves to drop and the branches to die off? I have replaced the old CFL with new ones and added another LED panel a few days ago, will this help?
- I read that the way the leaves are yellowing (see picture), it could be Magnesium deficiency? Does this look like Mg deficiency? Or is something else going on?
3. The branches that died off on the bottom, will new leaves or branches grow from that area? Or will my plants forever look leggy and misshapen? Anything that can be done to help?
4. Is the amount of time I leave the lights on ok? Should I vary it by season? Will changing the amount of time the light is on affect vegetative growth vs. flowering?
- Should I use a different fertilizer to promote leaves and root health? If so, what should I use? Is the fertilizer that I'm using right now pushing these weak plants to flower?
6. I want to repot all the trees. When is it a good time to do it? My concerns are:
A. The Yuzus are so weak right now, and one of them has some new growth on the long leggy area where leaves had dropped before and they are still yellowing and dropping leaves. Is it ok to repot them in this conditon?
B. The Kaffir is bearing fruits right now, should I wait until after harvest to repot? That will probably be in the fall, is that an ok time to repot or does timing not matter as much if they are indoor only? Should I pinch off all the fruits now and just repot it right away?
C. The Rangpur flowers all year long, and it's currently bearing fruit. I'm not sure when it is a good time to repot it. It is also looking a little weak right now, have not had much growth since it arrived and there were a lot of fruit drops. There are currently about 4 decent sized limes on it but the tree is small, should I remove the fruits and give it time to grow bigger?
I am newbie, so any additional tips and recommendations will be very much appreciated.
Comments (12)
8 years ago
8 years agoRelated Professionals
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I don't think it's WLD. These trees are indoor at all times and we keep the apartment at around 71-72 degrees year round. We also use a humidifier to keep the humidity at 35-40% in the winter. There is no draft where the trees are located. They get only minimal natural light and almost all the light is from the CFLs. And I rotate the trees periodically so all the sides get more even lighting.
I used a soil pH meter that I calibrated with distill water and vinegar. I know it's not very accurate but just wanted to make sure it's not wildly off.
I don't know what the soil mix is - I have not repotted since I purchased them from Four Winds Grower.
Here's a close up of one of the leaves
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
8 years ago- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Mike, the wood chips were already in the pot when they came.
Silica, the Rangpur is kind of small, has a few leaves that are yellowing but much less than the Yuzu, and it has a few fruits right now, is it safe to repot now even though it has fruits? Should I remove the fruits and give it a week, then repot? Can I wait until the fruits mature in a few months to repot? In general, is it safe to repot while citrus is flowering or bearing fruits? Attaching photo of the Rangpur.
Silica