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aaron_mohler

Newly Repotted / container grown Meyer Lemon Trees (Zone 9)

6 years ago

I have (2) Meyer lemon trees that I purchased a few weeks ago. Both of them are about 3-4' tall, and neither of them are showing any signs of flowering at this point. I have also noticed that a few leaves on each of them have what looks to be either "scars" from bugs/animals or from some type of stress. Can someone help me identify what the problem might be on these plants? Also, we just had 4 days of steady/heavy rain, which we do get a lot of during this season in South Mississippi. I worry about my trees getting over-watered. I have placed the containers on top of some brick pavers to allow the drains easier access to air and to easily drain. Can someone tell me if I'm doing something wrong, these are my first citrus trees that I've ever tried to grow.









Comments (11)

  • 6 years ago

    Every picture looks normal for new citrus trees.

    Steve

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Agree with Steve. Steady as she goes. A few weeks is nothing in 'tree time'. Give it time to get used to your environment. With your heat and humidity it should grow gangbusters. Blooms will come in their time. Eventually it will be everblooming.


    Our heat and humidity kicked in here and my Meyer is putting out all kinds of new growth.

  • 6 years ago

    thank you both, I'm just over worried it sounds like! I'll update in a few months and see how everything is progressing.

  • 6 years ago

    Trees look quite beautiful, in fact I'm very jealous!

    My first Meyer did not bloom at all in it's first season. My second one had blooms on it when I purchased it. :/

  • 6 years ago

    Congratulations you have a healthy tree. Everything looks normal. I see picture 1 indoors under grow lights sometimes. I believe it to be caused by transpiration where they leaf can't replace the water it has lost fast enough. Doesn't look like leaf miner from photo. Picture 2 the leaf is cupping and shielding from the sun. Could need water. Picture 4 I think I see a little sunburn but could be just light reflecting in the photo. Most problems from my personal perspective container growing citrus are from over fertilizing or from under watering.

    Aaron Mohler thanked Lemon Lime Orange Zone 6a
  • 6 years ago

    Thank you for the tips "Lemon Lime Orange Zone 6b". I was worried about over-watering in the container myself. Everything I read they like to be watered heavily and less frequently, but I didn't have a citrus potting mix so I was worried about water retention in the pot. Exactly how "moist" should the soil feel when I put a finger down in the pot. It is somewhat moist but not "wet" feeling...I definitely don't want to under or over/water them and that seems to be something I have to "watch" for here where I live. We had about 4-5 days straight of rain a few days ago, now it's been sunny all day, around 80-85º with around 70-80% humidity during the day and 50-60% humidity at night. It will stay this "type" of weather all summer down here on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi (Ocean Springs, MS). So with this knowledge, how often would you all recommend I water and how "damp/moist" should the soil dry up to before I deep soak it again? When I do water as I understand it like a deep soak, and with a 120L container and a 4' tree I should let water soak for around 20-30 seconds to make sure it gets throughout the entire container? It is lifted off the ground and the drain hole seems to work well so far.


    I ordered some "3 in 1 Plant Guard" from a company IV Organics (https://ivorganics.com/store/store-back/) that I've been watching a lot of his YouTube videos and will be putting it on the trees as well as using his spray 3 in 1 for the leaves. I also ordered his 6 macros + fertilizer.


    Speaking about fertilizer as you have. When I potted the trees I put a "cap full" of Osmocote Flower & Vegetable Plant Food in the pot and about 120L of potting mix that's a mix of pine bark, sand, and perlite. Then a few days later I put some Miracle Grow All Purpose Plant Food, which I mixed about 2 tablespoons into a 2gal water can with water and evenly distributed in the soil of both trees.


    Could I have over fertilized, and having gotten some of the Miracle Grow mix on the leaves caused the "burn" on them?

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    The (MWR) maximum water retention of commercially available potting mixes varies considerably. It may be listed on the package as maximum humidity. I use a mix that is 60%. That means if it pours rain the excess water will drain and leave 60% moisture. Citrus like between 40-60% moisture. This is why some of the water retention soils are too damp at 70% water retention. If your pot is proportionate to the size of the root ball than you would water when the top surface is starting to dry out. You can usually tell by the color of the soil surface when it is dry. An obvious caveat is if you are using a poorly draining pot which traps moisture and the wrong potting mix. I only use clay pots because they expel excess moisture and the evaporation cools the roots. In my setup it would be near impossible to overwater.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    The best fertilizer for citrus is citrus fertilizer. It has the correct micronutrients which you won't find in a general purpose fertilizer. Citrus have special micro and macro nutrient requirements. You could start by looking at GrowScipts care kits.

  • 6 years ago

    It is very normal to get sunburn. I just used Surround WP crop protectant on my apple trees and pineapples today. Very quick onset of dried out leaves is a good indicator of fertilizer burn. You don't have fertilizer burn. Really excessive fertilizer can kill a tree within days. The amounts you have used seem reasonable.

  • 6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Watering citrus is a huge bugaboo on the internet. If you are using an appropriate pot with an appropriate soil with an appropriate draining pot than overwatering is a non issue. A citrus grown in the ground is going to have very deep roots. In a pot you don't have that luxury. Too much sand in a potted citrus will dry the roots out very quickly.

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