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Cause of orange tree dropping fruit

HU-597225914
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago

My 7 year old navel orange tree has been dropping fairly mature fruit late in the growing season - an orange almost every other day. I've babied this tree to a ridiculous degree and am totally at my wits end. I live in central FL. Water doesn't seem to be an issue - it's the rainy season and soil meter looks fine. I had a pest issue (leafminers) doing a decent amount of leaf damage but spinosad took care of that over a month ago and the drops have continued. I recently sprayed bonide horticulture oil in the evening on the tree and feel like I saw multiple fruits turn yellow on the tree days later (coincidence or no?) Could the oil be the cause? I appreciate any thoughts/ideas anyone has - I really need help with this tree!

Photos added - the orange in the photo was the most recent casualty today...





Comments (7)

  • poncirusguy6b452xx
    2 years ago

    pictures please

  • HU-597225914
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    I added photos above. Here is one more. As for anomalies on the tree, aside from the prior leafminer damage you can see in some leaves above, and a few handfuls of leaves with dark green veins (most others look good I think - the lighter green leaves were new growth), the only other oddity I saw was that one of my oranges has this nasty looking spot on it. It's the only orange that I can tell that has it though, at least anywhere near this size, so was thinking it was unrelated.




  • Silica
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    I don't know your tree, but fruit drop is a common occurrence, even somewhat late in the season. If you visit a commercial groves you will see a lot of fruit on the ground. You need to remove the fruit with blossom end rot shown in your photo, and discard it into the trash..

  • vgkg Z-7 Va
    2 years ago

    Is your orange tree in full sun? The pics appear shady or maybe it's just a cloudy day? But if a nearby tree is shading your orange tree then that may not help. Guess guessing.

  • HU-597225914
    Original Author
    2 years ago

    It was cloudy/rainy that day, but the tree normally gets decent sun. There is a small tree overhead that gives it a little shade but I'd say 50%+ of the day's sun still reaches the tree (from 11/noon to dusk I'd say). Do you think that could be causing this?

  • Silica
    2 years ago

    NO

  • ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
    2 years ago

    coincidence ...??


    tree time is counted in decades .. i would doubt if 3 days after spraying with oil.. it caused the color change you noted ..


    that said.. ive never grown citrus.. so what do i know ...


    ken