Why are did my lemon tree drop its leaves and how do I fix it?

2 years ago

Before winter, we had some wind and my young lemon tree transplant started dropping leaves, I am guessing because of the wind and oncoming cold. perhaps because of transplant shock as well? Either way, the tree started growing a few new leaves and flowered like crazy all of winter. The flowering never grew past little fruit buds. It is a young tree, maybe 5 foot tall, so I figured it not fruiting was not abnormal? I fertilized once in the winter and again in February. Now the tree is kind of stagnant and not growing new leaves or recovering like I hoped it would. I have been watering weekly, flooding all around the base of the tree to get a good soak. What am I doing wrong? How can I get it to recover?

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Comments (5)

BlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Where in the world is this lemon tree? (Big city, part of a state/country/territory, climate ... give us a hint)

Is it in ground or containerized?
Ethan Ming
Original Author
2 years ago
in the ground, rural southern California. We get plenty of heat most of the year, citrus is plentiful here due to the climate
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Silica
2 years ago
How old is this tree? A 2 year old in ground citrus tree should be fertilized 5 times per year. A 3 year old tree 4 times per year, and a 4 year old tree and older 3 times per year. For inground trees a 6-6-6 or 8-8-8 fertilizer is good. In Southern California fertilize between Mach and September.
Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal)
2 years ago
It has been quite cold lately - maybe it just hasn't woken up yet, for the year?
Ethan Ming
Original Author
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
@Silica My guess is about 2-3 years, but I am not sure, I bought and planted it about 1 year ago; and I have been fertilizing about that amount.

@Need2SeeGreen 10 (SoCal) Perhaps, it has been a bit cold, but the days are quite hot here. But you could be right.

I have attached some photos of the tree and some roots I exposed. Does this look like it could be the beginning of root rot? I really do not have any experience with that.