lemon tree – Xtremehorticulture

Transplanting Lemon Tree a Matter of Age

Leave a Comment / lemon tree, root loss compensation, transplanting / xtremehorticulture

Q. A lemon tree was growing in my neighbor’s yard. I dug it up and transplanted it into a large pot. I am not sure what type of lemon it is. It did well for about a week, then suddenly all the leaves went limp. The plant doesn’t appear to be dying, but the leaves remain limp and hanging. What gives? I’ve never seen this before. A. Move plants to a new location during the cooler times of the year; usually in October or February. When moving any kind of tree from one location to another, I recommend removing about one quarter to one third of the tree’s canopy to compensate for the loss of roots. I would also recommend staking the plant (so the roots can’t move) until it grows new roots. Establishing it again may take a year or two of staking depending on the size of the plant. It should go without mentioning, amend the soil for a distance of about three times the size of its roots and to a depth of at least 18 inches. Keep everything wet! Compensating the top growth for the loss of roots can be a challenge. Sometimes older fronds are pruned from the base of the plant and not the top. Just depends. Root loss is a matter of age; the older the tree or how long its been in the ground can be the difference between life and death. Also the time of year. Fall trees moved have both the fall and spring to recover. Sometimes leaves are removed from the bottom and not the top as was done before moving this cycad. Remove the entire frond to the trunk. Don’t leaves stubs. Leaf loss usually occurs as the temperatures get warmer and the weather is windy. If you are successful in moving the plant, there should be no losses. It should take off when it gets warmer. If you don’t remove enough of the top canopy, then part of the plant will die to compensate for lost roots. When not enough of the top is removed and the plant is moved or the plant does not get enough water, new growth of the tree or shrub occurs at the base of the tree and the top dies. When moving any kind of plant, do it as quickly as possible. Have the hole predug, the amendments and stakes ready.

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Curling and Twisted Growth of Citrus May Be Normal When It’s Hot

1 Comment / grapefruit tree, leaves cupping on orange tree, lemon tree, Why do the leaves of my orange tree curl / xtremehorticulture

Q. The new growth on my citrus trees (Lemon, oranges, and grapefruit) are starting to curl up at they grow. Attached are a few pictures. They are watered every three days, 12 gals per watering. I fed them every six weeks starting at the end of Feb with a balanced citrus fertilizer.When I had a yellowing leaf problem I gave them iron and spayed the leaves with Epsom salt. Last feeding was Sept 1. I checked some of your past blogs but could not find anything that mentioned this kind of problem. Any thoughts or suggestions. A. In our climate this is nothing to be concerned about. We don’t have a lot of citrus here so many of the insects that might cause curling or cupping of leaves are not commonly present here. Most likely what you are seeing is growth of citrus in response to our heat. I think the outer edges of the leaves become damaged or their growth slows compared to the rest of the leaf and new growth begins to distort. You should not see this in new growth in the spring. In other parts of the country where citrus is more common this could be an insect related problem or an irrigation problem. In our case here and because it’s happening on so many of your citrus it is most likely heat related and a temporary problem.

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Artificial Grass Not Damaging Lemon Tree

Leave a Comment / citrus tree, how much water for citrus, lemon tree, overwatering lemon tree / xtremehorticulture

Q. My lemon tree is about five years old and it has a lot of flowers and tiny lemons. The tree looks healthy but I have noticed the leaves are turning yellow. I water it every day about ten minutes, six days a week. We have artificial grass about a foot away around the trunk. Am I overwatering it or is it the artificial turf the culprit? A. I don’t think the artificial grass has anything to do with it. I suspect that maybe the soil is being kept too moist. The artificial turfgrass may be acting like mulch and keeping the soil wet longer than if it were not covered in anything. Water deep and infrequently. It should do okay watered twice a week now with about 20 gallons or so each time. Try getting some iron chelate spray and spray the foliage in the cool morning hours. Add some spreader to the spray to get it to go into the leaves or use some liquid detergent but be careful of store bought liquid detergents. It is possible they can cause some leaf damage if you aren’t careful with them. You have to spray liquid iron about four times; once every couple of days for four sprays total. Spray until the iron solution drips from the leaves. Make a new batch each time you spray and use the spray fresh each time because of our alkaline water.

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Insecticides Applied to Soil Not Good Idea Around Food Plants

Leave a Comment / bugs, control insects, fruit trees, lemon tree, systemic insecticides, whats eating leaves / xtremehorticulture

Q. Something is eating the leaves on my lemon tree. What can I use to prevent this? I found a product at the nursery and it says you can apply it to the soil to control bugs. A. If something is eating the leaves I would not be too concerned unless it is really eating a lot of leaves. We really have to be careful when we apply these types of poisons on the soil and around the food we eat. If this insecticide is taken up through the roots and spread through the plant to kill a bug, we might also have small amounts in the fruit as well. The insecticide dissolves in water and moves down through the soil where it is absorbed by the roots. Once absorbed, it moves up through the plant providing protection from insects. These types of products are called systemic insecticides and move into new growth after the application. The insecticide stays inside the plant and gives it protection from bugs. Rain or water cannot wash off this internal protection and you cannot wash it off by scrubbing the fruit. There is an old saying, “The dose makes the poison.” Insects, because they are small, require less of a poison to kill them than larger animals. Even though insecticides have a label to tell you what you can or cannot apply it on, it does not mean that the product is entirely safe. If you have to use an insecticide to control damaging insects, then I would recommend something that you spray on the outside of the plant rather than something which is taken up by the plants through its roots. In many cases, these insecticides which are sprayed on the plant will wash off or degrade in the environment. It is up to you as the consumer whether you want to purchase this product and use it. As for me, I would not eat the fruit from a tree where an insecticide was applied to the soil and taken up by plant roots.

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