Xtremehorticulture

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

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.

1 thought on “Curling and Twisted Growth of Citrus May Be Normal When It’s Hot”

  1. I just read an article about the same curling leaves on new growth and they mentioned Leaf Miner's infestation. From what it reads is that it is hard to treat however will not kill the tree.

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