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Any citrus expert here ? My lemon tree is dying. (pics)

R

rick_bender

Hey guys,
 
Just in case there's people here that are familar with citrus...
My Meyer lemon tree is in a really bad shape for a few months now.
The leaves are wilting, yellowing, have black spots and are falling from the plant. The growth is of course stunted.
 
The plant has suffered multiple infestations : aphids, fungus gnats AND some tiny bugs crawling into the soil that I didn't identified yet. Today, I transplanted the plant in a new pot with fresh new soil (specific potting mix for citrus) and got rid of the old infested soil and pot.
 
What can I do more to save this plant ? Should I cut back some foliage ? Can someone identify the problem here ?
 
Pictures here :
 
https://imgur.com/a/Pgn7FYW
 
https://imgur.com/a/pBuanYK
 
Can't help with the lemon tree, sorry. But I can help with posting IMGUR pix. when you are at the hosting site simply right click on the pic then left click on Copy image in the menu that opens.....
 
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Return to your post - Insure the cursor is flashing where you want the pic to appear and - right click and hit Paste in the menu that appears.....
 
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Looks to me like it got too wet and you have root rot, also it looks like post fruit bloom rot, a fungus that definitely won’t help the plant. Unfortunately I think you will lose the tree.


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Best bet to try and save would be to repot (wash roots well before repot) in a citrus potting (or a perlite and vegetable mix), also cut all the fruit stem nodules off as they are diseased. Then I would start a heavy fungicide spray routine.


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Peppergator said:
Best bet to try and save would be to repot (wash roots well before repot) in a citrus potting (or a perlite and vegetable mix), also cut all the fruit stem nodules off as they are diseased. Then I would start a heavy fungicide spray routine.


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Click to expand...
Hey,
Well, pretty bad news ! I reppoted it in a citrus potting mix, the whole thing much more cleaner now. I'm gonna cut the nodules and I'll look for the fungicide. Any risks that the disease go on my other plants ? (peppers and tomatoes)
 
I won’t be to concerned about spreading to peppers or tomatoes, but definitely cut the modules into a bag and dispose of the bag because they are contagious and can kick the infection back.


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Peppergator said:
I won’t be to concerned about spreading to peppers or tomatoes, but definitely cut the modules into a bag and dispose of the bag because they are contagious and can kick the infection back.


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Click to expand...
Okay, cool, that's exactly what I did. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate
 
Its the soil and lack of the right balance of minerals. Fungal and other infections are not the underlying problem. They are the symptom of the root cause. I grow many fruit trees in Florida, a state with mostly poor, mineral deficient soil. Plants have their own defenses against pathogens, but if they lack the building blocks for a rigorous defensive system, that system will break down and become faulty. Treating for infections without dealing with the root causes will not help in the long run. I have seen citrus greening completely recover by application of the right minerals. I suggest a soil analysis. Also you can send in some of the leaves to be checked via atomic mass spectrometry, which will accurately show its mineral profile, and what exactly is needed. I don't know about France, but here in Florida the cost to perform such tests is reasonable.
 
AaronTT said:
Its the soil and lack of the right balance of minerals. Fungal and other infections are not the underlying problem. They are the symptom of the root cause. I grow many fruit trees in Florida, a state with mostly poor, mineral deficient soil. Plants have their own defenses against pathogens, but if they lack the building blocks for a rigorous defensive system, that system will break down and become faulty. Treating for infections without dealing with the root causes will not help in the long run. I have seen citrus greening completely recover by application of the right minerals. I suggest a soil analysis. Also you can send in some of the leaves to be checked via atomic mass spectrometry, which will accurately show its mineral profile, and what exactly is needed. I don't know about France, but here in Florida the cost to perform such tests is reasonable.
Click to expand...
I do not know about any laboratory that could analyse my soil here, I'll check on it, but I can sure tell that my lemon tree was planted in an inadequate medium because back then I was just too lazy to buy citrus specific soil. Now it must be better !

Do you think I should also prune back a bit to stimulate new growth ?
 
Its debatable, because some of the very minerals that can help are best applied by spraying them on the leaves, as it is taken into the plant quit rapidly.
Perhaps if you did get a well balanced enough soil replacement, it might be all you need for now. Then you can find a citrus fertilizer with the correct balance, plus trace minerals.

Check out these guys. Although this page is about citrus greening, some of the solutions help other issues. I have learned a lot from the one of the owners. You can even call them and talk with them if you can do so.

http://qualitygreenspecialists.com/citrus-greening-answers/
 
AaronTT said:
Its debatable, because some of the very minerals that can help are best applied by spraying them on the leaves, as it is taken into the plant quit rapidly.
Perhaps if you did get a well balanced enough soil replacement, it might be all you need for now. Then you can find a citrus fertilizer with the correct balance, plus trace minerals.

Check out these guys. Although this page is about citrus greening, some of the solutions help other issues. I have learned a lot from the one of the owners. You can even call them ahd talk with them if you can do so.

http://qualitygreenspecialists.com/citrus-greening-answers/
Click to expand...
Okay, I get it, I'll see how the plant responds.
That's interesting. I'm going to bookmark that link for sure !! Thank you very much !
 
AaronTT said:
Its the soil and lack of the right balance of minerals. Fungal and other infections are not the underlying problem. They are the symptom of the root cause. I grow many fruit trees in Florida, a state with mostly poor, mineral deficient soil. Plants have their own defenses against pathogens, but if they lack the building blocks for a rigorous defensive system, that system will break down and become faulty. Treating for infections without dealing with the root causes will not help in the long run. I have seen citrus greening completely recover by application of the right minerals. I suggest a soil analysis. Also you can send in some of the leaves to be checked via atomic mass spectrometry, which will accurately show its mineral profile, and what exactly is needed. I don't know about France, but here in Florida the cost to perform such tests is reasonable.
Click to expand...
Soil definitely was an issue, sounds like that has been addressed, doubt OP want to send soil off to a lab for 1 fruit tree using store bought soil. Even in Florida, IFAS, still charges around 30 dollars and 2 week lead time to test.

I am also curious how deep the plant was planted prior to the picture being taken.

OP you also need to address PFD, post bloom fruit drop.
Here is a link by IFAS on the topic. Plenty more online.

https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/trade_journals/2017/2017_January_postbloom.pdf


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Peppergator said:
I am also curious how deep the plant was planted prior to the picture being taken.
Click to expand...
This picture is from a few weeks ago, there was a layer of approximatively 5cm (2 inches) of perlite and some pine bark mulch as you can see.
 
Thanks for the article, that's very interesting, I couldn't find any information about that post fruit bloom you talked to me about. And I still haven't found the equivalent word in french to see if there was any information
 
SavinaRed said:
also get a good citrus fertilizer and give it a regimen every 3 months . 
Click to expand...
Okay, so some questions about fertilizer : what kind of fertilizer do you recommend ? Any NPK i should aim for ? Dry or bottled ? I didn't dialed my citrus grow at all compared to my pepper one (and that's why today my plant is dying of course haha)
 
It is not difficult to grow citrus from cuttings. If your plants as a whole is dying, you might want to try to take a few cuttings and see whether they take off?
 
I took 4 cuttings last year and could grow 3 plants out of it, but recently they sadly perished due to lack of attention from my part... 
 
ahayastani said:
It is not difficult to grow citrus from cuttings. If your plants as a whole is dying, you might want to try to take a few cuttings and see whether they take off?
 
I took 4 cuttings last year and could grow 3 plants out of it, but recently they sadly perished due to lack of attention from my part... 
Click to expand...
 
I've always been told that cuttings must be taken from a healthy plant,  that said, I took a cutting from my parents house from their wonderful lemon tree. I guess if mine dies, I have something to hold on !
 
rick_bender said:
Okay, so some questions about fertilizer : what kind of fertilizer do you recommend ? Any NPK i should aim for ? Dry or bottled ? I didn't dialed my citrus grow at all compared to my pepper one (and that's why today my plant is dying of course haha)
Click to expand...
I've been using Vigora Avocado and Citrus Fert for the last 6 years. I get it at Home Depot. 
 
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