meyer lemon tree leaves are turning yellow

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by supermanbaja, Aug 6, 2008.

  1. supermanbaja

    supermanbaja Member

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    Location:
    Spokane WA USA
    meyer lemon tree leaves are turning yellow
    what is the problem?
    Not all of the leaves are doing this just about 5 are and I have massive amounts of new growth, even some of the new smaller leaves are yellow.
    the fertilizer I use is Dynamite #9. can the fertilizer be old and not work very well, because I added some miracle gro and it had massive amounts of grout about 4 days later,
     

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  2. skeeterbug

    skeeterbug Active Member

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    Location:
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    It is not uncommon for citrus trees to shed older leaves and they often remove nutrients before dropping the leaves causing them to turn yellow. As long as you are getting good healthy growth, you are probably doing fine. New leaves are lighter colored, but if you are seeing dark green veins with yellow around them or yellow areas, you may have mineral deficiencies. I am not familiar with all the formulations of Dynamite, but does the one you use have trace minerals or minors including Mg? If not you need to add them separately.
     
  3. supermanbaja

    supermanbaja Member

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    I even have some of the small 1inch leaves that are all yellow
     
  4. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    San Joaquin Valley, California
    It seems you applied just the Magnesium sulfate
    form of Dynamite (blue canister). I would use
    the Dynamite Palm & Citrus food (yellow can)
    instead or use both of them mixed together with
    a P&C at a rate of 2 pounds mixed in with 1
    pound of their Magnesium sulfate for outdoor
    plants (I would go four to one for an indoor
    grown, in the home plant).

    There is a fine line in Citrus in what is a nutrient
    deficiency and what is a nutrient toxicity and
    Calcium, Copper, Boron and even Magnesium
    can be both a deficiency seen on some plants
    and can be a toxicity on other trees. Your leaf
    is a closer to being a Calcium deficiency for
    an outdoor container grown tree of which an
    application of Magnesium sulfate can help
    for this symptom. All yellow colored new
    growth is generally a symptom of not enough
    Nitrogen - I cannot see a series of leaves to
    confirm but most of the time it is due to a
    lack of available Nitrogen that causes the
    new growth to be a pale yellow in color
    for outdoor container grown trees (in the
    home trees can do this from lack of ambient
    or direct light). The allover yellowing of the
    new growth leaves with some green webbing
    seen near the petiole can also happen with a
    severe Calcium deficiency in an in ground
    tree but the edges and sometimes the tips of
    the new growth leaves usually turn brown
    and can become crispy fast when exposed
    to any kind of direct warm to hot sun. The
    noticeably smaller sized leaves with an allover
    yellowing both for indoor and outdoor grown
    container plants is an indication of a Zinc
    deficiency. We will see the webbing more
    easily on the older growth but if we see it
    on the new growth then a lack of Zinc in
    the plants system is your main culprit, more
    so than Calcium. The size of the leaf in the
    photo is not indicative of a Zinc problem yet,
    however.

    Depending on whose clone of Improved Meyer
    Lemon you have as there are two of them in the
    nursery trade out here, one of them is susceptible
    to more yellowing than the other form is. As a
    potted tree, tree grown in a container, one clone
    does seem to yield a high percentage of yellow
    and green leaves (a natural condition and is not
    necessarily a Calcium deficiency) until the trees
    better adapt to their new growing environment
    and the new potting soil. We had an abundance
    of yellow and green leaves such as yours shown
    in the photo for two years on our Improved Meyer
    Lemon seen mostly on the older growth. The
    younger growth never did color up well but
    were not yellow either until the tree finally
    developed a root system on it. I made sure
    not to give this tree any additional Nitrogen
    until its third year in the fifteen gallon can.
    I am pleased to say that this year there is not
    a single yellow or yellowing leaf on the plant
    after two Spring applications of a hand mixed
    Vigoro Citrus food (20 pounds) - MiracleGro
    Citrus Shake and Feed (4 pounds) - Dynamite
    Palm & Citrus (2 pounds). - the trees first taste
    of applied Nitrogen since we've had it.

    Jim
     
  5. supermanbaja

    supermanbaja Member

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    Location:
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    no its the green canister fertilizer
     
  6. skeeterbug

    skeeterbug Active Member

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    Does it contain minors?
     
  7. mr.shep

    mr.shep Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Location:
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    Skeet, here is a link to Dynamite Plant Food : Products.
    I am familiar with the green canister Dynamite Plant Food : Products : All Purpose
    as well as the former darker green colored can that
    I have purchased in the past from a Home Depot.

    I believe the Leo Klotz handbook on Citrus diseases
    would consider the appearance of the leaf to be due
    to an overall lack of nutrition. The high gloss on the
    leaf tells or would indicate to me a more specific nutrient
    imbalance for an outdoor grown tree.

    There has been no mention of the age of the tree,
    whether this tree is being grown indoors and what
    kind of light arrangement, what potting soil is being
    used, how often this tree has been fertilized and
    what concentrations of fertilizer has been used.
    Answers to the above questions may come in
    handy for Skeet, Millet, Laaz, Junglekeeper and
    Dale to know so they can chime in and be of
    more help.

    Jim
     
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2008
  8. drichard12

    drichard12 Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
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    supermanbaja: I feel mr.shep and skeeterbug are both offering some very sound advice to what you may feel to be a problem. I also feel that it's important to know if your Lemon is in a container or inground. I'm thinking that living in Spokane WA. It's container grown. Please reply. Dale
     
  9. Laaz

    Laaz Active Member 10 Years

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    Location:
    Charleston z9a SC
    How about a photo of the entire tree. Very hard to tell you anything from a photo of a single leaf. As has been stated Meyer lemons will shed older leaves & some Meyers will have quite a few yellow leaves. I have noticed that when my Meyer have a heavy new flush, it will drop quite a few old (yellow) leaves.
     

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