Young Navel Orange Tree stressed: dying twigs and sparse curling leaves

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by soho601, Oct 22, 2012.

  1. soho601

    soho601 Member

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    Los Angeles, California
    I planted a young 2-year-old navel orange tree last Christmas but a year on, it is not a happy tree. It has not grown at all during the year (no new branches or shoots) and the leaves it does have are very sparse and they curl up at the edges like a spoon. The leaves seem thin, unlike the thick waxy leaves of my other (thriving) orange tree. The leaves have good color (no yellowing or marks) but they fall off at the slightest wind.

    Recently some of the smaller twigs it has have started to turn brown and die off, which is worrying me. I have looked closely at the tree and don't see any signs of bugs or of disease, yet still the tree seems stressed.

    Despite this, it made a large amount of oranges this year - it made around 50, and I picked off all but 10 as soon as they started growing, evenly spaced around the tree. The tree is about 4 feet tall, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 inches.

    Some more info: the tree is planted in semi-sandy, well draining soil in full sunlight (I live in California). I amended the soil with citrus compost 50/50. It is planted in an enclosed garden, well-sheltered from drafts. I used fertilizer spikes at first but they made no difference, so I switched to an organic 'all purpose' citrus fertilizer. I have set the sprinklers to water it once daily at 6am for 10 minutes, when it gets about a half inch of water. I also water it once a week with a half bucket of water, as it has been a hot summer (temps above 100 degrees).

    Does anyone know why my tree is so stressed? I want to help it grow more leaves but I don't know what more to do. The few oranges I left on are now full-sized and healthy-looking (although still green). Should I pick them off to try and boost the health of the tree or is there another solution to help it grow more leaves?
     

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