Meyer Lemon Tree Yellowing & Dropping Leaves

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by bythesea81, Aug 21, 2009.

  1. bythesea81

    bythesea81 Member

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    Moved my three year old potted Meyer Lemon outdoors early summer. Fed it the recommended amount of Citrus Tone. Did wonderfully all summer. Bloomed twice and has several small lemons on it. I now notice that many leaves have turned yellow and are dropping. A couple of the small lemons are fading into yellow also. Upon examining the underside of the leaves I notice a dark dusty coating (almost like dirt). Could this be an insect infestation? Note: I've fed it twice this summer because of heavy rainfalls.
     
  2. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Citrus tone, is not a fertilizer I would ever recommend, or consider using, for a citrus tree. Looking at Citrus tone's web site, I was amazed to find that much of their instructions are completely wrong. But as to your tree -- as you live in the Northeast, I assume that your tree is growing in a container. From what you explain above, this tree is very drastically under nourished, resulting in the tree now showing the results. A container tree should be fertilized a very MINIMUM of once a month, and most certainly with a fertilizer that contains all TRACE MINERALS. As long as you are here with this tree, we should ask you what type of medium is this tree planted in? The type of medium that a containerized citrus tree is planted in, has 95 percent to do with how long the tree will live. It is your tree, and you certainly can care for this tree as you desire, but organic fertilizers are unfortunately not a good choice for citrus, especially container grown trees. By reading the posts on this forum, you will lean everything you need to know on the proper cultivation of citrus trees. The best of luck to this tree. - Millet (1,252-)
     
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2009
  3. eleven

    eleven Member

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    Mites? Re: "Meyer...& Dropping Leaves"

    If the problem is pests you might have some sort of mite.

    Before I could see any visible insects on my leaf-dropping lemon tree I noticed leaves that looked dusty and once in a while fine webbing here and there. Later if I looked really close I could see actual insects and eggs.

    Here are some sites with photos of infestations far along:
    http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/files/images/spider-mites-rose.preview.jpg
    http://www.dahlias.net/dahwebpg/Insects/SpiderMites.htm
    http://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/2008/06/war-with-spider-mites.html
    http://www.growingproduce.com/floridagrower/?storyid=617 (these are how mine looked when they got big)

    I rinsed off the tree thoroughly and regularly and sprayed it with neem oil (which is safe, so good for edible plants): http://www.yardlover.com/greenlight-organic-neem-concentrate-pint. I haven't seen any mites since.

    I've heard increasing humidity and rinsing/misting helps keep mites down, as they prefer it hot and dry.
     

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