Another Meyer with yellow spots and leaf drop ...

Discussion in 'Citrus' started by Swifter, Jul 20, 2009.

  1. Swifter

    Swifter Member

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    Er, make that two of them--True Dwarf Improved Meyers--although one is suffering more than the other. I think it's a combination of 1) wrong medium, 2) poor watering regimen, 3) no fertilizer. I can only plead ignorance. I've described their lives below; what I'm looking for is advice on pot size and general feedback about whether my plan for their salvation is a good one.

    I have had since mid-December 2008 when they were bought as 1-yr-old seedlingsfrom Four Winds. I potted them after a week or two into the pots they're currently in, 12 inches in diameter and about 10 in height. I used a generic potting mix with probably 1/8 sand and 1/4 wood chips, I think pine. Unfortunately, because I couldn't find wood chips easily they were more like shavings. The drainage is remarkably good for such a terrible medium, and as they're resting on rocks in their trays they do not ever sit in water.

    These trees get a little less than optimum light, but I think it's sufficient. It's often cloudy here but being in an east window they get about 5 hours of direct sun, and when it's warm (70 F+) I put them outside for the day, maybe once a week or more. They have grown maybe 2 inches in height and 5 inches of leafy growth. They've blossomed three times and I removed the blossoms as buds because Four Winds recommends to do that until the tree is about 3. They haven't blossomed for about 2 months, maybe more. About 3-4 weeks ago the one that's suffering more sprouted 4 brand new branches with lots of new leaves. These so far look healthy. The other one has one new leaf and no new branches.

    They arrived with a scale infection ('though I didn't know what it was for several weeks) that I have been battling since then, removing them by hand then bathing with a soap solution. There are often small flies (they look like fruit flies) in the soil, I assume the mature male scale insects. I've never seen the "walkers" but I see the "scales" at least every 2 weeks. I try to remove them weekly.

    I have watered them every 1-2 weeks, 4-6 cups of water, and I've "deep watered" them a couple of times. I have never fertilized (for some reason buying the right kind of fertilizer has seemed very daunting). I believe they've suffered some salt buildup: the soil surface crusted over with a pale substance about 3 weeks after I potted them and has done so since, though I've broken it up before watering; and the rocks have white residue on them.

    I'm unclear about the cause for the yellowing and dropping leaves. Doesn't look like greasy spot or other ailments like that. Possibly magnesium deficiency. I tried to get a good picture. The yellowing appears as faint splotches, gets bigger and overtakes the leaves, sometimes coinciding with downward curling. By the time the periole (?) yellows and drops the leaf, the leaf is extremely splotched with green and yellow. The underside of the yellow spots has faint brown scabs that are not necrotic, somewhat stippled, and can't be scraped off. The one tree has only lost a few leaves but is showing increasing numbers of yellowing leaves; the other has lost about half, largest ones first. I think this yellowing is unrelated to the scale; my best guess is a combination of watering malpractice and lack of nutrients/minerals.

    My plan of action follows. Any further comments or suggestions? Thank you so much in advance!!! I have learned a ton on this forum already, but I crave what individualized guidance you can give. I specifically would like to know whether my pots are too big, and am curious about folks' diagnoses of the yellowing.

    1: Re-pot, possibly in a smaller pot, with CHC and peat moss if I can find CHC here, in Olympia WA.
    2: Obtain horticultural oils and apply to fight scale
    3: Obtain fertilizer at 5-1-3 with trace minerals if I can find it; if not, 20-10-10 and Epsom.
    3: Water well with fert. after re-potting, then make sure I don't water too often (be better about checking the soil) and at each watering, flush in order to avoid salt build-up.

    Thanks again!!!
     

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  2. Millet

    Millet Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    Concerning item #4. If you transplant your tree into a 4 part CHC and 1 part peat moss, you will not have to worry about over watering. In the CHC peat medium, you can water your tree 10 times a day, without any concern of over warning. Remember, it is not over watering the kills the tree, it is the eliminating of all medium oxygen by the water that kills the tree. The tree dies from suffocation (lack of oxygen). In a CHC peat medium the medium oxygen is NEVER ELIMINATED. Lastly, in a CHC peat medium you will not need to flush the container to eliminate soluble salts. Water away. - Millet (1,275-)

    Today is the 40th anniversary of the killing of Mary Jo Copeckne
     
  3. Swifter

    Swifter Member

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    Thank you very much for the clarification/explanation, Millet!
     

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