Lemon and banana possible problems

A few weeks back I posted about my new garden room... things seem to be going ok what with the change in temps, but I think I may be developing a few problems with the lemon tree and banana plant:

The lemon tree has about 6" of new growth and has lemons of various sizes... in fact, its just started flowering again. The concern is in the area where the lemons are close to ripening... the leaves there are going yellow, but the rest of the tree appears fine. Is this normal? Should I be picking the fruit?



The new growth



As for the banana... it has produced 3 new leaves during the past couple of months, but the leaves at the bottom look rough... should I just cut them off?





Everything got fed 4 weeks ago... should I feed again despite falling temps?

Many thanks x

 

Hi Kezzie , welcome back ....the lemon seams that is just been attached by red mites spiders and the banana has simple dry out , cut the dead leaves off and get red spider spry from your local garden center.........perhaps , check the roots of you lemon , did you repot it?

 

Its possible red spider mite on the lemon, but I'm more inclined to think its magnesium deficiency, a watering occasionally with a solution of epsom salts might help.
the new growth looks good and green so it could just be the older leaves dying off naturally.

You can tidy up the lower leaves on the banana any time cutting them off close to the stem.
I'd stop feeding now until March although they do say you should feed citrus all year round when in pots.

 

Many thanks for that x (i'll get the hang of things one day!)

Ooops, forgot to mention... all the plants were repotted on the day they arrived.

 

Point to note is that if you feed, exclusively, with Miracle Gro that that does not contain any Magnesium - which probably won't matter if you only use it on containers for a single season, and then change the compost, but for perennial container plants some Epsom Salts now-and-again will address that (and wouldn't do any harm applied to the Annual containers too)

 

I tend to go with Pete's thoughts of Magnesium deficiency rather than Red spider .
Have a close look at the lemon leaves and you should be able to see any red spider .

Dave

 

I had a look at a few of the affected leaves and can't see any red spider. I last fed the plants 10th Oct (I've been told to feed 4 weekly). The plant food was supplied by the nursery... I was given one type for the tree fern and the other to use on banana, palm and citrus trees. I've just looked at the content of the feed and it says (20 ml mixed with 1 litre of water and spray directly on leaves):

18:18:18
with added wetting agent
3% iron
Magnesium
and other trace elements

Should I still consider using Epsom Salts with the above feed?

Many thanks for the help x

 

usually magnesium defiance makes all the leave look yellow and not just the dot.
including the new leaves .




I always associate yellow dots to insect bites , it could be just aphids that have left the tree .
but give more magnesium will not actually arm the tree , same as with some insecticide.

 

Many thanks. Out of interest, when do I pick the lemons (I know that sounds like a daft question, but I just wondered as it's the leaves surrounding the larger lemons that are turning yellow)?

 

I'd be inclined to pick them when you want within reason.
I'm not sure about lemons but I do know that oranges only ripen with lower temperatures, so if your lemons dont get cool enough they may stay green, but they will still be ripe.

 

Thank you Pete... I know the lemons won't taste that good. The nursery said they'd only be good as a slice on the edge of a glass.

 

Only pick a lemon if you have a large chilled G and T at the ready Kazzie,

 

Lemons are lemons as far as I'm concerned and they only have one use, possibly two.
In a nice Bacardi and coke or on Shrove Tuesday.

 

Aaw now,
Lemon Possett...

 

It won't hurt. I think: your new feed has Magnesium in it, so that will take care of it, but if the plant has a deficiency (from husbandry over the last 6 months) then a "boost" to Magnesium may be called for, which Epson Salts will give it - and your feed probably doesn't have enough to correct a deficiency, only to maintain a reasonable level going forwards.