Lemon and banana possible problems

Thank you Kristin... I'll follow through with that.

 

Hi Kazzie,

It looks like related to feed,
I would advise :
1. Water well wich means let some water to drainge out of the container every time you are watering . ( in many cases not doing so creates lots of minerals at some areas in the pot andcause these type of burning brown at the ends of the leaves )
watering well will wash the unused minerals .
2. With the lemon it looks like a bit more iron can help - but not too worried it is fairly common to look like that and yet to get briliant lemons.
I would really recommend using slow reales feed like scotts manufacture these can be used once a long while and will feed the plants all these period , rather than once a while. much easier safer to the plant etc , just try to get one that containall microe ellemts in it too.
Do not be too worried about it but when run out of the one you have, try a slow realese one . You will enjoy better results too.

 

Lemontree... thank you for taking the time to offer some advice.

The nursery repotted all the plants for me (into my pots)... I've got a horrible feeling that we haven't thought enough about good drainage. To address this, I think the tree is going to need repotting again . At the moment I've been giving about a pint of water daily and a feed monthly.

Since my last post, I fed the tree and it seemed to improve... at the moment it is full of flowers. However, I'm starting to think I might have a pest or 2 in the room. Next week a guy from the nursery is coming to repot my large palm... I'll ask him to assess the health of all the plants in there. I will get hold of the slow release feed.

Generally, all the plants seem to be thriving (touch wood)... and I'm learning as I go.

Thank you again .

 

Hi Kazzi ,
it is jut what I thought, a common mistake with the watering.

how to water pants in container:
touch the soil ( with hand or a wooden stick ) only when completely dry , ( every about 5-10 days) water well -and lots till water are going down the whole drainage.

After the first time , you will know what quantity it needs .

You see if not watering this way it cause for the brown at the edges of the leaves ( banana plant).
Iseenit in many cases as I worked as a plant consultant in my last year in israel (actually working with same plants )

 

Thank you Lemontree... I am going to try that on both citrus trees starting from today. Actually I've just found some info on the net which suggests I shouldn't water in the evenings (which I currently do), as this causes all sorts of problems (mildew and pests).

Grrr... I know I have at least 1 pest in the conservatory!

 

Your knowledge and experience of citrus plants is going to be most welcome lemontree,
thank you,
Jenny namaste

 

I would feel the weight of the pot, rather than feeling the soil. Surface soil may be dry, but lower down may be wet. Feel weight when you think it is dry, water well, feel weight again and you will easily be able to see the difference - its quite significant - and then (with a bit of practice ) you should be able to gauge when it needs watering from the feel of the weight.

 

You sound so sweet,
pests are just part of nature

( I tried to look at it as sharing with poor ones, but I think sometimes they used me for that thought haha.. )
I got many grape plants here, when I saw the birds eating the grapes I thought ,never mind if I share it with them ... but they ate them all ... plenty of grapes - I just wondered how did they manage to fly after that....

Lemons are fairly tough, In fact when they suffer from anything they produce more fruits - so no need to be too worried about them. I think ill have one in our new place as it has large conservatory - I am hoping the Mrs let me...

 

How big and heavy are these pots kazzie? Can you lift them (Health and safety check before you sue Kristen for bad advice),
Jenny

 

Hopefully they used a soil based compost? - rather than Multi Purpose / Peat based

 

Hahaha! But with practice you'll only need to "lean" them a bit - or even, for smaller pots, just "nudge" them to be able to tell if they are "heavy" with water, or "light" and thus dry. Maybe it takes a bit of practice, but I can just nudge smaller pots a half inch or so to know whether they need watering or not.

 

They are planted with the correct soil (lol, thank heavens we got something right!). There is no way I could lift or nudge the pots . Is there something that I could push into the soil to see how moist it is? I'm guessing this is where experience come in... you learn over time how your plants respond (wondering how many plants I'll lose before I gain the knowledge!).

 

Ah, OK, the pots are THAT big Sorry I was assuming a small plant.

You can buy moisture-meters - they have a long probe with a needle that swings from Wet to Dry. They are cheap, and I don't know how accurate they are; handy for really large pots where you can't easily get a finger into the middle! Much the same as pushing a stick in, as Lemontree said, except you don't have to be able to "read" the stick. Mostly you can just feel the dampness of the stick, but it takes a bit of experience.

Are they clay pots? If so you can tap them with a stick and listen to how "hollow" they sound/ring. Again, experimenting by tapping one when you know it is dry, watering well and then tapping again and comparing the sound and you will be able to decide whether you can easily tell the difference ... or not!

 

Sorry about the late reply Kristin... I've had a house full of people. The pots are not clay. I stopped watering daily andf the tree dropped its first lemon yesterday. With my 'untrained' eye, I thought the tree looked worse, so watered it. The conservatory is heated and the lowest night temp has been 12c.

 

Lol... the banana now has Aphids