Lemon Meyer

Hi.Can anyone help me and my Meyer, Its loosing all it's leaves one by one.(See below)Each one falls off leaving it's stalk behind, Some are slightly blotchy & yellowing but underneath there seems to be teeny brown patches.I have looked for Red Spiders but haven't seen any or their webs.Could I have over fed it as I gave it a citrus drop feeder which leaked out fast.It has one large lemon and lots of baby ones .Thanks for any advice.

 

Here is another picture of my Lemon Tree - I forgot to say that it has 2ft long branches. It stands about 2ft high and is in a 12"ceramic pot.It is about 3 years old and suffering!
By the way I repotted it last year into JI No3, and its kept in a heated (10oC min)Sunny conservatory in Southern England.Please note yellowing leaves. Cheers

 

Sorry, Sunshine2, it's me again.

Lemon Meyer is the the best lemon tree you can have actually and if I had one I would have one .. but all the neighbours have lemon trees so I don't need to have one.

I'll put a call out for my Sis (Kedi-Gato of Germany) who has a lemon tree growing in indoor conditions to halp you with this problem.

 

I'd be very interested to find out the problem myself sunshine, I have similar problems with citrus.
Redspider is a problem and can be there even with no webs at this time of the year.
Scale insect is a real problem on citrus, and leaves a sticky deposit behind.
I have heard that magnesium deficiency can cause yellow leaves and leaf drop.
I was thinking of trying that special citrus compost that you can buy these days, not sure JI no3 is ideal, but I have used it myself with a bit extra sand.

 

If the problem is not insects, it could be a deficiency as you say, pete.

This is an excerpt from an article I printed out due to problems with our lime tree last year, but it is referring to citrus trees in general ...

"Leaves may turn yellow from a deficiency of either iron or nitrogen. In the case of iron, newer or outer leaves turn yellow first. They are characterized by yellowing, called chlorosis, between the leaf veins while the veins remain green. Thus a green fish-bone leaf pattern is evident. In the case of nitrogen, the deficiency is more pronounced on the older, inner growth. Nitrogen deficiency may yellow the entire leaf or just the veins, resulting in a yellow fish-bone leaf pattern.

A nitrogen deficiency can be corrected with the addition of ammonium sulfate or other nitrogen containing fertilizer. Iron can be applied to the soil using a chelated form of iron available at local garden centers. In either case, after applying the nutrient water it into the soil thoroughly."

Quoted from an article by John Begeman, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona.

 

The leaves are very blotchy
,not showing the veining pattern.As the symptoms are similar to red spider mite damage,I have ordered the predatory mites anyway, as I did have problems with them last year altough I can't see any with a magnifying glass, (or their webs)yet.The other thing is I have got Epsom Salts, would this good for it.I have been feeding as I did last year, with Phostrogen, also a citrus drip feeder - perhaps that was TOO much!! But then the leaves would turn dark green surely! It now seems to be showing a few new tiny leaves, which at least is a sign that it isn't dying I suppose.

 

Epsom salts would correct a magnesium deficiency, but are we sure thats the problem in the light of LOLs information.
I seem to remember buying a couple of years ago sachets of plant trace elements, similar to the sequestrene sachets, but they contained quite a lot of different substances, not sure if you can still get them.
I dont think phostrogen is quite right, a bit high in potash, I'm told citrus need a high nitrogen feed virtually all year, you can buy summer and a witer feed for them, but I've not tried it.
Just a thought, but it might help if you remove some of the lemons, especially if its struggling a bit.

 

As the leaves are blotchy yellow, not yellow with green viens, I guessed it wouldn't be the Iron or nitrogen deficiency, so my going for Epsom Salts was just another thought. Also as I have recently watered it, I cant add more water with food until it dries out a bit. I have removed the main large lemon and am going to remove some small ones too.(It has flowers and new leaves showing).