Lime Tree (Citrus) losing its leaves

I live on the South Coast of England, not far from the sea, and have a problem with a small lime (citrus) bush (it�s only 3 ft high so I think of it more as a bush than a tree) growing in a container, outside against a south-facing wall. I grew this from a pip and it has managed, for the first time, to grow 3 limes, which I would hate to lose. It�s about 4 years old and has been outside in the present position for about 3 years, summer and winter, and this is the first sign of anything wrong.

For comparison, I have 2 orange trees (which I also grew from pips) about 8ft tall, standing next to the lime, and these have been outside for a few years more but both seem to be in good health.

The problem with the lime is that its leaves are turning yellow and dropping off and it�s getting quite bare but I don�t know why. My wife feeds all the citrus plants with the same special citrus food.

The soil is, from memory, part John Innes, No. 3, part sand (not a lot), and part general compost, bought from a local garden centre.

Iââ?¬â?¢m wondering if we are just over-watering the bush, and if we are, is there any way we can ââ?¬Å?dry outââ?¬Â the soil, if at all? Is re-potting at this stage a bad idea?

I�d be grateful for any advice.

John

 

Hi Quaedor and welcome to GC.

I'm afraid I'm not an expert on citrus, I suspect that if Pete picks up on this thread he will be far more useful than me, but I had a small orange do the same thing in June.

It got down to two leaves and I just gave up on it, literally. Ignored it. No food, no water (apart from the rain), nothing. Thought it was a total gonner.

Last month it suddenly kicked in again.




I think I was killing it with kindness. Don't know if this is an indication for you. But I give you it for what it is worth. At least you have the benefit of better weather than me.

 

Hi Sarraceniac,

Thanks for replying! I think that my wife and I have been over-watering all the citruses but the lime (being so small) has come off worst. Yes, we may well have killed it with kindness!

I thought, at first, with the leaves going so yellow, that it was a shortage of iron so did what the packet of chelated iron said and drenched the lime. This may have had the opposite effect to what I intended.

I've got to find a good book on citruses!

Regards,

John

 

Hi again Sarraceniac,

Just had another look at the photo you sent and that's just how our lemon tree looks.

I remember now changinmg its soil last year and reducing the watering to a minimum because my wife had over-watered it and it almost died. I'd forgotten until now! It seems, perhaps, that because of the very dry conditions we've had for most of this year, she's been over-watering again. It's all done out of kindness!

I'd better look at the lemon, as well.

Perhaps, Pete can tell me more.

In the meantime, thanks again.

Regards,

John

 

Hello John from Sussex and welcome to GC ... and hello John from Scarborough.

Although I live in the middle of the orchards, I am no expert ... in fact, I haven't a clue and we are experimenting with a lime, a Ruby grapefruit and a Meyer lemon. the first two in the ground, the latter in a pot. I do know that all the orchards around us are irrigated, we have torrential rain, sun with no mercy at times and they are fertilised and sprayed for insects regularly, much to our dismay.

Therefore, I cannot comment on how they are grown in the UK but I do know several GC members are being successful to a certain extent.

In the meantime, this article may be of use to both of you, it is one I have printed out for my benefit ...

http://ag.arizona.edu/gardening/news/azdailystar/citrus_problems_summer.htm

Good luck to you both.

 

Hi John, contrary to popular belief,(so it seems) I am no way expert at growing citrus.
I only consider sucsess, to be, to actually grow edible fruit, something I have done in the past but not on a regular basis.
Firstly, I'm suprised your lime has survived outside all that time as its considered to be about the most tender of the citruses as far as I know.
When grown in pots I always find that there is a lot of yellowing of leaves and droping of those leaves, in my case usually in winter.
I think its magnesium deficiency, so epsom salts helps if added when watering.
Red spider mite also causes the leaves to yellow and fall, along with scale insect, this, (scale insect), is given away by the leaves becoming sticky and black sooty mould.
If you can find a good warm spot outside to grow them, then I would plant them in the ground, that way they are almost totally problem free, apart from hard frost of course.
If you overwater a plant and want to dry it out a bit, try putting the pot on a couple of news papers, they act like blotting paper as long as they are in contact with the compost and draw the moisture out from the bottom, like capillary matting in reverse.

 

Thanks, Pete, for that website.

The article says that the yellowing of leaves on citrus during the summer can be a result of a deficiency of either iron or nitrogen. Well, a week ago, thinking just that, that an iron deficiency might be the problem, I watered the tree with chelated iron so there is no point in doing that again.

I looked for, and found, a packet of Phostrogen, which, because it is high in nitrogen, claims to be good for foliage, so I have, nervously, given the lime tree a small measure (about a pint) of the correct strength of Phostrogen mixture in the hope that this will help and that the tree will show some improvement. I didn�t want to give the tree too much water as I think that over-watering may have caused the problem in the first place!

Most of the leaves on the lime have now dropped off and it looks very sad but the soil had, before I gave it today�s treatment, dried out, reasonably well due to being out in the full sun.

I can only wait, now! At least the lime fruit is still on the tree even if the latter only has about a dozen yellow leaves ââ?¬â?? about to drop off!

Thanks for your help. I�m very grateful! I've copied the complete article and have printed a copy off for future reference!

Regards

John

 

Sorry! I seem to have thanked the wrong person!

I flicked through the posts, saw the web address, then, scrolling down too far, saw the name, Pete. I went to the site and was so delighted by what I read, that I treated my tree and, then, thanked the wrong person!

I don't have senior moments, I have senior days - about eight every week!

I now apologise to, and thank, all - John who I referred to as "Sarraceniac", "Lady of Leisure" whose name I don't know, and Pete.

Pete, I have a packet of Epson Salts ready, just in case the Phostrogen doesn't work because it's magnesium deficiency and not nitrogen - that's if tthe tree survives my latest treatment!

I am very grateful for all of your efforts!

Regards,

John