Author Topic: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves  (Read 1779 times)

Lory

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Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« on: July 31, 2018, 04:13:51 AM »
This is one of my ponderosa lemon trees.
It's 4 years old from a small cutting and now planted in "soil" and producing  plenty of juicy lemons all year round.
This variety seems perfectly adapted to the hot tropical climate of the philippines unlike other varieties i've here.





Apart from an evident zinc deficiency (that I'm trying to correct with Zinc sulphate solution spraying) this tree has never given any problem.
Nevertheless, lately i noticed that somethig strange is happening.
Some branches have weird "leaning" leaves with a wilted appearence.
I looked out for worms/borers, parasites but i couldn't spot anything.
In some pictures it's evident the difference between the upright normal leaves and the  sick ones.
Any suggestion?
Thanks in advance!








Lorenzo

brian

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2018, 12:23:15 PM »
They look normal to me.

Lory

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2018, 09:00:20 PM »
No Brian they are not. Look at the last picture and compare them to the normal ones very "fresh" and pointing upwards.
These ones look "sad" and even at the touch it seems they are lacking water....bad sign since the tree is well hydrated...
Lorenzo

Millet

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2018, 09:31:36 PM »
Lory nice seeing you on the forum again.  Question, are the leaves of concern from a newer flush? New growth leaves have a higher transpiration rate than mature leaves, thus loose water to the atmosphere at a higher rate.  What daytime temperatures occur at this time of year in your area. 

Lory

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2018, 02:41:04 AM »
Thank you Millet! I'm always here learning drops of wisedom from this forum.
Actually they are mature leaves. Temperature are always in the range 26-32 °C (79-90 F) in this period.
What worries me most is that just some branches exhibit these strange leaves. 95% of the tree branches  have happy upright crunchy leaves only a few of them have these wilting ones...
Lorenzo

SoCal2warm

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2018, 01:49:54 PM »
It probably has something to do with heat or water stress, it could have something to do with a root issue, perhaps some root rot from overwatering in the past, or it could even be an early warning sign that there might be some disease in the roots (there's nothing really you can do about that).

I would just try to make sure your watering habits are good.

Lory

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Re: Ponderosa lemon strange leaning leaves
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2018, 09:04:27 PM »
Watering is OK but I start to fear that it's something connected with root water uptake too....hopefully not root rot, nematodes  or similar
Lorenzo