Author Topic: Is My citrus tree dying?  (Read 1806 times)

Slipup0621

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Is My citrus tree dying?
« on: February 27, 2020, 09:40:15 PM »
Long story short. I have a house in Puerto Rico n visit twice a year. I always prune my plants/trees once we see them getting out of control.  This specific citrus tree survived Hurricane Maria. EVEN THOUGHT  she fell we managed to make her stronger enough to stand on her own. This time I pruned her n the next day woke up to leaves turning Yellow n falling off with a touch of a breeze. Help, Before Maria she had ONE flower n never flowered since. Thisbis my baby n I'm in desperate need of advice. btw,  when the leaves fall off it looks like there's  another leaf growing.










brian

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #1 on: February 28, 2020, 09:52:43 AM »
When the leaves fall off leaving the "stub" (petiole) like in your second-from-last picture, it means the tree is very stressed.  I can't tell from what, though. 

Slipup0621

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #2 on: February 28, 2020, 10:21:20 AM »
Hey brian, thanks for ur response. addition to what was in my thread I also, pruned n added white wash to the places I pruned. I also noticed whiteflies n added soap water. (This was a few days in between).The yellow leaves are the only ones that seem to be falling off.  Sry to bombard you with all this.. hopefully this will help. DO U THIBK THE TREE WILL COME BACK? Did I do a little too much at once?

jtnguyen333

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2020, 11:49:01 AM »
I'm having the same problem.  I think it has something to do with overwatering and I didn't feed it very much last year.
Quote from: Slipup0621 ilink=topic=37285.msg379975#msg379975 date=1582903280
Hey brian, thanks for ur response. addition to what was in my thread I also, pruned n added white wash to the places I pruned. I also noticed whiteflies n added soap water. (This was a few days in between).The yellow leaves are the only ones that seem to be falling off.  Sry to bombard you with all this.. hopefully this will help. DO U THIBK THE TREE WILL COME BACK? Did I do a little too much at once?

brian

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #4 on: February 28, 2020, 02:09:13 PM »
How big/old is the tree?

Was it perfectly healthy before you pruned it?  Green leaves all over?

How long between pruning it and this leaf yellowing/drop?  Really overnight?  I don't think it is possible for leaves to yellow that fast.

Pruning shouldn't cause leaf yellowing, it doesn't make sense.  Usually this kind of thing is too much/not enough water, insect attack, root or trunk damage, or very severe mineral deficiency.  None of these happen overnight.

Once I killed a guava by spraying it with too high of a concentrate of petroleum oil, all the leaves blackened and fell off within a week or two.  You didn't mention spraying anything here.

Slipup0621

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #5 on: February 28, 2020, 05:31:07 PM »
Brian, this tree has to be about 6 years old. Like I said when hurricane Maria came it knocked her down. She was literally nothing. When we lifted her from the ground we noticed a white flower. Since then she hasn't done much. No flowers, pretty much nothing. This here, literally happened over night. We came here last friday. Tree was green with I say 10% lime green. We watered it and left it. We pruned her, white washed the limbs that we cut.. we also cut a limb next to her trunk that was dried out. Went to bed n the leaves were falling. So I touched one n it just fell.. my husband shook the tree n this is when I seen the nightmare.. one shook n she lost alot of leaves.. Now, the tree branches are  green. And there are still green leaves on it that are staying. I'm just so stressed.

brian

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2020, 07:58:58 PM »
I'm not sure what the cause could be from what you described.  However, if the lims remain green they should quickly push out new leaves.  Watch the "nodes" (small bumps) at the base of where the fallen leaves were attached.  This is where new growth will come from.  You will see a tiny swell, then grassy-looking tiny leaf buds, then they will expand into new full size leaves (sometimes the new leaves are undersized after stress, then next batch is normal size)


Slipup0621

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2020, 08:49:40 PM »
Brian,  my last picture shows what's left after the leaf falls off.  It looks as if new growth pushed the leaf already there off n that's what's lefted. These lil things that r on the tree r hard. Again, thanks

Jabba The Hutt

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #8 on: February 29, 2020, 12:50:44 AM »
If your tree is that old I would say just take some deep breathes!! My wife and I bought around 12 potted citrus trees and they have been vey stressed since we got them 6 months ago.

Almost all of them have lost the majority of leaves after completely yellowing, we waited it out and sure enough tons of new growth exploded from each as well as flowers and fruit. We have put over half of them in the ground now and are finishing off the rest in the next week or so.

Don't panic!  We say there's always hope as long as there is a root system still :P

Jabba The Hutt

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #9 on: February 29, 2020, 12:55:40 AM »
I forgot to mention, yellowing of a leaf indicates weakening/damage in that leaf so eventually it is going to shed whatever is weak. I see this all the time in general with ANY tree. Anytime there is even a minor burn/tear/discoloration/insect damage/etc... that leaf is going to be purged at some point, sooner rather than later so the tree doesn't have to expend energy on it. It'll just grow a bunch more in its place!!! ;)

Millet

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #10 on: February 29, 2020, 03:37:53 PM »
When the hurricane toppled over your tree, root damage occurred.  It will take some time for the roots to heal themselves.  Root damage is very common during hurricanes. especially for grafted trees.  Seedling tree produce very long and very deep tap roots, they survive hurricanes much better.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2020, 02:31:06 PM by Millet »

Slipup0621

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #11 on: March 01, 2020, 06:41:27 AM »
Yes, it was a grafted tree.  When we stood her up we had to support her with 2x4s. Everytime we came we would test to see if she was able to withstand her on her own. It wasnt until last Oct we were able to remove the wood.  She was also submerge in salt water for we had about 4ft of water on the property..  we lost every tree except for her. This is why shes sonspecial to me..

Bomand

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #12 on: March 01, 2020, 08:43:32 AM »
I can see why this tree has a value to you. Truth is it is lucky to have survived at all. The truth is that citrus trees are heavy feeders and require quite a bit of fertilize. A two year old tree requires several lbs of a complete fertilize several times a year. Most folks do not realize that in order to have a vibrant tree fertilize and good care are required. Sounds like you want your tree to be happy. Good luck.

Slipup0621

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Re: Is My citrus tree dying?
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2020, 11:07:14 PM »
Update: the lemon tree is doing well.. everything is green, including the branches. Thanks all for your input