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Messages - skippitydodah

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Thanks Millet. I am familiar with the "mosquito bits." That is what I used on my blueberry bush. Thank you for the reply. I'm still wondering if there would be any benefit to shredding up some pine bark mulch and adding that to my Lemon tree soil. A lot of good organic material there as it breaks down in the soil. I will figure something out.  :)

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Thanks for the response Brian. No the lemon has not put out new leaves. I'm going to take your advice and leave well enough alone. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

The blueberry bush is potted but it is still outdoors, albeit in a garage. The fungus gnat issue was with the blueberry bush back in the summer/fall. I don't want to move soil from it to the lemon. I was wondering about mulch. I used pine bark mulch on the blueberry back in the summer/fall and wound up with the gnats. I suspect they came from the mulch. That's why I am concerned about mixing some of the pine bark mulch into the lemon soil. I don't want to introduce a bug problem to the lemon tree.

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Citrus General Discussion / Two questions regarding my Meyer Lemon tree
« on: January 26, 2021, 08:10:09 PM »
Hello everyone from Illinois. It's midwinter here. We just got about 12" of snow last night into today. I hope you all are staying warm.  :)

My Meyer lemon tree is doing well. I've been alternating it between a south window and using a grow light. I also have a heating pad wrapped around half the pot to keep the roots warm. My question is fertilizer. I have been watering the tree once every two weeks and I use a very small amount of Jacks Citrus Feed on it. Actually 1/2 of a quarter teaspoon, so it is a very small amount. The tree has about a dozen buds right now. Should I keep doing what I'm doing or should I increase the fertilizer?

My second question is regarding mulch. Back in the summer I picked up some nice organic pine bark mulch. I did not use it on the Meyer Lemon but I did use some on my blueberry bush. The problem is after putting mulch on the blueberry bush I wound up with an infestation of fungus gnats. It might be coincidence, but before I used the mulch I had no insect problems. I would like to grind up some of the pine bark mulch and mix it into the soil of the Meyer Lemon but I'm concerned about introducing bugs.

How can I go about doing that without worrying about introducing bugs into my Lemon tree soil? Is it possible to boil the mulch first without destroying it? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Meyer lemon tree-yellowing leaves
« on: December 26, 2020, 08:35:37 PM »
skippity, there is nothing to worry about.  The yellowish leaves are just old leaves that have outlived their lives.  They are turning yellow because the tree is removing nutrients from the leaves to reuse in other sections of the tree, nothing is wasted, then the leaves will be discarded.  A citrus leaf has a life span of approximately 18 months. When a leaf can no longer fulfil all that is required of it, it is quickly discarded. There is no welfare plan for old citrus leaves.

Hi Millet. Thank you for your response. I am a newbie when it comes to growing a lemon tree. I'm glad to hear that it isn't a problem. On we go... :)

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Citrus General Discussion / Meyer lemon tree-yellowing leaves
« on: December 26, 2020, 12:35:16 PM »
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum. I hope this is the right place to post this.

I have a potted Meyer Lemon tree that is one year old. I live in the state of Illinois in the U.S. I had the tree outdoors all summer and moved it inside about 1-1/2 months ago as it is winter here. The tree is planted in espoma organic potting soil with a fair amount of sand mixed in. I have good drainage. I have been watering the tree approximately once every week and half. I use a moisture meter and only water it when the top 4" of soil read 3 to 4 on the meter. The tree did drop about half of it's leaves over the last month but it did the same thing last year so I wasn't too concerned. I did re-pot the tree about 2 months ago as it had grown quite a bit over the summer. Back in September the tree had flowers and two lemons which never did turn yellow so I removed them after I moved the tree inside.

Right now the tree has flowers coming in. I have been using Jacks Citrus Feed for the last year with good results. Now in the winter I am using it more lightly than i did in the summertime.

My concern is yellow leaves. I am attaching photos of the leaves. I tested the PH and it was 6.5-7.0. Any suggestions as to my problem? My thanks to you for any help.








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