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Messages - incubator01

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26
Citrus General Discussion / Re: sunburn from led lights?
« on: May 01, 2022, 07:08:02 AM »
I suppose that sunburn can occur due to two reasons.

I still think they died from too much nutrition like Millet said, the kaffir lime seedlings i planted in august (that I mentioned 1 posts ago) still live, though they haven't grown much yet, they are now starting, but a month ago I thought it'd be a good idea and give them a thinned out version of nutrition and root booster, I saw the same leaf damage appear not long after and some leaves were lost. But new strong vibrant green ones are growing back. These kaffir seedlings have been under a LED all winter btw.

Ever since I'm very careful with feeding seedlings, and nutrition in general.

But you did forget to add your "two reasons" so your post was incomplete

27
Citrus General Discussion / Re: large brown spots on kumquat leaves
« on: March 30, 2022, 11:55:12 AM »
Can't be sunburn because it had this even in the winter, and we are now having spring sun.
When I gently (not deeply) sprayed the roots they still looked bright yellow.
I am starting to think there's a fungus at work but again, I'm unsure :(
I did notice more parts of branches turning brown which does indicate lower parts of the soil may still be too moist, or he's dying slowly.
A shame since this is a tree with a thick trunk that was delivered last year in a 44cm diameter pot, but at the root flare I did notice some vertical cut (damage or crack) in the the bark, maybe this introduced a fungus.

For now all I can do is wait and trim down everything that turns brown. I could always intermediate spray with an anti fungal product but since there are no more leaves I don't know if it'll work.

28
Citrus General Discussion / large brown spots on kumquat leaves
« on: March 29, 2022, 07:08:33 AM »
I have a very large kumquat tree since last year (spring) and after a few months it started to lose leaves, first green ones, then some started showing brown spots. Despite all this it survived the winter and since its pot was too big anyway I transplanted it into full soil (mixed with peat and pine bark) in my greenhouse since my citrus do better there.
Currently the soil is medium-dry (definitely not wet), I watered it one week ago.

But it is now losing all of its leaves, most with the brown spots.
It's a fortunella reale kumquat grafted on volkamerian rootstock.
Included are images of the leaves, I don't know what this is, overwatering would be weird since I watered sparingly during the winter. At first I thought it was Citrus Alternaria Brown Spot but those spots look different.





29
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Meyers Lemon Tree
« on: November 14, 2021, 05:23:45 PM »
and besides that fact, keep in mind that not all of the leaves will restore to green, once a leaf hits yellow there's a certain time window until it reaches a point of no return.
So once you fertilize as previously mentioned, you should see a portion of leaves change color and some not, but all the new growth should have a better color, if not, you're still not giving enough or the wrong fertilizer.

30
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: yellow branches on poncirus
« on: October 15, 2021, 05:33:25 PM »
Yellow twigs are a sign of some kind of lack of nutrients.

shouldn't be since it's been fed in september with a proper slow release fertilizer I use on all my citrus. And this is the last time until march that it got food since the cold is coming.
So far no other branches turned yellow, plant is showing nice autumn leaf colors and simply needs a watering tomorrow.

31
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: yellow branches on poncirus
« on: October 11, 2021, 12:35:54 AM »
It is now getting close to the middle of October.  Some leaves on my trifoliate are turning yellow.  It is normal at this time of year.

For the leaves i understand but i didn't know thin branches would turn yellow too.
I thought only leaves would be affected.

32
Cold Hardy Citrus / yellow branches on poncirus
« on: October 10, 2021, 05:00:34 PM »
So, I am aware the poncirus trifoliate is deciduous and will lose its leaves in autumn, mine is doing so, but some branches on the lower end of the trunk (thin branches) turned completely yellow.
Is this also normal within the deciduous  phase or not? I pruned them off since they were not needed anyway but I haven't watered it in a week, and last week I watered it a bit according to winter regime, my other plants in the same soil do fine so this one's a bit of an oddball.

33
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Yuzu Leaf Diagnosis - Hypopigmentation?
« on: October 02, 2021, 06:15:31 AM »
the back of that leaf certainly has a lot of dark dots, if it's not dirt, it could be bugs? (mites, aphids?)
Try spraying the back of those leaves with water so they're clean and see if it gets worse or the spots come back. If so you may need some neem oil based product.

Indoors many plants get insects because it's a lot warmer there, I had armored scale in january once on a kaffir lime, it was terrible :( there was a whole colony on every branch.

34
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Trying A New Growth Medium
« on: October 02, 2021, 06:06:02 AM »
I too have been using this potting soil for 7 weeks now, even transplanted a young meyer in it and it is (so far) not showing any stress at all.
The others had a bigger root ball and were much more difficult to remove the old clay soil from so they suffered more stress but they recovered and stabilized.
I even put succulents in it and they love it too.

So i'm very happy with this mix, it does drain really well and dries out better, does not form hard lumps etc.
I'm anxious for spring now :)

35
Citrus General Discussion / Re: repotting a young meyer in september?
« on: September 22, 2021, 02:47:26 AM »
Yeah i was indeed planning to soak it in a tub,/ bucket and gently removing the dirt with my fingers.
With bigger plants this won't work because the clay core is too dense.

36
Citrus General Discussion / Re: repotting a young meyer in september?
« on: September 21, 2021, 02:19:55 PM »
As a point of clarification citrus don't go dormant. Their growth does slow down, but not dormant. Over the years I have transplanted citrus during every time of the year.   About 95% of damage to a root system during transplanting is caused by the person doing the transplanting.  A careful, not rushed transplanting can be carried out at any time.

Well over here they call it "dormant" because our temperatures get a bit colder and they drink very little because there is much less sunlight and the days are shorter.
But anyway, it's true they do grow much slower :)
I'll try to be careful with the meyer, if the soil is loose enough I don't have to use a hose and give a gentle wash by hand instead, it's just that most citrus from italy are planted in very hard clay, they even admitted this had to be done for their climate, and is an annoyance when needing to change soil.

37
Citrus General Discussion / Re: sunburn from led lights?
« on: September 21, 2021, 02:15:21 PM »
I seriously doubt the slight damage to incubator's tree leaves was caused by LED lighting.  I agree the leaves show soluble salts damage from the fertilizer over supply.

And I too agree with your conclusion.
To try out I planted some kaffir lime seeds in the end of august, atm 2 seedlings are growing slowly but healthy and 2 are about to stick their heads out.
I did not feed them with anything at all yet, (so for one month now I watered with rain water without any kind of nutrients) and I used a soil of seeding soil mixed with some coco fiber.
They're doing very nice, good green leaves, tiny but healthy. and I put them under 14h of LED light, even placed a second one next to it to cover larger area, no problems at all.
With the kumquat seedlings and even with some adult citrus I admit I probably gave too much food and that caused this issue.

So I will wait with giving nutrients until they grow 3 pairs of true leaves and then I start with liquid fertilizer, but one that is on the weak side, because if I give a strong one right away I might kill them again.

38
Citrus General Discussion / repotting a young meyer in september?
« on: September 21, 2021, 08:34:35 AM »
So I am getting a meyer this week, grafted on carizzo rootstock.
I know the soil will contain heavy clay or dark moisture holding soil, thing is, it's already getting a bit colder and citrus are getting dormant here.
Can I still wash out the clay soil from the roots or is this too late in the year for such a stressful act, (its in a 14cm pot so it's still young) and replace the soil with proper draining soil? Or should I leave things until spring and water very little every 2 weeks?

39
Citrus General Discussion / Re: how to rescue heavily stressed citrus trees?
« on: September 09, 2021, 10:58:38 AM »
From reports that I have read by growers using a 50/50 Turface-MV and peat, and growers using the 5-1-1 mix are having success.  I presently have all my container trees growing in the 5-1-1 mix.  However, just yesterday I purchased a 50- lb. bag of Turface-MVP and will be planting a Ginger Lime in the 50/50 Turface/peat mix for evaluation.  I've hear good reports on that blend.

So did I here in this forum from other users, that is why I planted these kaffir limes in the 50/50 Turface and peat mix. For now they're still in shade and until they're not recovering I do not put them in the sun.
How many weeks does it usually take untill they recover from transplant shock?
Do note that I washed the clay off the roots with a hose, even though I saw no roots being damaged, the very fine roots might have been.

40
Citrus General Discussion / Re: how to rescue heavily stressed citrus trees?
« on: September 09, 2021, 02:33:29 AM »
Incubator like I wrote above, the damage you see in your twisted leaves, was done long ago when the flush was still new young tender leaves.  Now that they have  matured into firm dark green leaves, you do not have to worry about thrip damage.  You leaves will remain in their twisted present condition for the rest of their lives (citrus leaves have a life spay of 18 to 24 months).  However if the next flush is properly taken care of they will develop just fine.

As to leaves falling at the slightest touch, the problem is in the container

Well I'm clueless then.
I tried every soil mix of which this one seemed best, but if this one is also considered bad then I'm just dumping the next one in plain universal potting soil which seems to work well with my aunt...
I'm tired of trying to do the right thing and losing the fight over and over again.

When i flushed the roots, all clay was gone, so no obstruction is left. The roots looked healthy yellow/ golden.


41
Citrus General Discussion / Re: how to rescue heavily stressed citrus trees?
« on: September 08, 2021, 06:10:12 PM »
The problem is that even touching, spraying will cause some leaves to drop as well, even healthy looking ones.

42
Citrus General Discussion / Re: how to rescue heavily stressed citrus trees?
« on: September 08, 2021, 05:16:42 PM »
The tangled leaves certainly show symptoms of insect damage most likely done when they were young tender new leaves.  The damage was probably done by an insect called a thrip.  Thrip pierce the leaf surface and suck out the internal juices.  After the new leaves firm up thrips will not harm them much.  To keep young leaves from this harm, spray all new flushes with a horticultural oil/water solution (40 grams HO/gallon water) in the morning ,every two days.  Doing this the leaves grown into healthy firm foliage.  One could also use a soap solution or a neem solution,.

Well shortly after it was transplanted I did spray it with a neem + soap based product against insects, but only once. however it did not seem to help much.
As I said, the plant already looked in poor shape upon arrival but like with the pursha, the seller claims it'll be fine.
I find it a shame to pay 90 EUR for a plant that is unhealthy, they have all the equipment to keep them in good health and they did spray something on it but apparently too late.

All the leaves that fell off, both dried out and fresh ones had no insects on it though, and thrips are those tiny green bugs so I should have noticed them before because last year I saw them on my pepper plants.

The thing is that it's not just new leaves that fall off, bigger ones too. even 2 fruits fell off today :(

43
Citrus General Discussion / how to rescue heavily stressed citrus trees?
« on: September 08, 2021, 12:50:41 PM »
So in my previous topic I already mentioned oscar tintori sending me an overwatered pursha, by now it dropped most of its leaves but it's stable.
However their kaffir limes (one in a 20cm pot and one in a 30 cm pot) also had signs of overwatering but not as bad, however after repotting they got so stressed they dropped a lot of leaves and  some fruit and most of their leaves looked weird from the start, kinda like they were malformed.
pictures:







I did the following when these arrived, unboxed, let them settle in hte shade for a few days, repotted in a half peat half turface soil mix which drains really well and is good aerated, then put it against a wall that has the morning sun only, so they get 6 hours of sun but not the warmer afternoon sun, just about untill 13:00h

however at first it was kinda cloudy anyway so they could easily get used to it. Despite not being hit by hot sun yet, they started dropping a lot of leaves, and I only watered them once until the water started dripping out (happened very soon so that was good), the soil is still moist enough, I fed them like  I was told to but something in these branches looks off, is it me or is this tree afflicted with dying branches? the roots looked fine though, when I washed them out they were light in color.
I know Italy has had a heat wave so I'm aware they must have been under a lot of stress there but I really wish I knew how I can prevent these from dying.
Currently we're having a very hot sunny day so I did put them in the shade because that would do a lot of damage. Misting them with rain water doesn't help in revitalizing the leaves either :(

Especially now that autumn is approaching, they'll become dormant in october/november but if they're not doing well this usually means they won't survive.

I'm kinda at a loss here.
The only plant that is doing extremely well and had no stress at all was the poncirus I ordered from them, didn't drop a single leaf at all and has beautiful branches :3

44
Citrus General Discussion / Re: reduced quality from purchased plants
« on: August 31, 2021, 03:31:54 AM »
It arrived in a rectangular cardboard box, the pot (30cm wide) was wrapped in plastic foil to preserve moisture in the soil, it arrived on time so shipping delays were not a contributing factor. It came out of the box this yellow, and had no broken branches.
It is in a shelter out of the wind, out of rain and out of sun, it was moderately watered in a well draining soil (mix of 50/50 peat based universal soil and turface) , the pot has additional drainage holes and feet for excellent water drainage, when watering it drips out already after 3 - 5 seconds. As tintori asked me to do I applied  fertilizer (liquid in this case, slow release once it every should stabilize). The liquid one is sunplant citrus which has no ballast salts.

But regardless they're trying to shove the responsibility in my shoes, and I don't like that.
Instead of receivigng this:



I now have this:












After a week and a half of arriving.

Their latest reply to this was:
"We saw your pictures. Pursha plants, with a little stress, can loose leaves and show signs of sufferings. In this case, transport and repotting can have brought to this situation but please let's wait a little. Prune the branches where needed and water when necessary.
In a short time you will see that plant will get better."

This is only valid for warm countries. As of now, Belgium's citrus will enter sleep mode soon, so no recovery is possible.
I'll do what he says but at this rate I've seen them dying over and over again.

45
Citrus General Discussion / Re: reduced quality from purchased plants
« on: August 30, 2021, 12:07:59 PM »
worst part is that most of the pursha's leaves are already turning completely yellow and are falling off in large numbers.
I contacted oscar tintori about this but they stick to their claim they shipped the plant in good health and that the plant will recover.
As i see it withering and dying every day I no longer believe this and am very disappointed in this response.
This is also the first time I was sold such a badly taken care of plant but it does no credit to their reputation.

The other 2 kaffir lime's are stable, they only lost a few leaves that were in bad condition but nothing to be worried about, transplant stress is normal but not like what the pursha is going through.

46
Citrus General Discussion / reduced quality from purchased plants
« on: August 26, 2021, 01:31:59 PM »
So recently I bought a new Pursha lime and a kaffir lime to replace my old ones, from oscar tintori. Since they usually deliver very nice plants I was dissappointed when I found the pursha in a box with the fruit that fell off , rotting with mold, the leaves curled inside and looking sad, yellowish too (from overwatering), they sprayed the plant with something white dusty because I could wipe it with my fingers from the leaves.
Suffice to say I hope this one makes it because I found a whool lice on it when unboxing and have been treating it.





Then a kaffir lime with a branch that can't hold it's own weight, leaves that look "melted", even found aphids on them one week later, also having leaves that looked yellow and readily came loose.



For them they probably think it's no problem and these plants will get through it but with my misfortune, they're currently planted in a nice mix of 50% universal peat based potting soil, 10% pumice and 40% turface. Drains wonderfully fast and is well aerated. But if a new plant already starts losing leaves when I get it within the first week I get worried :(
Pot size is correct, the pursha was purchased in a 30cm diameter pot and is now in a 40cm diameter pot, they confirmed to me this was no problem. The kaffir is a smaller plant (sold in 22cm diameter pot and repotted into a 30cm pot)
Both plants have light colored healthy looking roots, I washed them out completely to get rid of the clay and garden soil with the hose and their pot size they were sold in was definitely getting too small.
now that autumn is coming, they'll enter hibernation mode soon so that is why I am worried :(

PS: terracotta pots have elevation, I put some rubber feet under them and a mesh over the drainage hole so water can flow away freely.

47
Citrus General Discussion / Re: germinate seeds in coco coir
« on: August 17, 2021, 09:56:55 AM »
I do think I'm going to mix the coco fibers with seeding soil instead of using it pure, seems likethat may prove better.

But the youtube videos that mention rooting citrus cuttings in coco fiber/peat is much better, is that a true fact or is there something they forget to tell?
Because my cuttings take ages to root.
I use rooting hormones, a special rooting hormone mist spray, indirect sunlight, seeding soil atm and plastic foil to maintain moisture levels and of course a warm environment.
(sorry this second part should probably belong in a different topic but it's the last thing i swear :) )

48
Citrus General Discussion / Re: germinate seeds in coco coir
« on: August 16, 2021, 07:44:02 AM »
Personally I use 33 % coir and 67 % coarse sand for seed raising.

"And since it's poncirus I cannot add Ca, it doesn't tolerate it."
I'm not sure I would go as far as that, I don't think it's anything like an acid loving plant. I think it can handle normal pH range.

It's not about the pH , its more that poncirus itself cannot tolerate calcium, I found this on an article and was told before by other citrus growers. I could kill the poncirus by adding calcium frequently.

49
Citrus General Discussion / Re: germinate seeds in coco coir
« on: August 16, 2021, 04:42:29 AM »
hmm, well I want to grow poncirus rootstock seeds and since i read an article coco peat was used more for faster seed growing, i though why not.
But by the sound of it it doesn't seem to be such a wise idea, so maybe i'll do part of them with that and part of them with traditional seeding soil.
I was going to use fine coco peat that is compressed into large bricks that I have to soak in water and end up with 10 liter of coco peat or so.
I do know this medium is great for rooting citrus cuttings so that's why it peaked my interest for seedlings too.
And since it's poncirus I cannot add Ca, it doesn't tolerate it.

50
Citrus General Discussion / germinate seeds in coco coir
« on: August 13, 2021, 10:52:52 AM »
Since coco coir (or coco peat) is used frequently for rooting citrus cuttings, I was wondering if this medium can be used as well to germinate citrus seeds, instead of using traditional seeding soil. The reason I would like to switch is because apparently the coco peat allows for much better root development, aeration etc though once the seedling is developed enough I will repot it in a different mix, I just wanted to know if it is good for germinating seedlings and growing them there the first few (2 - 3) months.

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