Lemon tree in Trouble

[sanzfrancisco]

I've had this Meyer lemon tree for three years, and I've never seen it like this. I can find no insects, no suspicious marks on the leaves; at first I thought I over watered, then maybe hadn't watered enough. I'd been fertilizing the tree maybe once every three months with citrus food.
I have no idea what to do. Can someone help?? (Sorry, seems I posted the first image many times!?!?)

 

[Corzhens]

It looks like we have the same problem. One of our lemon trees had died. First, it developed yellow leaves and then the leaves turned brown and the stems dried. As per our investigation, there is a pest, small insects that appear to be borers because the stems have pinholes. Fortunately the other lemon trees are not contaminated.

 

[zigs]

Could be a virus, not sure what to do other than feed it & hope it recovers

 

[Chuck]

This looks like at one time the tree was watered too often and/or there was a big temperature change. If it were mine I would treat it with SuperThrive and heavily mulch the base of the tree out to the drip line.

 

[IcyBC]

Do what Chuck said, LOL..My first thought was the base of the tree is not protected and it seems like it is dried. With mulch, it probably can retain some moisture and hopefully you can revive it.

 

[ChanellG]

This looks like at one time the tree was watered too often and/or there was a big temperature change. If it were mine I would treat it with SuperThrive and heavily mulch the base of the tree out to the drip line.

Chuck, how often do you use SuperThrive for your plants? Do you use it as foliar spray? I bought some to try, but I sprayed once and haven't kept it up. I still haven't adjusted to working so many hours and the garden occasionally suffers from lack of attention :-(

 

[Chuck]

Chuck, how often do you use SuperThrive for your plants? Do you use it as foliar spray? I bought some to try, but I sprayed once and haven't kept it up. I still haven't adjusted to working so many hours and the garden occasionally suffers from lack of attention :-(

I only use it as a last resort on important plants. I have seen this stuff literally bring back to life a tree I thought was dead. Many commercial growers use it as a routine and swear it makes for an improved crop. It is a synthetic vitamin which to me screams chemicals which is why I seldom use it but when I have it has always been as a soil drench. The last time I personally used it was on one of my peach trees 3 years ago when a porcupine ate most of the bark from the trunk. I thought it was dead. All of the leaves shriveled up, turned brown and stayed on the tree. With nothing to lose I used ST and it worked. I had a good crop from that tree this year

 

[gata montes]

I've had this Meyer lemon tree for three years, and I've never seen it like this. I can find no insects, no suspicious marks on the leaves; at first I thought I over watered, then maybe hadn't watered enough. I'd been fertilizing the tree maybe once every three months with citrus food.
I have no idea what to do. Can someone help??

As a grower of almost every kind of citrus tree and on looking at your photos - have to say that - as there are a number of reasons - as to why lemon trees can look exactly like yours - its going to be difficult to say exactly what the problem is - particularly as - it could be due to any of the following

not getting enough sun
the environment is too cool
fluctuating temperatures
too much water
too much moisture - in terms of humidity
too much fertilizer - especially as lemon trees generally do best when lightly fertilized with a potassium rich fertilizer - once a year -preferably in early spring
lack of Magnesium
or even – as they are evergreen – when they are in the process of discarding their old leaves for new ones

- as all of the above - apart from the latter - can all generally easily be rectified with a light dose of Epsom salts - I would be more inclined to suggest trying that first - as well as cut back on the fertilizer - before trying any of the alternatives – especially as its never failed yet

 

[sanzfrancisco]

Thank you gata montes. I will definitely try the epsom salts. Can you give me an approximate dilution for it?
My tree get lots of sun, and it this may be part of the problem. San Francisco, (along with many other places,) has just experienced the warmest year ever. I was born here, and have lived here all my life. It's rather amazing.

janice

 

[gata montes]

My pleasure janice and yes - as your lemon tree sounds to have been experiencing very similar conditions to the ones where I live - which after well over 3 months of temperatures hovering around the 50 C mark are now looking a bit sorry themselves - then yes the Epsom salts should very definitely do the trick.

So bearing in mind that using exact measurements has never been a strong point of mine and I usually top dress per square meter rather than water in - unless its a very young tree - which I do treat individually by watering in - as a rough guide - a small handful - which is probably the equivalent of 1.5 -2 tablespoons of Epsom salts per gallon of water usually does the trick - however if you find your tree hasn't fully recovered after 3 – 4 weeks - the problem is easily solved - by repeating the applications at 3 weekly intervals until it does - after which - a twice yearly top dressing of Epsom salts should keep your tree looking lush and green - as well as fruiting abundantly.

Oh and don't worry about the sunlight - lemon trees thrive on it - in fact the more intense and the longer they get it - the more they like it.

 

[sanzfrancisco]

Thanks so much, again. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me with this.

janice