Avocado and Citrus Trees Are Dying

[ferice]

It appears my avocado and citrus trees are dying? During the cold, I moved the citrus under the patio and cover the avocado. The citrus tree is dead, and the avocado does not look good at all. Can the avocado tree at least be saved?

 

[Bliss Danapr]

What temperature was it when you left them outside? If it was really cold (below 0°C) then they could have freezed to death. And when you covered the avocado, I'm sure it didn't help, you probably just made it worst by not letting any sunlight in but i'm not 100% sure

The best thing you can do for them is get them inside and keep them nice and warm. Avocado and citrus trees are able to grow indoors.
Also don't forget to water them really well
Good luck!

 

[ferice]

It's in the 80F during the day in Florida now, so they are getting plenty off warm and sunlight.

 

[Bliss Danapr]

It's in the 80F during the day in Florida now, so they are getting plenty off warm and sunlight.

Yeah that's pretty warm. Keep them outdoors and see what happens.

 

[ferice]

The avocado tree may survive, but I am not sure about the citrus.

 

[Bliss Danapr]

The avocado tree may survive, but I am not sure about the citrus.

A good way to check is to peal some bark off of the stem and check if it is green inside. If it is green then the tree is healthy and alive.

 

[Greenhorn]

The avocado looks like it has a drainage or excess moisture issue. Avocados are extremely drainage sensitive? Also I can't see that grass growing around it so close being good. Does the grass get watered or just natural water from rain?

What is the citrus, is it a dwarf to container compatible variety? If it were full of foliage that is a fairly large plant for such a small container. Also don't know what kind of citrus but the truck and lower section looks thin and spindly. To be honest the soil with the citrus looks a little damp or just dark.

What's the story, when did you buy them, where did you buy them, what are the specific varieties? How long has the avocado been in the ground.

 

[ferice]

The citrus is not a dwarf. It is a Meyers lemon tree. When I purchased it last year, the guy told me that I can keep it in the container. According to him, it can stay in the container and be fine unless I want the plant to get bigger. Then, I can use a bigger container or ground.
The avocado was purchase last year when Lowes had a plants sale. We did get quite a bit of rain approximately 2 months ado, but the plants was fine. It started to looked stressed when the cold started. I haven't install the speinkler, so it is only rain water at the moment.

 

[Greenhorn]

For the citrus I'm going to have to go with the fact it is not a dwarf and while citrus can be done in a container that container is too small for starters and it best to use dwarf for containers. If you slide it out (if you can) of the container I'm thinking it will be root bound. That little environment (container, soil, plant, moisture) just is not going to work for that plant.

https://fourwindsgrowers.com/tips-and-advice/growing-dwarf-citrus/in-containers.html


For the avocado have to go with drainage they are very finicky... Unless you low temps were low 30's or below. Hard to tell really as it is young small and kind of far gone. Did the issue start with brown tips and progress to brown leaves...

http://www.californiaavocadogrowers.com/cultural-management-library/avocado-root-health
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/530-27.pdf

 

[ChrisL]

I doubt cold was the problem for your citrus; it wasnt that cold this year. If you had fruit that might have ruined the crop, but killing the tree? Not so sure about that. I agree with Greenhorn, container too small for a healthy plant, even though it is possible to keep them in containers under the right conditions (especially water).

 

[sillylucy]

It looks like there is a little life in the one with the green in it. Try putting some coffee grounds on the soil and it might bounce back. I did that with my avocado tree when the leaves were wilting and now it is green 3 weeks later. Have you fertilized the soil? It might not be getting the nutrients it needs.

 

[Corzhens]

This is a sad thread. I understand that citrus is weak in cold places and avocado too because they are tropical plants (and trees). Our Chinese orange started fruiting last month and we were overjoyed because we planted it as decoration only and now it is going to give us fruits. And a week after the fruits came out, it started to wither and the leaves dried. Now it is completely dead and no one could explain the reason. We are currently having drought now but we are not remiss in irrigating our garden.