Citrus looking unhappy after feed/water

[Glockdaeasy]

So my 4 year old lemon tree did something weird.

So last night I watered my lemon tree before bed and after I got home this evening I checked on my tree. It's leaves were going completely white, not yellow but white, then obviously falling off. I haven't done anything different with my watering/feed schedule, I did just add some compost tea but I usually do every couple of weeks. Although I have noticed that It has some iron toxicity because the grown has become very pointy. My nutrient dilution is pretty weak mostly because it's winter here and it's not growing so I feed 1 time every month. I must say I grew this tree from seed and I've been growing it for a number of years, I feel my schedule is pretty dialed in (obviously not). I'll attach 2 pictures. First one is before I watered it and the second is the next day.

You might notice the wire and that's there because I plan to bonsai this tree starting this summer growing season. Bonsai is stressful on a tree so I definitely can't do it before figuring this out.

 

[Marck]

What do you mean by saying the growth has become 'pointy'?
You mention iron toxicity which is not a usual toxicity problem with Citrus.

The leaves suggest a deficiency of Zinc and/or Manganese. I would fertilize lightly now with a complete liquid fertilizer (not just 'compost tea'), and more heavily in Spring when growth picks up. The leaves that already show damage will not improve. It will be the new growth that will look normal, if proper nutrition is achieved.

 

[Glockdaeasy]

I use floranova grow 7-4-10 at about 1/3 recommended strength. And I made a mistake I meant to say zinc deficiency. I read in a Florida state university columb that says a zinc deficiency can make the foliage pointy in shape and a distinct v shape to the chlorosis.

I thought that there could be an abundance of iron in the soil due to hard water that I use. I read that a iron buildup in the soil could cause a similar issue. Thanks for the reply. On a side not I ordered a citrus foliar spray and nutrients specific to citrus. I'll give that a try and see how it responds.

 

[Glockdaeasy]

A little update. I haven't changed my schedule and it seems to have an explosion of growth after most of the white leaves fell off. Strange behavior I guess we'll see what the new growth tells me.

 

[Marck]

So are you saying this happened without the addition of the foliar spray or any other fertilizer?

It will be interesting to see how this new growth develops.

 

[Glockdaeasy]

Actually I did add the foliar spray but other than that i haven't changed anything. I wasn't really expecting the spray to work I honestly think the product seems like snake oil lol but I've never used them before.

 

[Glockdaeasy]

So another update and added more pictures.

The new growth appears to show a lack of nitrogen and possibly zinc. I added a citrus mix about 4 weeks ago but I'm not really seeing an improvement, im not sure the lenth of time it takes for this fertilizer to become available to the plant the box doesn't say how available the nutrients are but my guess is seeing that its all organic it could take awhile to breakdown. On the flip side It's been in this same pot for about 3 years so it's more than likely root bound. I had already planned on repotting it but I need to wait until the summer growing season before I can do that.