Help with my lemon tree

[Nicholas Taylor]

Hi,

FIrst post here. I have a lemon tree that is around 9 months old. It's a graft and was in perfectly good health when I bought it. I planted it in my yard in San Diego with some good potting soil and a lot of citrus food. I have it hooked up to irrigation so it gets water every day. I've given it citrus food about 3 or 4 times since i've had it. I've also sprayed it with a copper based fungicide and an AzaMax solution about 2-3 times each but the leaves continue to yellow and some go brown at the edges. It's still alive and is producing fruit and has some new leaves in the last few weeks. However, every time a new leaf grows, it yellows quickly and curls up. Can someone help me identify what is attacking the plant. Thanks in advance.

 

[Chuck]

Hi,

FIrst post here. I have a lemon tree that is around 9 months old. It's a graft and was in perfectly good health when I bought it. I planted it in my yard in San Diego with some good potting soil and a lot of citrus food. I have it hooked up to irrigation so it gets water every day. I've given it citrus food about 3 or 4 times since i've had it. I've also sprayed it with a copper based fungicide and an AzaMax solution about 2-3 times each but the leaves continue to yellow and some go brown at the edges. It's still alive and is producing fruit and has some new leaves in the last few weeks. However, every time a new leaf grows, it yellows quickly and curls up. Can someone help me identify what is attacking the plant. Thanks in advance.

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That is an iron or manganese deficiency. If the veins were yellow and the rest of the leaf were green it would be a nitrogen deficiency. Also, low temperatures can cause a similar problem but I am sure this is a mineral deficiency of either iron or magnesium or maybe both. It is probably an iron problem. Go get come chelated iron and kelp meal. These two products will cure the problem.

 

[Nicholas Taylor]

Thanks very much. Will give it a try.

 

[roadrunner]

I would also NOT water it ever day; you're probably leaching a lot of the nutrients away from the tree.

 

[Chuck]

I'd overlooked you saying you watered every day. @roadrunner is 100% correct. You are not probably leaching nutrients away, you are definitely leaching nutrients away. Packaged citrus food is OK but not great. You would be much better off using an organic pelleted manure based fertilizer. Citrus doesn't need a lot of fertilizer. A good feeding in the beginning of fall and another at the beginning of spring is all you really need. However, watering is your main issue. When you water saturate the plant. Do a very slow steady stream of water and do it long enough to completely saturate all of the soil, extending to just past the drip line of the plant. Water again when the soil is DRY, about 3 inches in your case. It will probably take close to 2 weeks, depending on the soil, before you have to water again. Just remember that you cannot overwater a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often. That brown on the leaves is caused by watering too often and not letting the roots have enough oxygen.

 

[Nicholas Taylor]

Great feedback. Very helpful. Thanks again.