Lemon Meyer

[Jme]

I got a lemon tree a few months ago as a gift. It's potted as it will not survive winters where I live. It's watered once to twice a week depending on soil moisture. It sits in a South facing window and has a grow light above it for supplemental light on dreary days. It has flowered and set some fruit... Now, it's turning Chlorotic. I fertilized it with Jobe's Organic Fruit and Nut Fertilizer (my dogs may have eaten some of the fertilizer out of the pot since it's granular and smells like cat food)... I have a citrus fertilizer for the micro nutrients that I can use as a foliar spray but haven't done such yet. Does anyone have any idea of what's going on with my lemon? The cholorsis seemed to have happened within the span of a few days. Any tips would be much appreciated.

 

[Chuck]

I got a lemon tree a few months ago as a gift. It's potted as it will not survive winters where I live. It's watered once to twice a week depending on soil moisture. It sits in a South facing window and has a grow light above it for supplemental light on dreary days. It has flowered and set some fruit... Now, it's turning Chlorotic. I fertilized it with Jobe's Organic Fruit and Nut Fertilizer (my dogs may have eaten some of the fertilizer out of the pot since it's granular and smells like cat food)... I have a citrus fertilizer for the micro nutrients that I can use as a foliar spray but haven't done such yet. Does anyone have any idea of what's going on with my lemon? The cholorsis seemed to have happened within the span of a few days. Any tips would be much appreciated.

That looks like an iron deficiency. Get some chelated iron. I am pretty sure it isn't NPK related. I would use both the foliar that you have plus the iron chelate. This will not be an overnight fix.

 

[Jme]

Thanks Chuck! I will further research on how to treat an iron deficiency to make sure I apply the iron correctly and often enough without burning the tree.

 

[Jme]

Upon further inspection, I noticed a few small webs on the underside of some leaves... I put my tree out on my porch ONE TIME on a sunny day for a few hours, which is probably how it got the mites. Can spider mites cause this type of damage to a tree? Thus far, I've sprayed and wiped the leaves down with water. I also watered the plant a little earlier than I normally would in case they moved down to the soil. How hard are these things to get rid of?

 

[Chuck]

They aren't spider mites leaving the webs. That is a mineral (iron) or less likely a nitrogen deficiency.

 

[Jme]

I will continue to treat for iron deficiency, but I did see webs on the plant as well. It's hard to see the webbing with the lighting, but there's tiny dots entwined in it. Might have to zoom to see it.

 

[Chuck]

I will continue to treat for iron deficiency, but I did see webs on the plant as well. It's hard to see the webbing with the lighting, but there's tiny dots entwined in it. Might have to zoom to see it.

There are a lot of spider mites on a plant before they start making webs. They start at the bottom of the plant and go up. On the bottom side of the leaf there will be sucking and biting damage. Pull off a leaf with webs attached. Get a piece of white paper and thump the leaf so as to make the insects fall onto the paper. If anything shows it may be mites. It is probably something else. But, to kill whatever it is spray with Neem Oil every 6-8 days. If there is no sign of sucking, biting or chewing on the leaves it is a mineral deficiency.

 

[Jme]

I gave it a foliar spray for the trace minerals today. I used some tissues to wipe the underside of leaves. Discovered some crawlers and yellow smear marks on the tissues. Sprayed it down with Neem Oil yesterday.