Citrus tree leaf problem

[Ben1030]

I didn’t think the petiole staying on would be good as the dropped leaves were far from the oldest on the tree. How often would you suggest misting citrus?
Does citrus become any easier to manage in the winter as it ages? Would you recommend separate summer and winter feeds?
I can leave the window open throughout the day without a problem so hopefully they will benefit from that. I always water straight from the tap so will start leaving the water out on the windowsill to warm up first. Whenever I water the plants the water never pours out of the bottom, it’s always a slight trickle. Unless you think it would damage the plants I was thinking about buying some specific citrus compost and replacing as much as possible with the current compost. Hopefully all of the above will start to see nice green new growth. The plants are both showing a lot of new growth so far this season.

Thanks

Ben

[rustylady]

Having no garden I am unable to place them outside so they remain on a south facing windowsill all year round.

Thanks

Ben

Where are your apple trees growing if you have no garden?

[Ben1030]

Outside the front of the house detective :P. They are tall and large enough to receive sunlight and are quite heavy and cumbersome. The citrus would be in full shade and at risk of being taken by passers by. Id rather leave them the house.

[rustylady]

Outside the front of the house detective :P. They are tall and large enough to receive sunlight and are quite heavy and cumbersome. The citrus would be in full shade and at risk of being taken by passers by. Id rather leave them the house.

Not a detective, just curious as your posts didn't seem to match up

Round here they'd nick your fruit trees too.

[starloc]

I didn’t think the petiole staying on would be good as the dropped leaves were far from the oldest on the tree. How often would you suggest misting citrus?
Does citrus become any easier to manage in the winter as it ages? Would you recommend separate summer and winter feeds?
I can leave the window open throughout the day without a problem so hopefully they will benefit from that. I always water straight from the tap so will start leaving the water out on the windowsill to warm up first. Whenever I water the plants the water never pours out of the bottom, it’s always a slight trickle. Unless you think it would damage the plants I was thinking about buying some specific citrus compost and replacing as much as possible with the current compost. Hopefully all of the above will start to see nice green new growth. The plants are both showing a lot of new growth so far this season.

Thanks

Ben

Misting every day is fine, it wont change the leaves that are there usually but it should help them stay on the tree , but the new growth will benefit , watch you are not soaking the compost with the spray, you only need a light spray
As long as you make sure the compost drys out for about an inch depth between watering its probably as good as the citrus compost, citrus compost is usually very similar and not much better and the citrus composts i have seen do not drain well either
Leave the tree for now as the roots will be growing, be carefull not to over water it, water it by weight, only when the pot is dry as the bottom of the pot stays wetter and you want air in the roots, water when the pot feels light
When you decide to repot, its better to let it recover a bit first as the plants never like it, use something like the citrus compost, but add 50% bark chips for orchid growing to the compost, this makes a free draining compost

They do get easier to look after, as they get older , and far more resistant to cold, you can do all sorts of wierd ways to get them through the winter, You can put them in the dark in a freezing shed and they will be fine, put them in light and cold place and the leaves fall off, if there is strong light the roots must be warm, no strong light and cold and they will look ill till the spring
The thing you need to remember with most plants sold as decorative plants is they are grown to give a very short life, to look good with fruit on in a pot, they make them root bound and force them to flower and fruit when only young, the companies selling them do a dreadfull job of looking after them and often overwater them, they look great when you buy them and they often die very soon after , the buyer thinks they have killed them,
I have had so many from different suppliers and found If you get one from a specialist supplier or good quality new stock I have found they are very much easier to look after

[Ben1030]

I have removed the stones and let the compost get a good drying out. Just rewatered now with citrus feed. I made sure the water was at room temperature before with all excess water draining away. Some of the new leaf growth looks more like the dark green it should be so hopefully they are becoming a little happier. Still losing the odd leaf though.

Last year i let the compost dry out before watering but since the leaves went dry and curled over winter i slipped into the trap of watering more. I also added the stones!


Where do you place your citrus over the winter? My options are
1. South facing windowsill in downstairs room, away from radiator but with gas fire!
2. South facing windowsill in bedroom, located above a radiator
3. North facing windowsill in bedroom, located away form a radiator, coldest winter location

I came across your citrus collection while trawling through the forums, very impressive!

Thanks

Ben

[jessmorris]

My lemon tree leaves are hard and curled as well. When I first got it the leaves grew enormously and were 3 x the size of the original leaves. I since repotted it into citrus compost, and feed it only citrus feed. Its growing much more slowly now but flowers a lot and has 5 lemons. Its on a table in front of the window (north facing) under a skylight. I cant say it looks brilliantly healthy but it is 'performing'!

I think slow and steady wins here.

Good luck.

JM

[starloc]

Where do you place your citrus over the winter? My options are
1. South facing windowsill in downstairs room, away from radiator but with gas fire!
2. South facing windowsill in bedroom, located above a radiator
3. North facing windowsill in bedroom, located away form a radiator, coldest winter location

North facing windowsill away from radiator coldest place , leave it dry all winter...it will sulk and be fine in the spring after a good watering , I would also open the window as much as possible, unless its very cold ( below -15C or so )

[Ben1030]

I followed all the advice given with both trees looking a lot healthier, with lots of new growth.

I have now moved the lime tree into the bathroom on a north facing windowsill, seems to like it so far.
The lemon and orange are both in the kitchen on a north facing windowsill away from any heat. My only worry with this location is the fact that they are now adjacent to a combo boiler! Am I likely to experience the same problem with the curling leaves?

I also had a case with the giant leaves as mentioned above. All the new growth since July have been normal sized :-) .

[Ben1030]

The two citrus place in the kitchen (north facing, cool, away form heat) are looking really bad now. They've lost almost all their leaves with just a few remaining. I moved them into the bathroom with the lime which is looking ok. This doesn't seem to have improved their condition at all. I've hardly watered them all winter, when i have its been with winter citrus feed.

Could this be due to the majority of the leaves being yellowish from the problems experienced in the summer? Or is it more likely they have been placed in a bad location?

[starloc]

It could be lack of humidity in the air, gas fumes in the air ,could also be something like spidermites, but most likely is cold roots but..... mine have just dropped lots of more yellow/older leaves and started growing quickly since christmas , lots of new growth after the spring leaf drop

This is the month of the year that winter leaf drop is worst, coldest weather , measure the temperature of the soil, if its very cold you could try a small heater mat under them

For the last 2-3 months I have used no growlights, no heater mats, I have been running a 3000w fan heater in the room if I am in it about 4 hours a night, but most of the time I have the windows open , they like fresh air as it has humidity in it, cold air is not a problem but cold roots are,

Watering is a problem as they do need some water but the water cools the roots a lot so causes leaf drop

Water them with 25C water in the winter but only when they dry out between waterings, I use summer fertiliser all year long

[Ben1030]

I've tried to mist the plants 3 times a week, although the 2 plants in the kitchen near the boiler did not look happy at all. I moved them into the bathroom after they started losing leaves. My lime was already there, its looked healthy all winter and has 2 golf ball sized limes. The window is north facing, next to the shower with the window left open during the day. Its an old stone house, the walls and windowsills do get cold. They continued to lose leaves while the lime was quite happy. However they are in different pots to the lime which are colder to touch than the cheap plastic pot the lime is in. Maybe the roots were too cold in these pots.

The orange has now lost all of its leaves, the lemon has one left. Is it possible to get my 'twigs' through the winter or is it time to start looking at replacements. :'(

Thanks for your help.

Ben

[starloc]

As long as it is normal winter leaf drop, they usualy survive, I have had it a few times, they have been leafless one time till about May/June and then grown back into a bushy plant, just make sure they dont stay too wet as with no leaves they will use little water, but they will still need some every now and then

[Ben1030]

A few of the branches were a little brown at the ends. I trimmed these branches back to find green stem.

Along with my 'main 3' citrus i have 6 seedlings i planted myself, with the aim of having an experiment with grafting in a year or 2. I planted the seeds post your earlier comments so used a citrus compost with lots of perlite in the mix. These 6 seedlings seem the happiest out of the lot.

I was planning on changing the compost of my main 3 citrus this year, when would be best to do this now the leaves have fallen off?

Thanks again

Ben

[starloc]

Its best not to ever repot citrus at this time of year, only ever when its activly growing , unlike normal fruit trees that like it when dormant, citrus need to be growing, best around easter or later when its warm and the plant is growing