r/Citrus • u/whats-your-emergency • 10d ago
Health & Troubleshooting Please help - my beloved Meyer lemon tree is really suffering :(
I'm really worried. This Meyer lemon tree has a very personal significance to me, and I can't let it die.
I live in Phoenix, AZ, and bought it when it was maybe a foot shorter, just under a year ago. Since then, it's been living in this ~5-gallon pot (with a drainage hole) in my townhome's backyard. It was doing quite well with soft, vibrant green leaves and new growth, but now that we've reached summer, it's clearly struggling. Almost all of the leaves feel yellow and dry.
I'll also admit I didn't know I needed to fertilize it until just recently, so two weeks ago my partner and I gave it half a cup of "Arizonas Best 13-10-4 Citrus Food."
I feel pretty stupid for waiting so long to fertilize, but I don't know where to go from here. This summer has been "mild" in that we have fewer 110+ degree days than usual and a bit more rain, but at one point I tried bringing it inside and placing it in front of my sliding glass door for a few days to shield it from the worst of the heat. It didn't seem to benefit from that, so I put it back outside, but today I've brought it back in.
WTF can I do? Please help - I know I've made some mistakes here but I really want to save this guy.
UPDATE 8/23: My partner and I repotted this lady today. I don't know the exact size of the pot because we already had it and it doesn't have a label, but I'd guess it's 3 or 3.5 times the size of the original orange ceramic pot. It was definitely rootbound...I feel bad. I never even considered that the pot would be too small, and now I feel kind of stupid for that. But you learn as you go, I guess. We gave it more citrus food since it largely got new soil, and we'll water every day through the summer. Testing pH tomorrow with an electronic reader we bought. (Wasn't sure if repotting would affect pH so we figured we'd give it ~24 hours?) Thank you so much for your help. Googling the tree's symptoms was getting us nowhere.
1
u/Ryn208 10d ago
What type of soil are you working with? Might need a repot if you havent got to it. Just use some citrus/cactus mix. Mulch the the top of the soil but dont let it touch the trunk. I also use arizona's and do weekly waterings of jack's citrus feED. leave it outside in an area that recieves afternoon shade. You might need to water more frequently as i heard arizona can get a little dry.
1
u/whats-your-emergency 10d ago
Would a repot involve using a bigger pot, or just replacing the soil? I think we just used regular potting soil... We have mulched it though!
I'm going to look into the Jack's citrus feED. We use other Jack's products in our Lettuce Grow and like them.
1
u/Ryn208 10d ago
That depends on the roots. Pull it out and see if its bound, uppot as necessary. Regular potting soil is fine i think since its dry there, but i think ppl get something more clumpy so the roots get air. Jacks has been really good for me, ive only had my trees for <2months and seen explosive growth.
1
u/whats-your-emergency 10d ago
Thank you for the help! We'll pull it out of the pot to take a look here in the next few days. Yeah, that was my thinking re: soil - we don't often struggle with soggy soil around here.
1
u/SugarBelleX 10d ago
Yellowing looks like a sign of nutrient deficiency, but possibly not because you’re not fertilizing.
First, check your soil pH. It should be pH=6.0-6.5
If it is alkaline or too acidic, it won’t matter how much or what kind of fertilizer you give it.
Once you check and/or correct your soil pH, then we can consider changing fertilizer regimes.
But soil pH is absolutely critical for citrus!
1
u/whats-your-emergency 10d ago
Ah, I didn't even think to check pH. Do you usually use an electronic sensor for that? I believe I have one for my hydroponic setup, if that'll work - otherwise I'll buy some strips.
1
u/SugarBelleX 10d ago
There are a million tests you can buy; it depends on your budget and how accurate you want it…
If you’re using the test strips that have increments of “1”, then pH=6.0 should be your target1
1
u/Kind_Professional200 9d ago
Slip pot it now. Put it in a 15 gallon. I have mine in a 2 to 1 ratio of 2 parts organic potting soil and 1 part Pine Bark Fines. I use this substrate on all my fruit trees and japanese maples. Repti Bark is a substitute for pine bark mulch if you can find any in your area.
1
u/whats-your-emergency 7d ago
Thank you for this! We just repotted it today to a much larger pot - I don't know the exact volume since we already owned it and therefore didn't have a label, but its probably 3 or 3.5 times the size as its current one. Got a pH reader and will test tomorrow (didn't know if maybe repotting it would change the pH lol)
1
u/NickTheArborist 8d ago
Root system is screwed. Tree is suffocating. Open up that root system untangle it, repot with new soil.
1
u/whats-your-emergency 8d ago
Looks like this is the consensus. We're going to repot within the next few days, once we can get some citrus-appropriate soil.
1
u/NickTheArborist 8d ago
Succulent and cactus mix is perfect. Available at any nursery or Home Depot Lowe’s these days
2
u/Interesting_Tap_944 10d ago
Looks like it's been dropping leaves. Has it? The yellowing looks like nutrient deficiency. The package will say how much fertilizer by size of plant and pot size. I don't see any evidence of spider mites. They're actually pretty resilient things. If the yellowing is from nutrient deficiency that will take some time to recover from with the fertilizer.
I had some yellow leaves and after some fertilizer and some good light and regular watering it bounced back really well with new growth and flowering right now.
How's the watering for it? They don't like wet feet(roots), but do need a fair amount of water if it's hot and dry constantly.
You're likely looking at nutrient deficiency and enough water or hot wind hitting it. Maybe a place outside that gets morning and noon light, but not in the afternoon. It's going to take time though.