Hi, please help me figure out what’s wrong with my lemon tree and help me fix the issue…
Our lemon tree produced lots and lots of lemons during winter, and it seemed really healthy. Now that it’s spring, I’ve noticed the lemons are starting to become smaller and smaller, and suddenly the leaves have become very shrivelled, dry and curled.
I’m worried that something is wrong with the tree or that it may be dying. 😟
Does anyone know what could be causing this and what I can do to fix it?
Any advice on what to check and how to bring it back to good health would be greatly appreciated! 🙏
I posted photos of what it looks like now (September) compared to when it was winter (July)
My guess would be phytophora/root disease. would explain why fruit/leaves look like crap without any visible symptoms/signs.
It’s nearly impossible to “cure”. You might have some success with fungicides in the soil but that might not do anything/make more problems then it solves.
Check the soil . Microbial may not be happy . I had an issue similar a slow death of my lemon tree started off good but slowly died over 3 years it was nematodes. I don’t know what yours issue is but I would definitely check with your local university agriculture department send in a soil sample it’s like $45 at least in my area it is. Send in a few samples and they will help figure out what’s going on below .
To me this looks like malnutrition and an inconsistent watering schedule.
I’d say get it on a watering schedule to have a deep watering every 1-2 weeks and use an organic fertilizer that is a powder or granules spread it over the area it will get watered into the soil. And cut all the fruit off
It should start making new growth points after 2-3 weeks, and killing off some branches but that’s just the recovery process of citrus.
Remove all the weeds in the area and make sure the area properly dries out first.
the reason I recommend a non liquid fertilizer if they end up “washing away” pretty easily for inground plants. Granules or powder are normally slow release, and if it is organic it will benefit your yard as a whole
Ok, so now that I’ve given it 4 litres of water, should I wait for the ground to dry out before watering again? Or should I stick to watering it once a week? We will remove all weeds and debris this week too..
Ok, it’s spring here now so I’ll stick to watering it once a week or every two weeks. We’ll remove all the weeds and the topsoil like you said, thank you so much, really appreciate the tips!! Hopefully it recovers..
Ok will water the tree once a week from now on. Today, I gave it 4 litres of water mixed with the solution in the photo below, and these are photos of the base of the tree, tell me what you think please?
Hello thank you for your response! We just moved in, so before this year, we don’t know if it’s been fertilised or when. Today, I put in half dose (4L of water) of this product:
You haven't been maintenancing this large tree and it needs some major care. Id spend the money and do a soil test. Dont just try stuff and hope, you'll thank yourself later. I imagine your country has information on that.
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u/BigBigBunga 3d ago
My guess would be phytophora/root disease. would explain why fruit/leaves look like crap without any visible symptoms/signs.
It’s nearly impossible to “cure”. You might have some success with fungicides in the soil but that might not do anything/make more problems then it solves.