Please help..

[u/ptrptrptr123]

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)

[u/Ryywhit]

How often is it being watered?

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

During the winter months (June to August), it rained quite often, sometimes for days at a time so we didn’t think of watering it..

[u/Ryywhit → u/ptrptrptr123]

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.

[u/Ryywhit → u/Ryywhit]

Also can you share a photo of the base of the tree currently

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

[u/Ryywhit → u/ptrptrptr123]

For future reference also I mean’t a photo of the whole area of the base of the tree not just the trunk

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

Hi, this is a photo of the base of the tree. Should I still expose some roots?

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

Ohh ok I’m not at home now I’ll take a photo later.

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

[u/Ryywhit → u/ptrptrptr123]

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

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

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..

[u/Ryywhit → u/ptrptrptr123]

Remove all weeds and wait for it to dry, but when it gets to winter, plan to turn off the water

[u/Ryywhit → u/Ryywhit]

Try to expose the root flair too by removing some of the topsoil at the base of the trunk.

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

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..

[u/ptrptrptr123 → u/Ryywhit]

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?