North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[miekal and <dtv@mwt.net>]

Ive had potted citrus look totally dead, even to the fingernail test, 
for 3-4 months & then all of a sudden they come back to life.  If you 
are having disease probs, usually I have problem with brown scale, 
which is hard to control indoors (I dont like spraying dormant oils 
indoors) & in the summer I control it easily by pressure spraying my 
citrus collection (I have about 15 various in 5 gallon buckets) with 
water, it doesnt completely remove the scale but it does get rid of 
most of it.  Less is more in my mind.

Just ate my first meyer's last week, the skin was way too think 5/8".  
Is this common with all meyer's lemons or does it have to do with 
potted culture?

mIEKAL


On Thursday, February 6, 2003, at 05:17 PM, kathryn stout wrote:

> My potted Meyer lemon lost all its leaves last winter
> indoors (MA, Zone 5). I would not say it was due to
> disease. Both my potted citrus trees (Meyer lemon and
> Valencia orange) drop a lot of leaves whenever they
> are moved, especially when I bring them indoors in the
> fall. Drastic shifts in "climate" (temperature,
> humidity, light) cause leaves to fall. Last winter I
> also neglected (didn't water) the trees, to the point
> they got very dry. (Try watering more and see if that
> "leaf disease"  doesn't clear up). Potted trees that
> are potbound are hard to get to take up enough water.
>
> Anyway, by April when I usually move the trees
> outdoors (under protection of an overhanging roof) the
> lemon had lost all its leaves. I repotted both trees,
> both very potbound since I had not repotted or
> root-pruned in several years. I pruned back enough
> roots to put them back in the same pots with several
> inches to  spare for fresh soil and compost. I
> repotted them, watered them thoroughly, and left them
> under the overhanging roof. By May they were growing
> new shoots and leaves and were ready to place in the
> sun. After that they grew back beautifully.
>
> Moral: unless the branches are shriveled dry and dead
> (no green cambium under the bark) assume that they are
> still alive, and will regrow new leaves if given the
> chance. Citrus doesn't normally go dormant and drop
> all its leaves in a favorable climate (e.g. Southern
> California, where I grew up, surrounded by orange
> trees). But if you are growing it in a pot, in an
> unfavorable climate, subject to extreme shifts of
> temperature, humidity, and light (such as outdoors in
> October, nights 30-degrees F to indoors with electric
> heat and dry air) you have to expect some dropping of
> leaves. (Not usually all of them at once though. It is
> actually normal for outdoor citrus to drop some leaves
> too--just not all at once.)
>
> (I keep the trees outdoors as much as possible, down
> to 30-degrees F. Those temperatures are "winter" for a
> citrus (a So. Calif. winter). I've noticed the trees
> bloom about two months later after a month with
> 30-degree nights (in Calif. they bloom in late March).
> Here my potted citrus bloom twice a year, once indoors
> (between Dec-Feb) after their October chilling, and
> once in June (after the April chilling).
> I'm not sure but I wonder if greenhouse citrus, kept
> at a constant 60-70 degrees, blooms at all.
> My trees are so much happier and healthier outdoors,
> the only reason I bring them in is to keep them from
> freezing solid. They've survived snow once or twice.
>
> I used to think the relatively low indoor light caused
> leaf dropping. But I've given up trying to rig up
> growlights, which only stimulate strange-distorted
> growth that has to be pruned off later. Surprise, they
> seem fine on just window light (I have a lot of
> windows).  But they do need a lot of watering. Also if
> they get chilled sometimes they curl or stiffen up
> their leaves--turn the heat up and they look fine.
> (Rhododendrons do it why not citrus).
>
> Yes both my potted citrus bear fruit. I seem to recall
> that the lemon did not fruit this  year--though the
> orange did. It may take a season for a citrus tree to
> recover to the point of fruiting again after losing
> all its leaves--but with root pruning and fresh soil
> and compost and lots of water, the recovery is faster.
> In fact both trees are growing stronger
> than before. The lemon is blooming this winter
> indoors.
> I expect it will fruit next year.
>
> Kathryn Stout
> Zone 5
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --- Richard O'Barr <aatopgunaa@mindspring.com> wrote:
> > Has anyone had the experience with a potted lemon
> > losing its leaves in the late Fall from leaf disease
> > and then producing a crop in the spring? My Lisbon
> > lost its leaves but the Meyer did not.
> >                Topgun
> >                Zone 7
>
>
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