I purchased 1 campbell valencia orange, 1 washington navel orange and 1 dwarf redblush grapefruit from a nursery almost 3 weeks ago. I brought them home and put them in the heated basement under hydroponic 400w grow lights with my other plants. Everything was fine and they were blooming like crazy. About a week later the valencia orange started dropping the little fruits (I pollenated them by hand). Then they leaves started falling off. They didnt turn colors or have any blotches. They were still the same green as when I brought them home. I contacted the grower who told me to take them away from the hydroponic light and put them by a window. I did that a week ago. They are in a corner and have a large window on each side and get alot a bit of light there. (we are in Illinois) The fruit is still dropping off, the flowers also and now most of the leaves. I water them when the top 1-2 inches of the pot is dry and the pots do not sit in water. They are on pebbles so the roots stay dry. The small themometer I bought (sitting in one of the pots) says 68 degrees and the humidity goes between 45-52%. It goes up to 52% when I mist them (3 times a day). Even more confusing is that when they were in the basement under the hydroponic lights I was getting alot of new growth .

HELP what I am doing wrong? My husband will kill me if I loose these plants as they cost me $200.00. I have pictures I can email you. I dont know how to post them here.

Thanks, Debbie (chimneyman20002000@yahoo.com)

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I can only think the problem lies to the sudden change of the environment your plants were used to.
They are reacting and thus very stressful for them.
Find out from the dealer the kind of environment your plants were used to and go from there.
If you are going to change the place they live, do so gradually.

What do you feel is the correct enviroment. Upstairs by windows or basement with hydroponic lights? Even if all leaves fall off, as long as branches stay green the plant will come back, right?

Flower power, The reason the leaves are falling is certainly due to a stress. You can easily verify this by examining the fallen leaves. When the leaf abscission is caused by stress, the leaf blade alone falls, leaving the petiole (leaf stem) still attached to the branch. Under normal abscission, such as the discarding of old leaves, the leaf blade with the petiole still attached drops. Because the soil temperature is 68F, I do not believe the leaf drop is caused by low soil temperatures. I agree with Benny, that the cause is a drastic change of the environment. To help container trees that spent their summer outdoors to adjust before taking them into the house for the winter, growers first move the trees into partial shade for a few days, then into shade, and finally indoors. This allows the leaves to adjust to the new environment. What type of "hydroponic grow lights" did you place above the trees? Were they the type with florescent bulbs, or HID bulbs? Florescent bulbs are fine for small plants or young seedlings, but do a very poor job with tall plants such as citrus trees. Read the post "Warm Roots Low Lights" in the Container Citrus forum, for good information on the use of artificial lighting. Your tree did not have an adjustment period, and therefore had to make it own adjustment. The new growth you observed was part of that adjustment. Choose a location for the tree and stop moving the tree from one environment to another. I think your tree will be fine, but it will take a month or so to recover. Meanwhile be sure you do not over water the tree. IMPORTANT during this stressful time, be sure to keep the growth medium at least 65F (70 would be better). - Millet

What Millet says on this matter is 100% true I have just been there and the tree is now recovering ! Thanks to Millet.

For the past twenty years I have put my Lemon tree out in summer and indoors in winter but had a prolem this time due to stress. maybe this year I will take a chance on keeping it out doors and protect it in winter due to the forecast of a hot summer and mild winter ( Global Warming ) the tree is in a pot that is getting a bit to big to keep moving around, and the stress that can be caused during that time, the tree is 6 foot tall , will it stand a better chance in the ground or in the pot! protection will be givern both ways !

Thanks Millet,

You are correct, only the leave blades are falling. The greenhouse I got them from was rather chilly inside. I use HID bulbs.

Everyone thanks for the info. I tried to tell my husband that this must be do to the change in invironment and temperature and that it would come back. He thought I was full of "dirt".

Debbie

Your welcome, but IT WAS BENNY that first recognized the problem, I only concurred - Millet

Debbie, when you said the thermometer is "sitting in one of the pots", are you refering to a thermometer intended to measure the air temperature or a probe type planted into the potting mix? Be sure your soil (potting mix) temperature is as Millet recommended and not just the air temperature. I'm only adding my $0.02 worth because, when I read your original post, I'm not sure you are measuring the soil temp.

Kent

Thank you Benny.

You are right. I am only measuring air temperature at the dirt line of the pot. Indoors wouldn't the air and soil temperature be the same?

Debbie:
You are welcome.
But I learned so much from Millet. And of course from a lot of people here at Citrus Forum just to mention a few: Jooe Real, Mr. Childers, Laaz, etc...
And thanks for being so humble Millet.

Soil temp and air temp are not likely to be the same. There is some cooling from evaporation of water from the soil and while air temp can change rapidly, soil temp will take more time to change either up or down. It can take several hours to a day for soil temp to equalize with air (provided the air is constant for that long), depending on the size of the pot and the type of soil.

Skeet