I intentionally induced winter leaf drop (WLD) to a 5-foot Lane's Late Navel orange tree, that I way over potted into an extra large container. I let the leaf drop continue until approximately 80 percent of the leaves had fallen from the tree. I then put the tree on a heating mat and warmed the soil to 70F. The leaf droped slowed, but continued to advance untill about 95 percent of the tree's leaves had dropped. On December 31st I begun to semi-follow some of Snickels's advice that he gave on the thread "Is This Tree Dead" by very carefully washing all the original soil from the root system and then transplanted the tree into new growing medium made up of 4 parts CHC and 1 part peatmoss. I also reduced the container to the proper size for the tree's root system. I again put the container on the heating mat and set the heat up to 80F. Today is day 3 (after transplanting and heating) and so far not one single additional leaf has fallen. I'll up date this thread from time to time with all new developments, such as additional leaf drop, flowering due to stress, the appearance of new leaf growth, ect. - Millet

Day Four: Just one leaf dropped. - Millet

Millet, can I ask, what is your nutrition/fertilizer schedule for this tree now?
Robert

Stress, no additional irrigation fertilizer is being given to the tree at this time. However, during the conditioning and presoaking process of the coconut husks, small amounts of magnesium sulfate, calcium nitrate are used. I also always include trace minerals while conditioning the CHC's by the addition of STEM (Soluable Trace Element Mix) at that time. Irrigation of the tree will be with clear water for a while. - Millet

Day 6: One leaf blade dropped w/o petiole attached. - Millet

Day 7 ) Jan. 6th) one leaf fell W/O petiole. - Millet

Day 2 leaves fell one with and one w/o petiole. First day I noticed the beginnings of a new flush of new foliage starting. Buds are starting to break. Soil maintained at 80F, humidity 70% - Millet

Hi Millet, I'd like to know what you transplanted from & to (pot size). Are these 'tall' pots too tall? You mentioned yours were in pots too big for their roots. I know citrus have shallow roots --- they don't have a long tap root. What did you plant into?
I have mine (most) in the tall tree pots & am wondering if they are really good for citrus. So far they're OK, but could they do better?
Also, you say your soil temp is 80*. Would that mean that an average room would have to be over 90* ? How do you get your soil temp up so high? Thermometer in my seedling 'mini greenhouse' (clear plastic blanket bag) on a heating pad says 80* & that's about 3 inches from bottom...so I think soil temps must be around 70's.
Glad your plant is doing better & thanks for the updates!!
I don't know how you do it....I heard on weather channel week or so ago your low was 20's & high of 60's in same day--- WOW!
Thanks for the funny FWD email! Yesterday was the 15th day of NO SUN (a little peeked out today) & it's getting really depressing & ugly.
Again, thanks for the updates. I'll watch for more.
Patty
BTW - more of my seeds are sprouting

Sorry...I just re-read the part where you said you put the plant on a heating matt to heat the soil

Hi Patty, thanks for you questions. I first planted the small Lane's Late tree (on purpose) into a 22" wide 20" deep container. This was done as part of another test concerning what happens to the root system when a plant is WAY over potted. I won't go into the list of problems that can, and often does happen when a plant is overpotted, as most every one already understands what they are. I will say, however, that the tree was in the large container for about three months, and did not show any signs of growth, but slowly (very slowly at first) started to decline. I left the tree in the oversized container until approximately 85% of the leaves dropped from the tree. The tree's root system hardly grew into the surounding container. I transplanted the tree into a 11" X 20" tall tree pot. Patty, naturally grown citrus do develop a "realitively" long tap root, especially seedlings. Containerized grafted trees grown in undera greenhouse nursery system tend not to. However, every one of my citrus trees (52) are planted in tree pots and all , except two, have root systems that have already reached to the botton of the container (20" deep). Also, tall containers naturally drain much better, and quicker than short containers, which is a big plus especially for citrus. I really like the tall tree pots. Usually, when a new tree is purchased from a citrus nursery such as Brightleaf, or Harris, the root system is aleady 14" long. The one draw back with them is that when placed outside in the wind, the trees tend to tip over quite easily, so I place them inside wider containers, or just leave them in the greenhouse all year. I buried one container in the ground in early spring, and when I went to pull it back out and put it back inside the greenhouse that fall, it had rooted into the surounding soil. I hope I answered you question satisfactorly. Take care Patty - Millet

You sure did Millet!
I think it was Mr-Know-It-All from GW forum (we all know who that is LOLOLOL) that said citrus have shallow roots & for some reason it stuck in my head.
I have the old milk crates that I can set the tall pots in to keep them from blowing over. Steuwe sells them, but they are the same as my crates that I got for free.
Love that you are sharing your experiments with us--the good & bad results.
We FINALLY got some sunshine this afternoon ----YEAY--after 17 days.