I'm hoping y'all can help diagnose a problem I'm having with an orange tree.

What I'm seeing is the edges of leafs turn brown and the affected area of the leaf slowly grows towards the center of the leaf. Additionally, I'm seeing similar colouring on the branches that starts near the end of the branch and seems to grow down the branch.

In the case of the branch discolorization, I can lightly scrape the branch and see green wood underneath.

Once the weather turned warm, the tree has been outside -- I was concerned that perhaps it was getting too hot/sunburned, so I move it from a west facing deck to a patio which gets lots of morning light, but avoids the intense light & afternoon heat.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Jeff

Welcome to the citrus forum, we are happy you became a member. Thanks for choosing our forum. Would you please go back to your profile, and enter your location so proper advice can be given and received from your postings. How long has this tree be in this same container and same potting soil? When you water do you apply water until approximately 10 percent drains out the holes at the bottom of the container? On the little information given, my first belief is that your tree could be suffering from a high soluble salt buildup in the potting mix. Concerning the summer temperatures, as long as you do not let the sun bake the side of your trees container, causing the root zone temperature to reach 110 to 120F, the hot summer temperatures and direct sunshine should not much bother your tree. - Millet

I purchased the tree in the late spring from a local nursery and have not transplanted it or changed the potting soil. So I really don't have a clue how long its been in its current container & soil.

I fertilized it once and it's getting watered about twice a week right now. 10% drainage after watering is probably about right; I'll make a point to capture the drainage the next few waterings and verify.

It's quite common to see 100+ temps in my area and the back deck where tree was previously gets even hotter due to heat radiating off the house, so heat is probably something to be concerned with, especially since it's still in its original black plastic container.

If we were to work from the assumption that it might be a salt buildup, what would be the best way to correct that problem?
Jeff

A soluble salt build-up is easy to correct. Just flush the container with clean clear water in the amount of 4 times the volume of the container. However, if you have only fertilized the tree one time, and you have been applying enough irrigation water so that 10 percent drains out the bottom of the container, I do not think a salt build-up is your trees problem. You can easily judge if the tree requires re-potting, by slipping the tree from the container, and examining the roots. If the root system has filled the container and has begun to circle around and around the inside of the container, it is time to re-pot. Also, if the growth medium has degraded and has depressed (sunk) down from the rim of the container several inches, it is time to re-pot the tree. - Millet