I live in south GA. I have three navel orange trees planted in a row about 30' apart. They are about 2 years old. My soil is sandy high ground with great drainage. I have pine straw mounded at the base of each tree. I water about every three days, less if I have rainfall. The trees are in full sunlight at least six hours a day. This winter the temps did reach 27 degs F a few nights. I always covered the trees when frost was forecast. One tree has most of the leaves curling, drying out, and falling off. The branches and trunk has a nice green healthy look to them as they always did. I cannot find any blemishes or insects that could cause the problem. The other two trees are fine. Any ideas?

Thanks
Regency01

Hi Regency01 and welcome to the forum. many things can cause this problem. Photos would help a lot. Has the tree just started this or has it been doing it for some time. Check for bark split. We have had a very warm winter here in the Southeast. If your tree was budding out, most likely the bark was slipping. If you get a quick freeze when the bark is slipping it will split open damaging the branches and foliage. One of my Grapefruit, a Calomondin, Bearss lime & a Key lime all had this happen a few weeks ago. If this is the case they should recover quickly now that warm weather has arrived for good...

Regency, welcome to the Citrus forum, we are very glad you have joined with us. Applying water every three days to a tree that has straw mounded up against it can cause problems, especially under the cool wet months. Pull the straw back from the tree's trunk and check the bark carefully both above and below soil line for foot rot. Any type of mulch used, should never be mounded in contact with the trees trunk. - Millet

This problem just started 2 weeks ago. The tree had its full compliment of leaves all winter long. It wasn't budding out that I can tell. The pine straw is loosely piled around the base. I will check the roots but really don't know what I will be looking for. I hope it will stop this leaf drop or there won't be any leaves left. As far as watering goes, with my sandy soil, what would be a good watering pattern. Thanks to all and good to be onboard.

Regency01

In our area a tree planted inground should really only need watering during a drought. I only water newly planted trees for a few weeks. After they have settled in the never get watered. Look at the thin branches & see if there are any splits lengthwise.

Regency, Overirrigation, especially surface irrigation, may wet the trunk of trees and increase the incidence of foot rot caused by Phytophahora. Additionally, the use of mulch around the trunk keeps the bark wet for extended periods of time, which is not a good practice. To know what to look for check out this web site. http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/texlabn/fruits/Citrus/citrus.html

There are many other web sites on citrus foot rot on the web that you can explore. - Millet,

I am stoppng the watering regiment. I will watch and wait. I hope it makes a comeback. I'll find a local lab and get the soil tested.

Another question: What can I expect in the way of insect attacks on the trees when the weather warms up? Last year I saw evidence of something muncing on the leaves, but never saw the offender. What can I use to safely protect the trees? When should it be applied?

Thanks to everyone for your help.

Regency01