I planted some orange trees a few weeks back.

I just noticed yesterday that the young leaves have started to fold inwards exposing the lower side of the leaves.

What could be the problem?

Initially I used to water when the top inch or two of soil was dry. Recently I got a moisture meter from Lowes and measured moisture to a 6" to 8" depth and it's been showing somewhere between moist and wet (dry-moist-wet being th eprogression with a scale of 0 to 10 with the reading coming in at 7). Last watering was 4 days back. Could lack of water be the problem? Coz. I used to water every two to 3 days before I got the meter.

Apart of the irrigation schedule change, there are two other factors that are a change from the first two weeks that I had these trees planted.

#1. I had also applied fertilizer (Vigoro citrus unamended for the first application) during last watering about 4 days back

#2. It's been a bit windy and cold in the nights for the past two days and it drizzled a bit (not enough to completely wet the 2 cubic feet rootball area) day before.

#3. The PH seems to be slightly off, but then it could be the timing of the reading as well. I had just applied the fertilizer and watered it in before taking the PH reading. For one plant it came in at 6 and the other one 5.5 Both plants are showing the leaf folding issue.

What's wrong - overwatering as the meter suggests (but then the top 2" are dry) or underwatering (and the meter's broken) or the "wet/cold wave"?

I was planning to spray the young growth with a mixture of 1 TBS Cooking Oil to 1 Gallon water with a couple of drops of dish liquid but am holding back because of the above issue. I am now getting concerned I am running out of time for the spraying as the blooms are starting to open with a few flowers already open.

Please advise. Thanks.

Ok. I took the chance and watered the trees yesterday night. It's been 24 hours and still the same. So looks like over watering could be the problem (and I might have made it worse)

Link to photos below.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=w5evojy.y6ktcsu&Uy=-vnly5u&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=877225317945_88962458414&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

I don't think anything is wrong with your tree. Leaves curling in a little is not all that uncommon. Perhaps the tree needed a little water. My best advice is throw away the water meter, it will certainly get you and your tree in trouble. Why were you going to spray the tree with oil? Does your tree have a bug problem? I you have a insect problem, then spraying is fine, if not it is not wise to spray an oil spray if nothing is wrong. - Millet

Hi Millet,

Ok. Have watered in yesterday. Let's see how it shows up tomorrow.

Anyways, it's a relief to learn that nothing's wrong with the tree.

As for the home made oil spray - I read on multiple sites that spraying young citrus leaves is a good preventive measure. I heard miners are very common in my area (am yet to see any on my citrus trees though).

Other than that, all my roses are infested with Aphids and I have seen a couple of different pests (one brown that was extremely small and one green with wings - am running short on time and ID'ing the pests aren't a priority at this time as these were not persistent sitings) on these orange and cherry trees as well.

Miner often miss the first flush each year--the oil deters them from laying eggs.

The green bug with wings may be one of the good guys-- lacewing--they eat bad bugs like aphids. You should get to know the good guys--ladybugs, assasin beetle, and lacewing are very good to have.

Okay, gave it a couple of weeks and water every 3 days instead of 4 (I ignored the water meter and moved to the earlier watering schedule).

Gave it a second application of fertilizer as well recently (A month after the last application).

Here's the state of the plant -
* Young leaves mostly folded inwards,
* Bloom falling off (both mature/opened as well as buds)
* Young leaves falling off
* Tips of young leaves showing yellowing.

Picture of leaves (flattened for picture) attached.

This is pushing me to believe that I am giving it more water and the roots are probably loosing their efficiency which could explain the reduced uptake of the fertilizer causing the yellowing.

What do you all think? I can dig up and inspect the roots but not without loosing most of the bloom (I don't expect a an edible crop in the first year of the plant and neither a decent yield, but I don't want to upset the plants' annual cycle either if that matters) and possibly hurting the plant a bit more in the process.

Thanks,
Dinesh

I don't water that much even for container trees--We have very sandy soil here and for inground trees that are well established, I do not water at all except during extreme drought. I don't know your soil type, but clay hold water much longer than sand, so if you have a clay type soil you are probably overwatering.

I have had an identical problem that has yet to be solved for over seven months. Everything has been tried and I even got UC Davis involved. They ran pahtogen tests which wre negative, but the problem persists and now trees are dying.

Some of these trees I have had for over ten years. Some are new. Somce are in-ground. Some are in containers. They have been fed with proper fertilizing and both under-watered and over-waterd.

Nothing makes any difference. The problem persists.

This phenomena has been posted by someone on about every board I have visited and not a single person has determined the root of the issue.

I guess until I see somebody succeed, I will not invest int the hobby again. It's VERY disappointing.

The root very well may be the issue. Have you had the roots & soil test for nematodes

No I did not submit root samples primarily for the reason that I am seeing the same symptoms in both container plants as well as in-ground plants - both ten year old plants and one year old plants.

its a uniform problem for all plants though they each have non-uniform environments other than being in the same location.

Is this still a possibility?

I agree about the water, Dinesh. It seems like too much to me.

Also don't fertilize for a bit. After transplanting the roots need to recover from the shock of transplantation and start growing before they are fertilized.

Sometimes it's best if you just ignore the trees for a while, and let them do their thing.

I've killed a lot of valuable plants by "over-babying" them.

It is in reality not over watering or under watering. It is all about the porosity/aeration of the soil. . It is the growth medium or the soil that the tree is growing in that the grower has to thoroughly understand. Porosity/aeration/weather = watering schedule - Millet