I planted some fruit trees a few months ago. Now they have tons of fruit and flowers. But the trees are losing all their leaves and one is drooping.
1) The trees were planted at the same level as the yard.
I planted them as deep as they were in the container when I bought them to insure the tree could breathe. Berms were built around the trees higher than ground level to allow deep watering and let the water soak fully in the ground.
2) I mixed 50% OMNI compost mix (composted wood and bio-solids) with the soil and maybe in some instances more to help loosen the compact soil of Arizona.
3)I left the stakes that were in the pots on the trees.
I used tree trunk paper wrap to protect the trees from the desert sun since I was told that citrus trees with exposed bark to the direct sun would cause the bark to burn and fall off.
4)When I originally planted, I did use some miracle grow fertilizer which shortly after that they all began blooming to my dismay. I was was more concerned about them growing the first year than producing.
5) I have recently been removing some of the beginning fruit to help take the load off the trees. By picking off the blooms, well at least some of them.
6)I was careful not to spray the trees when spraying the grass killer. I used Spectricide grass and weed killer onthe edges of the berm.
7) No bugs
Applied Celeted Iron a few weeks after planting since leaves were turning yellow with green veins.
9) I have seen some curled leaves on one of the trees prior to falling off
Here is a link to view the trees I am talking about, Some now have less leaves then when I took these pictures.
http://www.thirstyrock.com/Citrus-Trees-2.html

I would say there is nothing wrong with your trees. More than likely your trees were grown in a shade house. When you purchased them, you planted them out in the direct desert sun. The leaves look burned and stressed from the change. The new leaves should adapt to your climate and be fine, just give them time.

How long do you think till I see new leaves? Is it all right to leave all the fruit on there or will it naturally fall off now since no leaves left to support the fruit. The trees have lost almost all of their leaves since the pictures.
Thanks

Poor AZSun asked this same question on GW forums and a few folks ended up spending the entire thread debating berms and he didn't get any help...

I did respond to you back on April 28th in the other thread and you haven't replied yet -- I offered you to send me email. In case you subscribed to this thread, I'll respond here.

From the info in the other thread, I'm betting it was lack of adequate water when the first spring warmth and direct AZ sun hit it. And a lesser possibility of grass killer over-spray on a drought stressed very young tree.

If you are still very concerned as you were before, you do have an option to check to see if the trees have started establishing themselves in your soil in the past 5 months.

In early morning when cool and bright, remove a channel of soil from a 2 foot distance inward until you see the first of very small tiny white roots extending from the tree, further from the original rootball (which was probably 6" from center if a #5 container), then stop. Obviously, take smaller amounts out as you get closer to the original root ball -- even using your hand when within 8-10 inches.

The further away from the orig ball you see these new feeder roots, the better established the tree is -- as stated above it spent its energy building roots rather than growing above ground foliage and in response to severe AZ full-sun heat conditions. If this is the case, your trees will be fine.

If you have carefully dug a channel out without roots take pics and replace soil immediately and gently pack to remove air pockets. Then dig another one on the opposite side.

If still no roots and you hit the original rootball, there are a few things that could have been the source. It's probably a waiting game from here.

Either way, you have learned a lot about your soil moisture and roots. I would partially shade them, though. For my southern side trees, ALL new trees (fruit and others) have required partial shading to survive the direct summer sun. You also should be mulching a few inches thick (away from the trunk tho) -- you will not require much grass/weed spraying once you start mulching on and around the berm.

Thanks Citruholic,

I will try that. So far a few leaves have stayed on so far and it has been a couple weeks since most of them have dropped off. I am going to do as you suggested checking root growth. I appreciate the help. Will post results. Also have picked up a 12" long moisture meter probe to check water moisture deeper down in the ground to alleviate the possibility of under or over watering. Once I do your evaluation and monitor the soil moisture, I guess maybe temporary shading from direct sun in late afternoon will be next if no signs of improvement show in the next few weeks.

AZSUN,

You have to be very careful when planting young citrus trees in Arizona. Chelated iron, miracle grow, or other chemical fertilizers can burn the roots of young trees, and cause more problems than good. For good of the trees, let them become established for a year before adding fertilizer or any additional soil ammendments. The sun can also cause plenty of stress, so the tree would benefit from a little shade cloth on the western side to offer partial solar protection.
The trees in the picture you show dont look that bad and will grow a full canopy of leaves by being patient with fertilizer and not overwatering.

Other than the University of Arizona Agricultural Extension, please check out Information from Greenfield Citrus Nursery. http://www.greenfieldcitrus.com/planting.htm

Both sources are the local authority and could help you out with additional good information.

Best of luck with your trees.

Patrick

AZSUN: Glad you're still around. My name here is C4F (not Citruholic, that's just a title the forum gives people based on how many posts they have). I should've noted I just recently changed my moniker to C4F as it used to be CEBURY which is the one I used on GW to answer your last post.

You can choose to just wait it out as Patrick suggests. It may be fine.

My Root Checks: In my other post, I stated I had done the root check on two trees back when I was a beginner and was very concerned with tree decline as you appear to be. One turned out there was no root growth at all and would've died had I not taken action (I'll leave the details out for now). With the other tree, I hit small (almost hair-thin) white roots well outside the original root ball and I stopped immediately. The tree recovered just fine. Looking back, on the 2nd tree I didn't have to take any action. And exposing a few hair-thin feeders wasn't good for those particular roots. But it sure gave me peace of mind the tree was doing well. The first dig out also taught me what over-amended, over-watered soil looked and smelled like. I removed a lot and mixed with more native soil and the tree recovered several months later.

For your situation, I would probably only do that root check on one tree -- but it depends on what you find. With the moisture meter along with shade cloth, and mostly your experience getting the watering down, your trees may be just fine by the end of the year.

About A Water Gauge: You probably already know your goal is to maximize the length between watering as far as possible without hurting the tree, then you water deeply. But that is down the road. For now, don't wait too long and don't over drench because the original root ball is drying out much faster than the surrounding soil. Also down the road, as soon as you see new growth in small leaves and new shoots, they are a decent water gauge (the best water gauge for container trees). Young shoots will start to droop early, before the entire tree is stressed. After watering, you'll see the shoots start to stand up again. In container trees, this will happen before your eyes! My boys and I recorded it on a particularly healthy tree and timed it at 17 minutes for drooping shoots to stand completely upright.

Mulch: For each tree, buy a bag of medium sized wood bark from your nursery or big box store and use that for mulch. You'll spend about $4 per bag but it will (indirectly) provide nutrients for your soil, eliminate top crusting, reduce your water needs, and keep root temps lower.

The fact you amended your soil 50% *might* be a problem, but I'd leave it unless your in a digging mood and can remove some or till it in much deeper. If so, that's the best bet. The soil amendments and general tree establishment mean you probably don't need much fertilizer for the rest of the year.

Give us some pics if you do decide to do a root check.