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Calamondin leaves not so Calamondin leaves :(

 
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Evaldas
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 30 Jan 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania, Zone 5

Posted: Mon 23 Aug, 2010 7:44 am

Hi. I need advice. My Calamondin leaves don't actually look like Calamondin leaves. I'll add some pictures in order for you to understand better what I'm talking about.
1) Tips are pointed, instead of being rounded.
My leaves:

Normal leaves:


2) Some leaves are wrinkled.


3) The clusters of leaves don't look right. Individual leaves are not warped. Leaves are horizontal as oppsed to vertical
Mine:

As opposed to:


Even the new growth is becoming horizontal.


4) My trees don't look compact due to the leaves.

As for example:


Yes, I am growing indoors, but so are many of others and their leaves look completely normal.
Any advice is appreciated.
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RyanL
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Posts: 410
Location: Orange County, North Carolina. 7B

Posted: Mon 23 Aug, 2010 1:11 pm

It looks like the trees are not receiving as much direct sunlight and heat as you need in order for them to look like the comparison trees you show. The leaves of indoor trees do not have to deal with the intense radiation & heat from the unfiltered sun. The strong dense growth you seek is not really possible without 8-12 hours of unfiltered direct sun and high temperatures.

However, the trees and leaves look ok and should do fine in a window and should produce fruit, but one should not compare them to outdoor grown trees in ideal form.
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Evaldas
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 30 Jan 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania, Zone 5

Posted: Tue 24 Aug, 2010 12:32 pm

I'm planning on keeping them outside for the next summer. Would 17 hours of daylight and sometimes that much of sunlight would be good for the trees? Although I'm worried about the temps more and the rain. Often night temps will drop below 9C (49F), and apparently you shouldn't keep citruses during the vegetative growth period below 15C (60F). And also apparently day and night temperatures shouldn't differ more than 10C, which I think is only possible in Miami Laughing . Sometimes we'll have 32C in the day and 15C at night.
Do you think my trees would be fine outside?
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RyanL
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Posts: 410
Location: Orange County, North Carolina. 7B

Posted: Tue 24 Aug, 2010 2:19 pm

I live in the US state of North Carolina and we see similar differences in temperature but slightly higher(90F/70F) in summer time. The temperature difference from 32c to 15c should be fine(but anything lower might be a problem). You will probably just have less vegetative growth time in the summer. And the other question about sunlight, gradually expose them to the new sunlight level(over about 2 weeks) to prevent leaf burn, and after this period there is no such thing as too much sunlight for citrus. As long as you have a very light medium and relatively small containers the rain should not be that much of an issue, but you might have to improvise in periods of consistent heavy rain.

The temperature difference you have is ideal especially for blood oranges, they need that much difference in night/day to gain pigment (this is why blood oranges do not color well in Miami) So maybe your next tree should be a dwarf Moro blood. Very Happy
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Evaldas
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 30 Jan 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania, Zone 5

Posted: Wed 25 Aug, 2010 7:06 am

New growth in the evening:

New growth after exposure to sun:

And so on and on every day.
My theory is that this is all happening due to the draught that they've experienced a month ago. Since part of the roots have dried, and have been lost, but the leaves are still there, the roots can't supply enough water to the leaves. I wanted to prune part of the leaves, but yesterday when I took the scissors I had to change my plans because I noticed a new growth flush.
I'm gonna try putting saran wrap on one the tree's foliage and keep it moist in there, and keep it out of sun, see if this helps.

Hopefully by next spring the leaf-root disproportion balances out and I'll have no problems.
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mgk65
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 08 Feb 2010
Posts: 84
Location: WV (Zone 6)

Posted: Wed 25 Aug, 2010 12:15 pm

Until new foliage is mature, it can wilt easily in the sun.

I experienced the same thing this spring and was quite alarmed until I learned of this behavior.
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Evaldas
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 30 Jan 2010
Posts: 303
Location: Vilnius, Lithuania, Zone 5

Posted: Wed 25 Aug, 2010 12:17 pm

New foliage wasn't wilting at all in the sun before the draught.
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StarLoc
Citruholic
Citruholic


Joined: 11 Jun 2008
Posts: 53
Location: Liverpool, UK,zone 9? (+ Stara Zagora Bulgaria )

Posted: Wed 25 Aug, 2010 6:02 pm

They should be fine outdoors in the summer

Lithiuania gets a few degrees hotter more often but the cold at night is similar to us in the UK ,
Our temperatures here regularly go up to 28C and then drop to 9C in the night ( at the minute it was 26C today but its 9C outside now , its not a problem

the leaves tend to go to the pointing upward position on very cold nights when its been hot during the day as they dont like it but it doesnt hurt them, once the days go cold as well they tend to stop pointing upwards at night and just look normal all the time

The rain on the pots outside doesnt seem to be a problem, probably due to rain containing oxygen unlike tap water , so preventing root rot , but you can put a plastic bag around the top to close them from the rain
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