Hi all

I am new to this forum and also new to citrus trees.

I have planted one orange and one lemon tree into two pots respectively over a year ago. The lemon probably grew and inch in this time. The orange tree flowers, produces fruit but the fruit never gets larger than a pin head really.

Recently my leaves have wilted on the lemon tree (ever since I sprayed some organic pesticide) and leaves on both plants are starting to slowly turn brown. I will include some images.

I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing to grow these plants. I have tried a variety of different types of fertilizers with 2:3:2 giving the best results so far. I have read the forum that 5:1:3 is the desired ratio but we do not have such ratios in South Africa. The closest I can get is lawn fertilizer with a 5:1:5 ratio.

I have a multitude of problems and I hope someone could address them all for me

1. Orange Tree



2. Lemon Tree

First of all what kind of soil mix are you using. Is it free draining?

The soil is exceptionally well draining.

It doesnt look well draining, looks like fine compost?

My first guess is some sort of sun burn or maybe a chemical burn.

Ned

I think it is a chemical burn from the spray I used. My leaves on my orange tree is continuining to brown, not at an alarming rate though. I'm just watering often. The lemon tree has now started to slowly show new signs of growth. This is after the 8:1:5 fertilizer I gave both plants.

all the best for your plants, hope they pull round.

Roots are burned. Try to wash through the soil with water in amount that equal 10 times the amount of soil within an hour. and then wait till soil is dry for the next watering. It should take away all excess of minerals from the soil.

I think it is definitely fertiliser burn. My lemon tree started suffering badly once the temperatures started rising with our season change (going into summer). I removed the plant and found quite a few salt type looking crystals on the roots. I then decided to remove all the soil in the pot and discovered that I had no drainage chips at the bottom as my soil was not draining well enough once I flooded the pot as per matievski's suggestion.

I bought a new tree now and hopefully it will do well. The old tree I put in the ground and am trying to nurse it back to good health.