Lemon Tree Update #3127 (or so it feels)

Well, I’ve fed it everything under the sun, I’ve taken every slight inkling of a pest off, I’ve given it sunshine, water, love, urine, until I finally gave up, bare rooted it and put it in a well drained pot with expensive potting mix especially for citrus. 3 and a bit weeks on it repays me by turning the 3 measelly lemons yellow. No new growth. No sign of ever being a happy lemon tree. I’ve done my best Mr Meyer, but I think it’s time to replace you. I say that with a heavy heart 😦

On the plus side, one of my orchids has decided to flower! A little early there Mr Orchid?

Lemon Tree Update (Again)

After the excitement that my lemon tree had turned a corner with healthy new growth, (see Lemon Tree Update) over the past few weeks that beautiful growth has been turning sicker and sicker. I don’t know what to do! I hate watching it!

It’s in a spot which has poor drainage. This is unavoidable. My whole garden is clay that’s either really wet or really dry. The corner of the garden that it’s planted in was also a bit of a dumpster when we moved in. There were rotten eggs, bones and all sorts of rubble in the dirt. Most of it was dug up and the soil was turned before the lemon tree was planted but perhaps there’s something wrong with the soil. Perhaps I should dig up the lemon tree and bare root it and replace the soil for some bought soil? I fear it wouldn’t survive such a process.

It seems to attract tiny spiders, but I’ve been keeping these under control.

It looks deficient in nutrients. I’ve read various things, some saying the green Christmas tree pattern on the leaves is an iron deficiency, some say magnesium, some say nitrogen. So I’ve fed it Epsom salts, and a generalised liquid fertiliser with iron and nitrogen in it, as well as slow release fertiliser. I’ve been um-ing and ah-ing as weather or not to put pea straw around it for some extra slow release nitrogen because I don’t want the soil to retain any more water. It is quite sunny in Melbourne lately so maybe a light sprinkle will be ok?

It’s still got a few lemons that haven’t died yet (although about 80% did just shrivel up and fall off). I’m clinging to these!

Any advice would be much appreciated on this one. I’m very attached to this tree after all this effort, plus it was the first plant we planted in our “blank canvas”.

Lemon Tree Update

My lemon tree (the first plant to be planted in our garden) was sad for about a year. It had curled up yellow leaves and any lemons it would try to make just shriveled up and turned black.

I got advice on it from so many sources with diagnoses ranging from magnesium deficiency to insect problems to cold roots not taking up the nutrients. In a last attempt to make it happy I’ve ignored the feeding regimes on the seasol products and epsom salts and just thrown everything at it, including getting all my male friends to use it as their piss station at our latest gathering. And it’s looking better!

The new leaves are happy and green!

It’s even got lots of lemons on it that are yet to shrivel up and die!

I’ve got high hopes for this lemon tree now. I hope I can keep it happy. I wish I knew what the problem was. It could just be that the weather’s warmed up now so it’s able to take up the nutrients better. Hopefully I can establish it enough over summer that it’ll survive another winter, if that is the problem.

Lemon Tree Diagnosis?

This is a meyer lemon, planted almost a year ago. It has never been happy. It’s planted in full sun but the soil is clay and gets quite boggy. We’ve had some cold/frosty mornings in Melbourne but it’s spring now and it still looks sad. It’s leaves have been curled and shrunken and yellow for months. I’ve fed it nitrogen, magnesium and a couple of broad spectrum fertilisers as well as good ol’ fashioned cow manure and I’m running out of ideas for how to make this little one happy. I gave my neighbours a Eureka lemon tree (a gift for our housewarming but two lemon trees would be excessive!) and theirs is growing really well. Would love some feedback on this one. Thanks!