Orange tree leaf.

orange tree

You are growing them basically in sand in Palm Springs; and they appear to be seriously underfed, and lacking some minor elements. I don't know about the others, but Meyer lemons need a ratio of 3.-1-2. and lots of it. My mature fruiting Meyers get 3 pounds per year of 18-6-12 with 2% each of CA and MG and 1% Zn and Iron. I also give them a shot of chelated minerals every July mostly as an insurance policy.

Thanks for the quick advice Johnmerr. I think I will get some good earthworm castings and give the top a good fill. I have always pointed to the sandy loose soil, maybe when they were planted they didn't fill with any potting.
Heres a picture of the funky red leaf thats on the grapefruit tree.

Looks like a fungus to me; I am not expert in such things. I treat my trees twice per year with Bayer Silvacur and Bayer Leverage (fungicide and imidacloprid respectively); they are tank mixable and work topically and then enter the plant to work as systemic. With that treatment I rarely have any insect or fungal problems with my 16,000 Meyer trees. A bit of advice... organics, including worm castings are quite low in NPK; I like them, and like cow manure I use them; but unless you put about 2 feet of it on each tree, you will not meet the nutrient requirements of the Meyer. Again... as most people here know, I am a one trick pony; so my advice applies primarily to Meyers; but is not too far off the mark for other citrus.

John....If I may..?

I am wondering if the chemical products you use are harmful to beneficial pests and to your health if consumed from treated fruit? Now these are used for fungus right?

What do you use for pest's? Is the stuff you use organic, oils, or chemicals?

Do these products enter the plant systemically and stay in the fruit and leaves? I know there is product from Bayer that is used here that many can't use on fruiting trees but instead use oils or natural products.
Does it say if it is safe for indoor plants?

If it's safe, then I would love to get my hands on that stuff.
Thanks a bunch.

Mike

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 8:25

I grow Citrus on straight sand and IâÂÂve learned that you have to adjust your fertilizer applications to accommodate leaching. By the looks of your trees, they need more food, more often. The 10 year old trees should be getting 11lbs of 8-8-8 or 13-13-13 per year, divided into 4 applications of 2.75lbs (2 x 8oz cups is approximately 1lb.) through the growing season. My 1st application goes down March 1 and my last is Sept 1. Increase the rate of fertilizer 1 - 1ý lb of 8-8-8 or 13-13-13 per year through the 12th year or max of 18lbs of fertilizer per year. Broadcast the fertilizer beyond the spread of the limbs where most of the feeder roots occur a good practice is to put your left shoulder near the outer branches and hold the can of fertilizer in your right hand. You can simply walk around the tree and evenly spread the fertilizer in a 12- to 18-inch band on the outer branches of the tree. This is the foundation of your feeding schedule.

Supplement to this:

i) A small amount of nitrogen fertilizer (ü pound of Ammonium Nitrate or Ammonium Sulfate/year/age of tree or ý pound of Calcium Nitrate/year/age of tree) should be applied to bearing trees (trees 4 years and older) in late May or June. The rate of fertilizer is increased each year until the tree is 12 years old. This helps the tree make adequate vegetative growth and appropriate sized fruit. The additional nitrogen also will encourage the tree to set a crop the following year.

ii) A micro-nutrient foliar spray once every 6 weeks. I like Keyplex HG (http://keyplexdirect.3dcartstores.com/KeyPlex-Citrus-HG--32oz-_p_91.html#C3). You can tone it down to 2oz/gallon.

iii) An application of WEAK liquid fertilizer (200ppm) in between granular applications. I like JackâÂÂs 25-5-15HP (http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Jack-s-Professional/Jack-s-Pro/General-Purpose-Formulas/25-5-15-High-Performance.html)

As far as pest cpontroll goes, IâÂÂve had luck with:

i) Macho 2.0 (http://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/labels/Macho_2.0FL.pdf )
Application: 1/8oz/10oz water, applied to base of tree at start of 2nd flush

ii) Kocide 3000 (http://msds.dupont.com/msds/pdfs/EN/PEN_09004a35804ce82d.pdf )
Application: pre bloom, petal fall, & each flush @ the following rate:
5gal 3gal 1gal
(tbsp) (tsp) (tsp)
6 9 3

iii) Greenlight Spinosad (http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Organic-Control-Spinosad/dp/B000BO8XZO )
Application: 2oz/Gallon H20 + 1Oz Hort Oil as foliar spray every 7 to 14 days after petal fall.

This is what works for me in sand.

Best,

Skinn30a

Mike

Imidacloprid is the insecticide; Bayer sells a home version in the US. Imidacloprid is one of the new nicotine based products and is quite harmless; but don't take my word as gospel, some people have very bad things to say about it, albeit unproven. It only kills leaf chewing/sucking critters, and leaves most of the beneficials alone; it was highly recommended to me by the entomology gurus at Texas A&M citrus center. The other, Silvacur is the fungicide; and I don't know if it is available in US; you can Google it, or check Bayer Crop Science.

Thanks guys! I have a good plan of attack now. Definetly won't be using the bayer product, since I don't even like to say or even read that name I will be looking for an alternative. Also some of the suggested brands might not be available here in California.

Will be doing some mulching and dry feeding. They will get on a regular light liquid feed schedule too. Mostly compost tea type stuff and a good regiment of foliar feeding (at night of course!).

Still wondering what the red spot is. Hopefully a guru botanist will be posting soon.

I will also post as they progress a long. Also glad no one has called me out on my typo header "posting" =p Thanks again!

Wow. Horrifically underfertilized. Skinn has given you good fertilizing recommendations. Do NOT prune citrus. Ever. Only if you get a big water sprout. Citrus are tip bearers, so when they are pruned, you're pruning off all the future fruit! You'll never get any fruit if your well-meaning dad continues to prune your trees :-) Your trees are in need of both macros (NPK) as well as micros (Magnesium, Manganese, Iron, Calcium, etc.) You can try organic, but you're going to need very large and frequent amounts due to being in sand. Remember, inorganic fertilizers are converted in the soil to organic compounds your trees are able to absorb. Imidacloprid will not treat anything fungal. I would not worry about the spots right now. Let's get your trees fertilized, and fertilized well. The spots do look fungal, due to the roundness of the spots. Almost looks like Anthracnose to me, but that would be unusual in your arid climate. If you're concerned, you can spray with a copper solution for fungal infections.

Patty S.