Is my mandarin tree dead? :(

9 years ago

I feel as an awful garderer. It's my first experience of growing trees, growing these on a balcony and in addition in a hot climate (Spain).

I bought a sweet blooming (mandarin? I don't know the exact name..) tree a year ago. It had nice leaves as well. Then these leaves started to roll a bit, but I thought it is the high temperatures and sun. However, it had small mandarin fruits on it which turned orange in December.

Then suddenly the tree dropped all the leaves. I'm quite sure I overwatered the tree.

In addition I discovered there were so many ants in the pot, in the soil.. also climbing/sitting on the tree and doing something in there. I picked the fruits and soon after this the tree was blooming. But without any leaves this time..

So after blooming little fruits came again. I put cinnamon and coffee on the soil to get rid of ants, but it didn't work. So I planted the tree in a new soil and a larger pot.

Then the tree dropped all the small fruits as well. The top of branches got brown and looked like they are burnt. I cut the hurt parts of the branches and thought it was the sun - the tree didn't have any leaves to protect its branches against the sun.

It looks awful now. I water it 1-2 times per week. In addition I now discovered that its branches are sticky, they have dark spots on it and a weird white net everywhere.. like a spider net, but not excactly.

Can anyone please help me to rescue my tree? :( Or is it too late? I'm feeling really bad about this poor tree.. :( I appreciate any help..

Comments (7)

Helenandflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
Last summer the tree looked like that (P.s. can anyone say what could be the name of the tree sort?):
Helenandflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
Now it looks like this:
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Helenandflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
And this is the weird "net"

This post was edited by Helenandflowers on Wed, May 14, 14 at 8:19
orangelime1
9 years ago
Hi no it is not dead , still green in the branches . I thought I saw some new growth coming out of some of the buds . Guessing it is a clementine. I would take an old tooth brush and scrub off the scales you have just be careful not to scrub off any new growth that is attempting to grow.

Brian
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
9 years ago
Oh dear. Many pests here. Spider mites (the webbing) and it is covered in scale, which is why you had ants (they farm scale, aphids, and other sucking insect pests that secret a sweet discharge the ants like to eat). Remove the scale with rubbing alcohol carefully. Spray with insecticidal soap to get rid of the spider mites and continue to give the tree a good spraying of water to knock off the mites, and continue with insecticidal soap sprayings to continue to eradicate the spider mites (they are tough to get rid of - they may come back next winter if you bring your tree inside). Stop putting cinnamon and coffee grounds in the soil - that will not help anything. Instead, place boric acid ant traps in the pot. Also, you can try submersing the pot in a big tub of water for a couple of hours to drown any ants that have set up housekeeping in the pot, then put down the boric acid ant traps. Water and fertilize, and your little mandarin should come back to life. Last resort - re-pot in a new pot with new, well draining potting mix to get rid of resident ants.

Patty S.
meyermike_1micha
9 years ago
Patty certainly took the guess work out of helping you.

All the advice was well given in a thoughful manner and from that of Brian too..

Good luck with it..

Remember, the cause of all of this in the first place could be from the mix..I'd fix that as soon as I could..To a more porous one..

MIke
Helenandflowers
Original Author
9 years ago
Brian, Patty, Mike - you are fantastic, thank you! :) It's so good to KNOW now what is happening..

Tomorrow I'll go to the garden store, to find the components you advised (rubbing alcohol, insecticidal soap, boric acid ant traps and the gritty mix components). Hope I do everything right.

(.. And I thought it is relatively easy to grow citrus trees in here, as they are the most common trees on the streets!)

I'll keep you updated about how it goes. Thanks again!

Helen

This post was edited by Helenandflowers on Wed, May 14, 14 at 17:27