Looks pretty dry to me (your lawn is completely dead, if that's any indication). I would double check your soil moisture. Not familiar with Dr. Earth fertilizer, what is the NPK ratio, and does it contain a full complement of micronutrients? I would say, assess your watering situation, and assess the fertilizer, and possibly adjust what you're doing. All citrus will have some degree of transplant shock, and this may be what you're seeing (no leaves, flowering). I would pluck off your fruit, to give the tree a chance to recover and develop a canopy. Otherwise, it is going to put all its efforts into fruiting, and not developing a canopy it needs to support the fruit. And yes, wind, especially very hot and dry, or very cold and dry winds are the enemy of citrus. So, if that's an issue in your area, try to make sure there are other plants planted nearby, to provide a wind break.

Patty S.

This post was edited by hoosierquilt on Fri, Jul 4, 14 at 14:43

Thanks Patty. You are right our lawn is totally brown. We water by hand only, our shrubs and trees right now. We are all anxious about fireworks on our block because we have dead crunchy lawns!
I water when soil is dry down to 6-8 inches usually.
I fear it is the wind- our street is a wind tunnel. There are no plants on three yards to the left of us to break the breeze. Maybe I will transplant these to the back yard in spring if they are still sickly.
Dr. Earth is what the neighbors around me use, they all have nice citrus- but all of them are closer to the house than my two are . I bet it's the wind.
Pea

Most likely the wind. Wind in the summer just sucks the water out of the plants. I'd water them at least twice a week or even every other day, especially if it's windy. I think letting them dry to 6" is the most I'd let them dry, 8-10" down dry is too much, in a new plant that's almost half the root ball.

My Bearss lime was doing very poorly in a hot, rather windy location when I was only watering it once a week. I've upped it to every 2-3rd day and it's grown twice as much in this summer as two years before. I was watering it like a deep rooted shrub or tree, but their roots are relatively shallow. So now, I water for a shorter time, and more often and it's really turned around!

Patty, here's Dr.Earth citrus formula. It's a popular organic food.

Thanks, Barb. That would not be my first choice for fertilizer. VERY expensive, and lacking in some things, but if your pocket book can afford it, as you'll need to use at least twice as much as you would a non-organic citrus fertilizer (which is converted to organic compound by soil organisms anyway, so why spend the $$$ on an "organic" fertilizer, imho), more water, and better wind protection, should help. Be prepared for another bout of transplant shock, though, and I'm not sure I'd be transplanting anything in the dead-center heat of the summer.

Patty S.

I didn't think about watering more, yes I was treating them like a regular tree, duh. That was dumb. I just see so much advice saying you overwater that I probably went too far.
I will up the watering, and once this box of fertilizer is used, I will get a regular fertilizer. Not much I can do about wind, I'm afraid. Will remove little lemons the trees are trying to make. I was not planning to transplant until it starts raining in fall (fingers crossed it will rain).... If I see good improvement I will let them go in this spot another year or 2.
Pea

I agree with the assessment of too dry. Unfortunately, i had multiple Myers and trees that looked similar. My trees are 2-6 years old and in the ground.

I have come up with a regimen that appears to have brought my trees back after drought conditions and fertilizer application (root burn). All that have been put on this regimen are responding with new leaves / growth right now.

The regimen: Every week I apply a solution of 1 Tbsp. vinegar + 1 Tbsp. liquid fertilizer (I alternate Foliage Pro and Liquid Gold from Master Nursery) - per watering can [1 to 1.5 gallons). I apply 1 to 2 cans per citrus tree after i wet the ground. This regimen appears to have allowed the damaged root system to take up nutrients during the summer low-watering conditions. I use vinegar because my tap /irrigation water is 9.1 pH or higher.

Here in the east bay outside San Francisco, i need to water at least every other day (lightly), and try to give them a soak once a week to 10 days. When temperatures approach 100F; I water lightly every day. [BTW: i am on fill-clay and most trees are on a 25-40 degree slope].

Allow me to explain further: due to our drought here in CA i had reduced watering and kept applying granular fertilizer (various - i cycle them). I am convinced the lack of water with fertilizer applications caused damage to the roots. The roots dry out, they burn, the tree can't absorb the nutrients from the fertilizer. I would water and the fertilizer already in the ground would damage the roots again next drying cycle.
I have tried to irrigate every 3 days during the summer months, but found that for my conditions, they need water every other day. Every time i tried to pull back on the irrigation, i got damage and further evidence of nutrient deficiency / stress.

I hope this helps. It is time consuming, but i have found its the only method that has worked to feed the trees during the dry summer months, and with a 9+ pH water supply.

I have been wondering about the alkalinity of water too, I have to acidify my aquarium water here, often times. I have good success with liquid fertilizer on my tropicals and potted plants so I am good with the water-fertilizer schedule. I am going to try this routine, it makes sense to me. Can't do anything about the drying wind unfortunately... But I can improve water quality and gentle fertilizer for stressed plants sounds good. Thank you for the detailed info. Wish me luck.
Pea

Good luck Pea!

Its the only way that has worked for me once rainy season is gone and i am relying on irrigation. Please test your tap water so that you know what you are starting with. I used a pool water test kit. My tap water is off the charts [beyond the 8.6 mark] in a way confirming the EBMUD water quality reports of 9.1-9.4.

I have three [of 45] stubborn trees that are not pushing new growth right now... and just this morning confirmed that the irrigation is inadequate; the location is full sun and the ground has gotten too dry. I have been minimizing the irrigation due to the drought, but will need to make an adjustment for them.

BTW: Feeding with liquid is also a good way to get any other elements to the tree like fungicides, Imidacloprid, etc. I just mix in the desired goodies.

Thanks to all the helpful advice here, my trees have turned around and are growing a new canopy, also the citrus trees we got from Costco this spring are looking awesome too. I use less vinegar- a tbsp for 5 gallon, not 1 gallon- and weak liquid fertilizer, watering every other day about a gallon. Worried about salt burn cuz we have very hard water here too... So far no problems tho.

I also mulched every tree in the garden ( all sorts of fruits) with a half sack of worm castings and a couple inches of compost, just like the camellias and gardenias.... Those plants looked the happiest so I gave their mulch combo to everyone else, the combo seems to really work.

Everything in the yard is dead but trees and shrubs- those are too expensive to lose, and I water them with buckets of water filched from the shower when it is warming up. It's nice to use buckets actually instead of the hose, I have a better idea how much $$, I mean water, is being used.

Now I will go do some praying for california winter rain and not another dry frost like the past two years!

Pea

mulched every tree in the garden ( all sorts of fruits) with a half sack of worm castings and a couple inches of compost

==>>> one might argue.. that you did not 'mulch' ... you 'composted' ... you improved the soil at the surface ...

mulch is different.. in that it shades the soil from direct sun .. reduces soil temp by that.. retards evaporation .. and reduces weeds ...

when you differentiate the two words.. the two concepts ... then you can understand the difference ...

i am glad your trees responded ... but i wonder how much more they will respond.. if you actually mulch them also ...

if you want to compost.. after mulching.. you would pull back the mulch.. compost ... and then replace the mulch ...

and finally ... if you add all that compost.. one might argue.. you dont need the fert .. or that you have to be careful in not doubling up with compost and fert ....

good luck

ken

Mmm, good point Ken, I will reduce fertilizer frequency.

I am from a family that uses the words compost, mulch, and mulching compost interchangeably- terms are hopelessly confused in my mind! I figure on mulching on top of the soil enriching compost, with the autumn deluge of gingko leaves that pretty much buries my neighborhood in November. Unless a better material is....?

Pea