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lwally14

Meyer Lemon Espalier lost leaves

lwally14
9 years ago

Hello, first post to this forum. I purchased this Meyer lemon over the summer. The garden center said to be very careful of the root ball when planting, and to water once a week. I planted it against a south facing wall and watered about once or twice a week. I waited about 1.5-2 weeks before planting so it could get used to the area. I was very careful not to disturb the root ball, but before I planted it, some of the leaves were turning yellow and fell off. Today, there is not one leaf. What am I doing or not doing? Can it be saved?

Comments (6)

  • evdesert 9B Indio, CA
    9 years ago

    Have you fed it with any fertilizer? Looks like the soil is really dry around it and looks to be sand like my soil and I water my in ground trees daily. I'd start by checking your soil moisture.
    Evan

  • serge94501
    9 years ago

    Was this planted too deeply? Can you take a pic showing more?

  • lwally14
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Here's a pic before I planted it when the leaves started turning yellow. I'm in California, zone 9. I used citrus fertilizer after I planted it, but noticed no changes. Most of the leaves had fallen off by then. I will get some sand to add to the soil and see if that helps.

  • lwally14
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Sorry, the picture didn't post.

  • lwally14
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I don't think I planted it too deep. I kept the level of the plant level with the ground, meaning I didn't sink it lower than the level of the surface. Here is a pic from today. We had a lot of rain overnight so it got watered good. As I mentioned, it started losing leaves before I planted it so I'm wondering if I'm watering not enough, not fertilizing enough? Is there anything I can do to promote new growth?

  • johnmerr
    9 years ago

    First thing is to take off all the fruit; give it a good shot of fertilizer and water it in deep, then say a prayer to the Meyer lemon gods and have hope. Best guess, you have been seriously under watering your tree. The leaf loss you were experiencing before planting was likely due to changes in light conditions from where you bought it to where it is now.