Describe your conditions (i.e. light, temp, humidity etc...) that you can provide. Any issues with bugs? What's your watering habits, how did the roots look before you repotted? How large is the plant?

My meyer lemon dropped pretty much all of it's leaves even outside mid summer as it started to flower, about a month after I had repotted to gritty mix, full sun, good water etc... I'm chalking it up to beginner's luck; but I've got it in a sunny window indoors, and it's still doing fine, just won't stop blooming! You'd think it'd know it needs leaves to survive but keeps tossing out blooms!

The larger limes, cara cara navel orange, kumquat, and a few other assorted citrus are doing great in similar conditions, so I'm hopeful it'll leaf out when it decides it's too small to fruit!

Pics would be good if you can post, but don't fret, just keep up the good habits and given the right conditions it'll stay alive and resprout leaves, and in summer leaf out again. If not try again with another plant. If I were to do it again I would buy a large one instead of a smaller, I think the smaller ones have a less developed root system and have had a harder time changing conditions.

Hi Ocelaris,

When I took it out of its old pot and washed off the soil I was really shocked at how small the root system was to be honest.

No Issues with bugs or anything that I can see.

The temp here now is around 22c ish and humid, as we are coming into summer. It hadn't rained (until today) for about a week, so I was watering every few days and fertilising every week with half strength fetiliser and some epsom salts at half strength too.

The tree itself is about 1 metre tall and is blooming alot, so not sure if this is just a stress reaction.

I will try and get a pic tonight and put it up.

Cheers,

Ben

If you're missing a good root system, it's not crazy to drop leaves with such a major change. 22c is 72* F, which is fine, but what are night temps? With a newly free draining soil, and smaller roots, make sure through the summer the plant doesn't have water stress problems. Just keep it well hydrated and you should be fine going into summer. But where are you located, or at least what zone climate? If you're in a really hot area, maybe some afternoon shade? I'm sure others will have more to add; but losing one's leaves is not the end of the world as long as you get a good root system behind your plant.

Great to know it is not the end of the world. Feel like I have invested lots of effort so far.

The root system was bad. Should have got a photo.

Night time temps are around 61*F. I am located in Auckland NZ, so the zone is subtropical/temperate with lots of rain and humidity, so that is why i chose gritty mix.

At the moment it is north facing, so gets the sun all day. Should I put it in a more shaded area?

Also have you tried things like rootblast to help establish the root system?

Thanks for the help.

I's not dead yet and it actually looks like it might do a whole lot better in a good soilless mix now since the branches have no die back. I would slowly acclimate to full sun by find a spot where it will get early to mid-day sun or sun after 2 p.m.

It will do fine in full sun eventually because you were smart and also potted in a white container that will keep the roots cool in hot sun, which by the way I wish they sold here. It's beautiful. I don't know why it's so rare to find light containers like that? Nice.

Fertilizing is a must, especially now in the grittier mix..Give it a few days and then start fertilizing. The small root system suggests a problem previously and I am having a feeling the mix you had that tree in was either keeping the roots too cold or too wet.

I am also having a feeling you had a spider mite issue or still do, very common after a long winter indoors, and never knew it. You can't see them with the naked eye unless it's too late and they have either killed your tree, spun webs, or use a magnifying glass. The cupped bottled leaves and dropping of leaves by now is a classic signature.

Spray your tree down with a good watering next time you water. Direct a good jet of it under the leaves and wet them every time you water with a hose. Don't be afraid to rub leaves while they are wet between the finger to kill any that might be on your leaves.

Your tree should be fine as long as you have planted it a good draining mix, don't over or under water, keep it in good sunlight and warm temps, and fertilizer often with a good one that has all the good minor and macro nutrients.

I'm curious, what is the pH of the water you use there? Have you checked that out? The pH of your water solution will make all the difference in the world.

Have a great day Ben across the pond. I wish we were getting into summer.

Mike

It looks like it is sitting in/ near a grass lawn area, if it is getting hit with sprinklers during grass waterings that would not be good. I would try to move it to an area that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. I would stop with the Epsom salts, it isn't going to do anything but add salts and create salinity build up especially in a container. What type of fertilizer are you feeding with? Most container citrus folks here on the forum use dynagro foliage pro and Osmocote plus with micronutrients. I know you're in New Zealand but those fertilizers should be available via the web.
Evan

I agree with evdesert, the extra salt from Epsom salts probably isn't helping. The magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) is IMO not as important as a balanced fertilizer. Ideally a 9-3-6 NPK ratio, and all the micro nutrients, which should include magnesium in sufficient quantity. I'm not sure about New Zealand, but I know in Australia they can have sodium in the water, and citrus are sensitive to that. If you have just plain old hard water (mostly calcium and magnesium), some of us put a little vinegar in the fertilizer solution as well. If you do have elevated sodium levels, you'll want to take that into consideration and probably lower your fertilizer levels. The vinegar will help keep the calcium/magnesium available, as well as the other nutrients if you have hard water. Dyna-gro "foliage pro" is the recommended version in the states, but I couldn't find anything similar on my limited searches for it in New Zealand, hydroponic shops if you have them, should have a close match.

The trick with fertilizer is not over doing it with any one element, as they all lead to osmotic pressure on the roots. Just a weak fertilizer at every feeding is ideal. I had my citrus on drip irrigation during the summer and hand fertilized every few days on top of that. Any disturbance to the root system will take a while to get the plant back in shape, pouting if you will. That's ok, as the plant is putting it's energy into growing roots not top growth, the key is to make sure that the stems don't start to go brown, i.e. die back. If you start to see that make sure the soil isn't too wet, and possibly less "heat". Afternoon sun is the hottest, but once leaves start coming out the more sun the better.The plant will still be creating some energy from it's remaining leaves and in a lesser amount the stems.

There are a lot of "recommendations" specific to root growth, there seems to be a myth and mystery behind roots since they're hidden, and really to me are probably the most important thing of all to a plant (IMO). But the best thing you can do is make sure air and moisture are there in equal quantities for as long as you can. Priority wise nutrients come in at a distant second to me (and I'm just emphasizing my philosophy here).

Some people say potassium (K) is helpful for root growth, some people suggest silicon to help roots or "root simulators" though none are a magic bullet, nor proven conclusively in my mind.

Top growth will come when the plant is happy with it's root mass, if it's not sufficient to support the leaves it will shed them to reduce transpiration etc... with a reduced root ball expect most of the energy of the plant to go into the roots for the next few months. Just watch the stems, Citrus are pretty good about budding out from dormant buds, as long as the stems stay "alive", i.e. not shriveled and dry.

It looks like you have the 5-1-1 bark/perlite/peat blend? There is some confusion about the term "gritty mix". To me, "gritty" refers to the mix that is 1-1-1 of granite chips (or other non-ph altering stone), expanded lime (kinda like kitty litter), and bark. 5-1-1 is fine, but 1-1-1 is more free draining. So when you say "gritty" mix, it may be people's recommendations relating to frequency of watering are based on the granite-clay-bark mix. The bark-peat-perlite mix is significantly less free draining, and will decompose over a year or two with lots of water.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the comments.

The tree is sitting in 1.1.1 gritty mix (bark fines, pumice(instead of turface) and aquarium gravel). I put it in this solution, as I am pretty sure the regular soil it was in was water logged due to the very wet winter.

I am now stopping using the epsom salts as my foliage pro has arrived (imported from the US), which should make life easier.

I tend to water it every 3 days if there is no rain and once a week if it rains a bit. There are no sprinklers on the lawn, so all good there. As for water PH and salts in the water I am not sure. What PH should it be around?

I will however maybe try and move it around the corner so that it gets part shade in the day.

Spider mites, now I hadn't considered that. I tend to just leave them out over the winter here, as it never really gets cold. Our record low is 0.5c and we don't get many frosts if at all or is this a mistake?

Thanks,

Ben

Just looked into the water here in Auckland and the PH seems to be neutral at 7ish.

They also add sodium fluoride to the water.

This should be ok right or should I add vinegar or use rain water?

Cheers.

Your water is fine, no vinegar needed. If you can collect rain water that is the best, it is naturally full of nitrogen which citrus trees love. My trees do very well during the years where we have more rain than normal so if you can collect your rain and water your trees with it I'm all for that!
Evan