Well, if it is, indeed, Phytophthora foot rot (which is a fungus, and not a bacteria, btw), with a container citrus I think I would use Mike's bleach process is the way to go. Do the roots smell sour or bad? 20% bleach and 80% water, soak the roots for about a 1 or 2. Rinse, then re-pot in fresh potting soil. I would re-evaluate your 511 ingredients to make sure you don't have contaminated ingredients perhaps? It would be a shame to do all this hard work, only to have it start all over, again.

In the ground, for root rot caused by Phytophthora, it was recommended to me use Phosphorus Acid (Agri-Fos), since I can't exactly extract the tree out of the ground (although, in desperation, I DID do exactly that, and re-potted my Chironja into a pot, and was able to save it.) But, I think the bleach solution approach is the way to go, it will be faster, and I think give you faster results. You could then treat this tree on occasion with Agri-Fos if you think there could be some low residual disease still on the roots. This would take care of any "leftover" fungus that might come back in ideal conditions.

Patty S.

Patty, great suggestions!

Have you determined why it has root rot? What the cause might be?

Mike:-)

I bought it pretty late in the season and just never moved it from the pot and soil it came with earlier in the fall. I was hoping the reduced water would help, that it would gt better, and then to a 511 mix. I think the soil it came in is too dense and we had a real wet fall. Just bad timing.

I should be able to use the bleach tomorrow. Should I trim any roots or canopy. I did not really notice any sour smell.

Yes, I think the potting mix mostly to blame, making it difficult to water properly.

Is there any sign of Spider Mite damage that might have caused the leaf-curl previously?

Remove any rotted roots, of course. Can you post a pic of the overall canopy?

Josh

Here is a canopy pic from a month or so ago. I wish it still looked this good. Much more drooping and curling of the leaves. Looks pretty bad actually.

You know, it just might be too late:-(

I wouldn't do a thing to manipulate the roots in such a weakened state. In fact, upon a second look, I see many good roots.
I would do all the root work if it was healthy and I noticed a repot was in order before it got to that point.

Why don't you at least try using a wick to draw away the water as soon as it can be and help dry out the pot faster than it has been. Why don't you give it lots of light at this point and a fan blowing towards it to help dry the pot out.
Lot's of bright light together with a wick and air movement just might help the only remaining healthy roots you have to make a recovery.

I mean lots of light!

Good luck .

Yes, and please make sure you don't have spider mites. It looks like you may have them sucking the life out of the leaves too. You won't see them with the naked eye which is why I always tell others to use a magnifying glass. When I plant is weak like that at the time of the year, almost always do mite find their way to it furthering its decline, especially to the leaves that look like that. I would seriously spray with Neem or something even if your not sure.

Josh..:-))))

Mike

This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Tue, Dec 18, 12 at 20:36

I have been looking for a good article or post on the wick method. I am placing it by a heat vent to try and dry it out.

Would you go ahead and trim th canopy and then treat all other citrus for spider mites if I have them.

Hey, Mike, we'll chat soon :-)

Ark,
I would not trim the canopy at this point...just let the branches die-back naturally,
and then prune any deadwood in late March (or after the last frost, if outdoors).

The heat vent may be compounding the dry leaf issue. Mike's suggestion of a wick is
a good one. If you have newspapers, place the pot on a stack of those and moisture should
be drawn from the drainhole/s. Here's a good Thread explaining how to use a wick:

Question regarding the use of a 'wick' in a container

I certainly would treat all my Citrus for Spider Mites.
In fact, I just did this weekend. I plan on hitting them again in a few more days.

Josh

Thank you all vey much for your help