Martin Sykes5/2/04 10:42
om

"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
Martin Sykes5/2/04 8:37


om

I've got a small lemon tree and a variety of small orange each in a pot.
This winter, they've both lost their leaves which didn't worry me too
much
as it happened to the orange last year as well and it survived OK and
fruited again this year. But, now they are both dying back from the
tips. No
sign of any bugs on the trees or in the soil. I'm misting every day now
to
try and revive them but the orange tree in particular is looking very
sad.
The stems are still green further down so they're not dead yet.

Any idea what ails them?

Over watering or did they get frosted, by any chance? When we have
customers having trouble with these, those are the usual problems,
especially the former plus lack of drainage between waterings.
--


I don't think they got overwatered - I let the compost dry out completely
between waterings. And I doubt frost as they're in the living room.

In your experience, are they likely to recover or should I just look at
replacing them?

Ray's experience ;-) says don't water them them until they're absolutely
bone dry and do make sure they really are before watering and let them drain
well. I'm not saying this applies to you at all but for the benefit of
others, we have had customers come in swearing they haven't over watered
things and Ray lifts them out of the pot to have them drip all over his
feet! Even half a pint of undrained water can be damaging.
If they're in a living room, rather than a conservatory or greenhouse, it
*could* be lack of light. He also says you have nothing to lose by waiting
until spring. Ours which are in greenhouses, tend to go through a very
tatty period for a while.
Presumably they're not right on top of a radiator and being dehydrated? If
so, move them, if not he suggests just leave them alone and don't even mist
them. Hard to tell without seeing them but there's nothing to be lost by
waiting until spring.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds to email me)