Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
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? -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
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. -- Sacha (remove the weeds to email me) |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
"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? -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
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) |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
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) |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
If they have been outside in summer,could it be vineweevil?I would lift the
plant out of the pot and check the roots. -- Thanks Keith "Sacha" wrote in message . uk... 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) |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
If they have been outside in summer,could it be vineweevil?I would lift the
plant out of the pot and check the roots. -- Thanks Keith "Sacha" wrote in message . uk... 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) |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
"kenty ;-)" wrote in message
... If they have been outside in summer,could it be vineweevil?I would lift the plant out of the pot and check the roots. Definitely not vine weevil but I've cut back the dead bits and repotted them today. Just have to wait and see I guess... -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
Martin, my wife is constantly fighting spider mites on hers. She mixes a
couple table spoons of liquid dish wash soap into a liter bottle of water and sprays them once a week or so. She also places a fan blowing toward them. Mites hate moving air. She prunes off the dead wood on those what died back, and they came back. She also waters then a couple times a week. Most of them grow in tropical areas. They get a lot more rain from nature, than "letting them dry out and then water them". They sue smell good when they are blooming. Dwayne "Martin Sykes" wrote in message ... 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? -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
Dwayne6/2/04 3:54
Martin, my wife is constantly fighting spider mites on hers. She mixes a couple table spoons of liquid dish wash soap into a liter bottle of water and sprays them once a week or so. She also places a fan blowing toward them. Mites hate moving air. She prunes off the dead wood on those what died back, and they came back. She also waters then a couple times a week. Most of them grow in tropical areas. They get a lot more rain from nature, than "letting them dry out and then water them". They sue smell good when they are blooming. snip Dwayne, no disrespect but if you're not posting from Britain, the winter treatment of such plants would be very different here. This group is geared to gardening in the UK and I think you're posting from California? We have lemon and orange trees in greenhouses or pots here and in winter they have to be kept in a frost free conservatory or greenhouse. Some, like the OP, keep them indoors but it's questionable that central heating and lack of natural light, such as most sitting rooms have, is good for them. But if they get waterlogged by over-watering and then have 'cold feet' for any length of time they will die, even in a glasshouse. Our Meyer's lemon in a small conservatory only gets watered if one of us happens to think of it and several panes of glass blew out in the last storm but it is around 5' tall and is covered with fruit at the moment. The advice you're handing down is not at all appropriate for such plants over-wintering in Britain and is more likely to kill them. My husband sells these plants and in almost all cases the problems customers experience are due to over-watering but most especially in winter. In the areas in which orange and lemon trees grow naturally e.g. the Mediterranean, the ground they are on is often sharply drained so while they will get rained on, the roots will not remain soaking wet, the rain will fall for a shorter period than the all year round rain we get here and in the Med. they will get a good, long, summer baking in hot sun that we very rarely see here! The same applies to those growing in California. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
"Sacha" wrote in message . uk... Dwayne6/2/04 3:54 Dwayne, no disrespect but if you're not posting from Britain, the winter treatment of such plants would be very different here. This group is geared to gardening in the UK and I think you're posting from California? We have lemon and orange trees in greenhouses or pots here and in winter they have to be kept in a frost free conservatory or greenhouse. Some, like the OP, keep them indoors but it's questionable that central heating and lack of natural light, such as most sitting rooms have, is good for them. But if they get waterlogged by over-watering and then have 'cold feet' for any length of time they will die, even in a glasshouse. Our Meyer's lemon in a small conservatory only gets watered if one of us happens to think of it and several panes of glass blew out in the last storm but it is around 5' tall and is covered with fruit at the moment. The advice you're handing down is not at all appropriate for such plants over-wintering in Britain and is more likely to kill them. My husband sells these plants and in almost all cases the problems customers experience are due to over-watering but most especially in winter. In the areas in which orange and lemon trees grow naturally e.g. the Mediterranean, the ground they are on is often sharply drained so while they will get rained on, the roots will not remain soaking wet, the rain will fall for a shorter period than the all year round rain we get here and in the Med. they will get a good, long, summer baking in hot sun that we very rarely see here! The same applies to those growing in California. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) No, I am posting from Kansas. Our winters here are much colder than the 3 years I spend in Germany. We put them inside during the cold months and outside during the summer the same as you do. We did it for 10 years in Colorado, (a more severe winter climate than here), and in Arkansas (milder, but where it still froze during the winter months). We have been here in Kansas for 3 winters. She has raised some citrus from seed and we have bought several. They have been a challenge most of the year, but a very rewarding one. She keeps them in a pot that drains into a tray. After the plant as soaked up as much water as it can, the tray is emptied of excess water. After nearly 17 years, they still smell great when blooming. We have eaten oranges and limes that we grew inside the house and out in the yard (some have put on fruit during the summer months that ripened after moving them inside, and others have started fruit inside and ripened after placing the plants outside. Dwayne |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
Dwayne7/2/04 3:32
"Sacha" wrote in message . uk... Dwayne6/2/04 3:54 Dwayne, no disrespect but if you're not posting from Britain, the winter treatment of such plants would be very different here. This group is geared to gardening in the UK and I think you're posting from California? No, I am posting from Kansas. Our winters here are much colder than the 3 years I spend in Germany. We put them inside during the cold months and outside during the summer the same as you do. Are your summers longer and warmer? That's my impression. We did it for 10 years in Colorado, (a more severe winter climate than here), and in Arkansas (milder, but where it still froze during the winter months). We have been here in Kansas for 3 winters. I have a friend stationed in Grand Forks, N Dakota - his remarks about winter don't bear repeating! She has raised some citrus from seed and we have bought several. They have been a challenge most of the year, but a very rewarding one. She keeps them in a pot that drains into a tray. After the plant as soaked up as much water as it can, the tray is emptied of excess water. After nearly 17 years, they still smell great when blooming. We have eaten oranges and limes that we grew inside the house and out in the yard (some have put on fruit during the summer months that ripened after moving them inside, and others have started fruit inside and ripened after placing the plants outside. The draining is very important but so is not overwatering, most especially if they're in a glass house where they could get cold feet. We're concerned that the OP's plants may be suffering both from lack of light and central heating. A cooler and more light filled room might be better for them. At present, they might be trying to struggle with the sort of heat they'd expect in summer months but without the light to encourage and sustain development. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk... We're concerned that the OP's plants may be suffering both from lack of light and central heating. A cooler and more light filled room might be better for them. At present, they might be trying to struggle with the sort of heat they'd expect in summer months but without the light to encourage and sustain development. They should be getting plenty of light now but the heating could well be a problem. They're on a table in a south facing bay window so they're getting about as much light as I can give them. If they're not too tender, I could put them outside in the greenhouse which very rarely gets near freezing or would that be too cold? I'm planning on putting them outside on the patio in summer anyway. -- Martin & Anna Sykes ( Remove x's when replying ) http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~sykesm |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying
Martin Sykes7/2/04 1:10
om "Sacha" wrote in message . uk... We're concerned that the OP's plants may be suffering both from lack of light and central heating. A cooler and more light filled room might be better for them. At present, they might be trying to struggle with the sort of heat they'd expect in summer months but without the light to encourage and sustain development. They should be getting plenty of light now but the heating could well be a problem. They're on a table in a south facing bay window so they're getting about as much light as I can give them. If they're not too tender, I could put them outside in the greenhouse which very rarely gets near freezing or would that be too cold? I'm planning on putting them outside on the patio in summer anyway. If you can keep them above freezing, that should be fine. If you can't be sure of the temp in the greenhouse never going below freezing, then a small 'frost beater' heater (if you have electricity) in the greenhouse, would be good. We have a Meyer's lemon in our small conservatory greenhouse and several panes blew out in the last storm but while it did take the cold and the wind, it never got frost. That said, we had frost a few days before the storm and the ice on the pond in front of that conservatory never thawed all day but it did the next day. The conservatory isn't heated but it is well planted up so may well give a very small among of micro-climate protection. The Meyer's lemon was fine and Ray says that one year it did get the frost, lost all its leaves and came back just fine. I'm telling you all this because it has to be a question of degree (probably literally!) and I don't want to encourage you to do anything that will endanger your trees. If you feel confident that they will survive the usual lowest temp in your greenhouse, then put them out. But if you live in an area which gets prolonged successions of frosty days, I wouldn't risk it and most especially not with young plants. We very, very rarely get that here and have even had a Fuchsia boliviana survive a day of frost here and there in the garden. Unfortunately, in that particular instance, the amount of sun it got wasn't enough for it to flower in the shelter of the tree canopy that kept the frost from it! It is always interesting to experiment and we do it all the time but then it doesn't cost us much to start again and we always have stock plants in reserve. Mind you, taking cuttings as a precaution is a good thing for any gardener to do. We have over wintered Salvia involucrata while S. confertiflora died and there is a Gordonia growing outside which Ray was once told would *never* survive outdoors in mainland Britain. But that is growing among a lot of shelter from other things. OTOH, I have grown things in my gardens in Jersey which are too tender to grow outdoors here in most winters and which survived for several years - making me feel very smug - only to have them wrecked by a couple of frosty nights and days. Polygala, Pandorea and Leonotis are those that spring to mind as particularly sad losses. -- Sacha www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove the weeds to email me) |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
New Fence next to Lemon and Orange trees | Edible Gardening | |||
Help - Orange/Lemon trees dying | United Kingdom | |||
Orange Trees and Lemon Trees | Australia | |||
Orange Trees and Lemon Trees | Edible Gardening | |||
Please help, my lemon tree is dying! | United Kingdom |