Please help me save my Lemon tree

 
Hello,
I have a Mayer Lemon tree which is around 5 feet tall. I bought it
around November last year and since then, the tree produced plenty of
loverly smelling flowers that turned into small fruit. The problems
started then. The fruit fell off first and then loads of leaves. I was
confused as to why this was happening to a healthy tree, kept indoors
over winter.

Then the infestation came. It started with what looked like cotton wool
on the branches, with sap all over the leaves. Eventually, this turned
into scale. I tried to get rid of the small insects, using organic
spray, but this didn't seem to help. I read somewhere that alcohol kills
them, so I sprayed them with some cheap aftershave. This did kill them
all off, but the very last couple of leaves eventually fell off a few
days ago.

The tree is  now completely leafless and some of the branches have
started to turn brown. The scale has gone, but the brown is spreading to
most branches. I have tried to cut back some of the dead wood

The tree is in full sun indoors, but I am worried that the brown will
spread to all of the branches and the tree will eventually die off.

Please someone help. The tree has turned from a healthy specimen to a
bald twig in the space of 3 months. Can the tree be saved?




--
dmdrabble

 dmdrabble wrote:

Lack of light, humidity too low, overwatering, underwatering, inadequate
drainage, excess fertiliser....... some combination of the above.  Citrus
trees are not indoor plants it takes some juggling to keep them going in
tubs under those conditions, it isn't always practical to do it.  What is
the temperature range where it is?


If this happens again act more swiftly to remove the infestation.

I tried to get rid of the small insects, using

Insects often attack weakened plants.  Use pest oil with the insecticide for
scale.


It is very vulnerable now, fungus or bacterial diseases could take over that
you can't beat.


How many hours of sunlight does it get per day in mid summer and in mid
winter?


Maybe.  Keep it in the sun, make sure the soil drains well, water sparingly
and do not feed until there are signs of growth.  When the weather warms up
if it is still alive new shoots will appear, then feed in moderation and
increase the water.  Cut of any dead bits.  It may re-shoot from below the
graft, if so cut that shoot off you don't want it.   Feed again in mid
summer.  Hope.

David

 "a healthy tree, kept indoors over winter"
--

Is it still indoors?


- Billy

Bush's 3rd term: Obama plus another elective war
Bush's 4th term: another Judas goat

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
<http://theuptake.org/2011/03/05/michael-moore-the-big-lie-wisconsin-is-broke/>

 
The tree is still indoors, but I intend to move it to my polytunnel in
the next 2 weeks, as soon as the danger of frost has past. I thought
that in its week state, if the temperature dropped too low, it would
kill it off.


Indoors it gets quite a lot of sun from mid day onwards and the
temperature in my flat is around 17 degrees C.


I will keep my fingers crossed.




--
dmdrabble

 

I'd try to return the lemon tree to its natural conditions as much as
possible, e.g. warm days, cool nights, and as much sun as possible. I've
had a denuded orange (with its extremities dying off) bounce back
(snails). I'd move your tree to the poly tunnel with a light bulb,
perhaps, to keep the night time temp above freezing. In Florida, they
use sprinklers to coat trees with ice on freezing nights, so if you can
keep the temp above 0°C at night, you should be OK. Sunlight and temp
are what I worry about. Citrus wants at least 5 - 6 hr. of intense
sunlight. I don't grow plants inside, except for over wintering. The
humidity aspect came as a bit of a surprise. The average home has 15 -
20 % humidity, so you will need to make adjustments to meet the 30-60 %
humidity requirement. This may be easy to do. Either put your plants in
a very bright, well-lit bathroom where there already is more humidity,
or raise the humidity in another part of the house by grouping plants
together, using a humidifier or cool-mist vaporizer, or putting out a
few bowls of water that will evaporate and help raise the average
humidity around the plants. I presume that this problem would disappear,
if the lemon tree was outside.

Good luck, and don't forget to sterilize your clippers after pruning the
tree.
--
- Billy

Bush's 3rd term: Obama plus another elective war
Bush's 4th term: another Judas goat

America is not broke. The country is awash in wealth and cash.
It's just that it's not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the
greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks
and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
<http://theuptake.org/2011/03/05/michael-moore-the-big-lie-wisconsin-is-broke/>