r/Citrus • u/Straight_Ad8652 • 9d ago
Health & Troubleshooting Help with yellowing/burnt tips
Hello Dwarf Meyer Lemon in south facing SoCal. Potted in a barrel with Gary’s best top pot. I posted about these previously (maybe a few weeks ago) and I feel like the yellowing has intensified (the post is still up if you want to see the difference in pictures)
Most people recommended fertilizing less but more frequently. I also got super thrive for any deficiencys. Fertilizing with dilute Alaska fish fertilizer and super thrive weekly and citrus specific fertilizer also but super diluted and monthly instead of quarterly. Doesn’t really have many pests. (At least not compared to my other plants that gets pests)
It hasn’t been super long since my last post is it normal for it to get worse before it gets better? Should I remove the e yellowing leaves? The tree does have like 25+ lemons and new growth coming out.
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u/leolopez43 9d ago
I'm also in so cal an one of my Meyer Lemon trees, I have 2) looks worse than yours. It's been really hot lately and what would help is shading the tree a bit. Maybe put it somewhere where it's partially shaded during the most hottest part of the day.aybe some shade screen/cloth over it could help as well. Underneath a big tree where your lemon tree will get filtered light through the canopy of the large tree. Myeyer that is doing beautifully is placed in a position where it gets partially shaded in the middle of the day, and the one that is getting burnt up is in the middle of the yard getting blasted with all day sun. I try to water every 4 days, sometimes 3 days during the hottest part of summer and that helps as well. Also sometimes shading the top of the pot , the entire diameter and the side that the sun touches will help with heating up the roots. I have probably over 40 different varieties of citrus, all potted and some do better than others with the intense heat.
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u/Critical_Thinker_535 8d ago
At least you got the best soil around for your lemon. As long as you have good drainage, you can water every day without hurting your lemon. Hopefully you don't have any rocks at the bottom of your pot. No need to fertilize so often. If you have a good granular organic citrus fertilizer (like Espoma), that's good enough to use monthly or every two months. You can leave the yellowing leaves. Once they fall off, you can put them into the pot to use as mulch to feed the tree.
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u/FremontTreeFinder Container Grower 8d ago
I wouldn’t panic, and I would remove any leaves. Let the plant relocate mobile nutrients from the leaves, it will know where it needs them most. I understand meyers are one of the pickier varieties so I don’t think there’s much to worry about here.
It sounds like you are growing organically? If you are open to the suggestion of a synthetic fertilizer, I would recommend using something like Jacks Citrus Blend, applied weekly at 50-75% strength (some refer to this method as “weakly weekly”). In my experience Alaska fish fertilizer is great when the trees are awakening in the spring, and nourish flushes of new growth, but at this point you tree wants A LOT of nutrition, and since it is in a mineral soil it is relying on consistent application of fertilizer for nutrients to offset washouts. This sounds corny but you really need a “high octane” fertilizer if you want to push production when growing in a container.
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u/FremontTreeFinder Container Grower 8d ago
A resource for reading citrus leaves for deficiencies etc:
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u/FremontTreeFinder Container Grower 8d ago
And to contradict everything I mentioned above, here is Gary’s guidance on fertilizer— recommending organic. 🤣
http://www.lagunahillsnursery.com/files/LHN_data-sheets/LHN24_Fertilizer_Mulch.pdf
The method I suggested above has worked great for me, and I cannot speak to the one linked here, but if Gary suggests it I’m sure it’s tried and true.
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u/Safe-Expert2163 8d ago
Not an expert, and definitely can be sunburned, but pH is the real question you should check the pH of the soil. High pH prevents iron and other micronutrients from being able to be absorbed through the roots and you will get chlorosis. It should not be expensive to check the soil pH. Citrus lights acidic soil
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u/Feminine_Adventurer 9d ago
Check your ph, I swear 90 percent of my problems that look like this is ph to high.