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I have just been given a small Orange tree which is about 45cm tall. The tree will need repotting which I will do sometime next week. The whole tree is very pale and yellowing so I assume that the tree is suffering a Magnesium deficiency. I am unable to test the PH of the compost that the tree is in at the moment because my PH meter is not working. What I do know is that if the PH is out it can block the take up of Magnesium. Will the repotting of the tree overcome the deficiency fairly quickly or should I first water in a dilution of Epsom salts? If ES is needed now can anyone tell me what the dilution ratio should be for such a small tree?
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Best regards,
Greg
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Unless you are growing it on in a heated greenhouse the orange will slow down due to the temperature now anyway. I'd pot it on anyway and see how it looks next year before doing much extra feeding - check the compost its been in up to now, in case its too wet. -
Thank you for the information. I was only given the tree today. The compost is very wet and having checked the root system the tree does not appear to be pot bound. The pot that it is in appears to be the pot that a supplier would use. As I intend to grow the tree outdoors in a container during the Summer months and keep under cover along with my Lemon Tree in the Winter I will get a suitable container and compost next week and pot it on. Thanks again for the advice.
Best regards,
Greg
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The leaves could be yellowing due to the wetness of the soil,which can lead to a root rot. Try to let it dry out a bit. This information in the link is a good help,it says about keeping the pot size smallish for the rootball when repotting too.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=355Location : EssexComment
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I have a calamondin. It's generally recommended to feed year round. You can get summer and winter citrus feeds.Comment
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True enough in general - I expect this tree has been kept too wet and so the leaves have yellowed for that reason. So re-potting it will dry things out and give the roots a chance to start working properly again. Also the new compost will contain nutrients, so no extra feeding will be required until next Spring.Originally posted by Scarlet View PostComment
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I don't think new compost will be enough to be honest. Citrus trees are really needy plants, they require a high nitrogen feed during the summer which this plant has probably been lacking. Yes, wet roots won't help but feeding is essential for these plants to thrive in a pot.Originally posted by nickdub View PostComment
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Depends for me where the tree is in the winter whether it needs feeding - mine have to make do with a cold greenhouse, so they more or less stop growing anyway.Comment
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Is it better to move them indoors soon,they can become a houseplant for a while,carry on with the feeding,keep it going over the winter?Location : EssexComment
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If that's an option for you in say a conservatory, where the light levels are still high I'd say yes - if you are thinking of moving them in to a less light, normal room I'd be a bit more wary of doing that.Comment
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Magnesium deficiency generally causes a distinct pattern of yellowing from the tip and edges of the leaf inwards between the veins, with the vein area staying green much longer, especially around the main vein or midrib. This can give a green herringbone pattern on a yellow background, or a green Christmas tree shape as in this photo Magnesium (Mg) for Citrus Trees -- Figure 2. The leaves on this citrus tree show magnesium-deficiency symptoms. Notice how the leaves have an inverted V-shaped area pointed on the midrib.
If it's a more generalised yellowing then it's more likely to be due to nitrogen deficiency. The plant probably used up all that was there. Over-watering would also wash N out of the pot, and roots have more difficulty taking up nitrogen in wet soil.
I've found that nitrogen deficiency can be easily reversed. I had some left-over onion fertiliser containing guano and I sprinkled a bit of it in the pots of some plants that looked a bit yellow and sickly and I was surprised at how quickly they greened up. Repotting also usually does the trick.Comment
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as I understand it the compost needs to be the likes of john innes No3, as opposed to MPC, which gets too wet, and loses nutrients very fast, and let it dry out between waterings as they hate constant wet soil, think about the conditions in the areas where they originate from, I would add a good amount of grit to the compost when repotting, repotted now, and watered, kept in a cold greenhouse, I don't think it would need much more water before spring, letting it put out its roots into the new compost and be ready for the warmer weather...Comment
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Citrus should only be repotted when in rapid growth. early summer like all evergreens, damaging the roots at this time of year will probably kill it, just let it dry out and then feed with every watering.
yellowing is usually due to pH , add a cap of vinegar to bucket of water when watering, or a teaspoon of iron sulfate per litre of pot size before watering every time to counteract alkaline compost or waterLiving off grid and growing my own food in Bulgaria.....Comment
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I had a lot of yellow leaves on my grapefruit tree and also on the lemon. I sprayed the leaves with a dilute solution of chelated iron and also watered around the base of both trees with the same solution and within a couple of weeks the leaves were healthy and green again.Comment
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