Citrus in Containers with serious Nitrogen Deficiency - Need Advice

General Fruit Growing
21

Lack of sunlight causing leaf drop

22

Is it in a southern exposure with heat? Overwatering perhaps, that has never happened. When it is too cold the leaves will drop.

23

Citrus trees are one of the hardest plants to grow in pots up north of their growing zones. They start really having problems after their second month inside. I am zone 6B and they are inside 4 months too long to do well.

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24

Forced air heat and citrus don’t get along well at my house in the winter. Mine tends to suffer the same if I don’t keep them watered regularly.

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25

Well it’s the sunniest damn room in the house, so I’m not sure what else to do.

26

Sometimes,if sunlight is on the leaves and upper part of the plant,by a window and the soil is cooler,there can be problems.

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27

My potted citrus survived winters fine in the greenhouse with two months of 54/37F temperatures. They never even dropped a leaf. Neither did the ones in ground. Those are winter temperatures in the CA citrus belt. So something is out of balance where they drop all leaves.

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28

ive had good luck with my calamondin and kumquat in 5 gal. pots. i bring them in usually by mid sept. and back out in early june. ive lost some leaves but not alot. i have them in a south facing window. its also the hottest room in the house. instead of giving them big waterings like i do outside on my deck in the summer, i give small frequent waterings every few days. seems they like that better inside in winter. i also go lighter on the ferts. but give it more often. this winter will be my 3rd. winter with them so i guess i got lucky in their care.

29

Might I suggest you try diatomaceous earth pellets in your soil mix? I have it in almost all of my mixes instead of perlite and it’s been doing really well this year. It retains some moisture but drains extra.

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30

i use the coarse D.E in all my mixes. i believe called opti sorb from napa. great stuff. where you get it in pellet form?

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That’s the stuff I’m referring to Steve. Optisorb is great, I feel like I’ve mentioned it on quite a few threads related to drainage lately.

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