So I am growing a couple grapefruit plants (from seeds) in my kitchen, and after about 2 years they are an ok size (I actually just cut them back because the branches at the ends seem to be drying out) the issue I’m having is that they continue to drop their leaves. They are constantly bursting with new leaves, but the old ones drop off as almost as soon as they are full grown, sometimes they are a bit brown but usually they just look like totally healthy leaves that have fallen off. Sometimes the leaves grow a bit curvy.
I just changed the soil type to a citrus cactus mix, and was going to wash the roots because I thought maybe it was root rot, but when I took the soil off the roots seemed fine… Though admittedly I am not an expert so not totally sure what to look for with root rot They did not seem rotten or moldy or mushy or anything like that.
Just looking for some guidance, the plant seems determined to keep living and I’m determined to help it but I don’t know what to do about the leaf drop.
Our airport used to be called greater Cincinnati airport. The airport is in Kentucky while Cincinnati is in Ohio. Kentucky changed the name to “CVG” airport. I thought you may live near our airport or were involved with the renaming of it. I was just wondering if we were in the same general area
I am no citrus pro, but my experience was similar to yours. Once I added a led grow light it no longer dropped it leaves. I think it is more a light issue than a nutrient isssue. Even in a s window, the angle of light is lower (less direct = less energy) so the light is less direct on the leaves. Also, the lower light angle causes more of the spectrum to bounce off your window in a ricochet effect. So even less light will make it in for the plant. I would add a small 50-100 watt led and give it 13 hours on a day. I bet the leaves begin to grow back with vigor.
I would agree that this is a low light issue. Unless you are overwatering the pot, it is likely they are not getting enough sunlight. I have some citrus plants in the window right now here in NYC and the one with less exposure has definitely dropped a bunch of leaves.
Can’t say I’m an expert but yeah I’d wager they need more light. Also just based on the picture and knowing NYC apartment layouts it doesnt look like it gets a ton of sun. What do you do during the year? If its two years old does it just grow ok where it is during the summer? Do you put it outside?
The other thing to think about would also be light duration. If its fine in that location with sunlight during the rest of the year during winter it will get less light because of shorter day length and different angle of the sun in the sky. If you have a building nearby that could easily block out much of the sun etc… Again Im no expert but at least for one of my lime plants, it lost a bunch of leaves but since the equinox it hasn’t lost one so I think it has since responded to increased length of day.
The item you posted I would avoid personally, those lights are not nearly as powerful as they claim and I bought a similar one years ago that broke within a week. Depends what you plan to do. If you want to leave it in (your kitchen Im guessing) a spiderfarmer might be super bright and you probably dont want to be staring at it at all. If you want to go all out and have an excuse to grow lots of other stuff you’d probably have a blast getting a cheap but decent light like a Mars Hydro/SpiderFarmer/HLG or really anything with samsung diodes is fine. If you just want to keep it alive until it can go outside in full sun or something you can get an extra light fixture or two and hang them above but fairly close to the plant. Just buy decent LED/incandescent plant grow light bulbs from home depot/hardware/store/amazon and screw em in.Or check out craigslist- usually a steady decent supply of used grow lights and sometimes people just want to get rid of them so very cheap.
Hopefully someone else will chime in because citrus is a very popular container plant but regardless it will do better with real/intense light.
Hmmm, It currently just lives in my kitchen window, not a lot of options for hanging a large light setup, But thanks so much everyone for the advice, I will try a light and see if it helps, fingers crossed!
-c-
It is the bear minimum of light needed to support zero to minimal winter growth. The bulbs are 9 watts each with 750 daylight lumens. $2.09 each from Walmart mail order.
Look at this listing. Plant grow lights, Clamping lamps - farm & garden - by owner - sale - craigslist
If you have these fixtures or desk lamps like poncirusguy shows you could definitely use one or two of these type of set ups for your mini grapefruit to keep it growing until spring. But unless you can put it in direct uninterrupted sunlight for the entire day it will never grow a fruit for you pretty much(Maybe a fire escape type deal in the right spot). Citrus leaves can be good in cooking but other than that dont expect anything from them. And youll probably have this same issue every winter if you dont have minimal lighting
@cvg.designs, I think that what @Richard is alluding to is that a grapefruit tree is going to need significantly more space and sunlight than you have available, and that a tree grown from seed is going to be better if a scion is grafted onto the rootstock you are presently growing.
So I added a little grow light and it has three big shiny leaves and some little buds all over, it’s definitely helping! I may upgrade to a bigger light or an additional light, but now I have another question which is: Do you know why the leaves would be cupping and rippling like this?
