Indoor lemon tree leaves suddenly all dried up - Ask Extension
I have an indoor lemon tree grown from a seed on a whim 6 years ago. It turned into a thriving and beautiful, healthy tree. 1 month ago, the leaves su...
Knowledgebase
Indoor lemon tree leaves suddenly all dried up #439829
Asked February 07, 2018, 8:45 AM EST
I have an indoor lemon tree grown from a seed on a whim 6 years ago. It turned into a thriving and beautiful, healthy tree. 1 month ago, the leaves suddenly and inexplicably started drooping and now are curling up and completely dried out. It started with a couple leaves and now the whole tree’s leaves are crunchy and crumble to pieces if touched. I’ve been watering whenever the soil feels dry more than 1 inch down. Leaves are still bright green and branches are green, just the leaves are dead. I fertilize with liquid Miracle Grow every other watering in the winter. He hasn’t been repotted in 4 years. Help! Our tree has been a member of the family and we named him Pucker.
Carver County Minnesota
Expert Response
The plant's relatively sudden collapse suggests that something has severely reduced water flow to the leaves. Overwatering and underwatering often have this effect and most commonly cause houseplants to fail. However, based on your care practices, we suspect that the plant may be affected by too much fertilizer. Most indoor container grown plants need little or no fertilizer in winter. Concentrated fertilizer salts damage roots. Go here to learn about that:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/soluble-salts-damaging-houseplants
Exposure to cold temperatures or drafts can also cause the conditions shown in the photos.
Citrus plants can recover from complete defoliation so if the problem is corrected, the lemon will probably replace its leaves.
Go here to learn more about diagnosing and resolving houseplant health problems:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/homeowners/090123.html
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/soluble-salts-damaging-houseplants
Exposure to cold temperatures or drafts can also cause the conditions shown in the photos.
Citrus plants can recover from complete defoliation so if the problem is corrected, the lemon will probably replace its leaves.
Go here to learn more about diagnosing and resolving houseplant health problems:
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/homeowners/090123.html
