Okay. What in the Wide World of Sports is going on with my Satsuma Mandarin Orange? I believe it may be blight. I’ve seen blight kill gardenias and the symptoms on my Satsuma are similar. The tips on the new growth has curled up and turned black. Leaf drop was out of control.
Thinking it was potted too low, I pulled it up a bit hoping that would help drainage. A moisture meter is used to try to keep the conditions right. It was fed. PVC pipe was driven deep down to help with aeration. Nothing seemed to work.
An arborist visited the garden on another assignment last weekend and thought the tree was still alive. He recommended a fertilizer and blah, blah, blah. I want to know what is happening to my tree.
A little research by me helped me to think the problem is blight. I’ve pruned out the damaged bits with shears cleaned with rubbing alcohol after each cut and tossed the damaged parts away.
What has caused my potted dwarf Satsuma to go from this:
To this:
If citrus is going to be so danged temperamental, I want nothing to do with it. I want vegetation that thrives in the conditions I have in the garden without having to be nursed and pampered along the way.
7 comments:
Oh no! I agree with your solution, and yet citrus (lemon in particular, at least for me) are both beautiful and delicious!
I had a different problem with our kumquat this winter. Yes they do seem to be temperamental! The culprit of ours was some teeny-tiny blood/sap-sucking critter (of which I can't remember the name) that decided to use the 'quat as a host for the whole family. Oh yes...now I remember...it was brown soft scale. They left a sticky mess all over the leaves!
It's not scale. If it doesn't show signs of recovery this spring, I'll have to consider replacement options.
Too bad. I have two venerable old lemon trees that were on the property when we bought it 13 years ago, still going strong. I don't dp a damned thing to them, except fertilize in the spring.
We planted a blood orange and a lime. Totally gone. WTF?
One landscaper told me we don't get enough winter sun in the locations where those trees are planted. Maybe that's it. Anyway I plan to get a dwarf lime and a blood orange, and put them in POTS and figure out where is best to put them.
My solution may be working. The stick known as my Satsuma is getting a flush of new leaves. Fingers crossed.
All the citrus gets abundant amounts of sunshine. Lime may be next on my list.
A local nursery or two have citrus tastings to answer any questions gardeners have and let them sample the fruit to help choose the right tree.
Your pictures are absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing this link on backyard farming.
*Marisa - hope this is helpful.
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