My Lemon/Lime Tree Losing Leaves

[theduke71]

Hi all.
I have a grafted lemon/lime tree in a half wine barrel.
Its been going great for about 3 years now.
However it is losing a heap of leaves at the moment and looking a bit crook.


Any advice would be really appreciated as I am a novice gardener at best

Thanks
Rob

[imafan26]

Lemons do lose old leaves, but my guess is if it has been in the same pot for three years, the pot may either be too small or your media is tired.

I plant citrus trees in the biggest pots I can get. 20 inch pots are the best. I plant in pure cinder as it does not breakdown and I have not had to repot most of my citrus. Citrus planted in peat moss and perlite I have to repot or the rootball becomes tight and the water flows around the ball leaving the center of the root mass very dry.

In cinder, I do have to fertilize regularly. My oldest citrus is about 16 years old and is about 5 ft tall. Keeping citrus in pots dwarfs them, I do have to move the pot once in a while to make sure it has not rooted.

[dafo]

Hi!
Well, there is my guess. Lemon trees are pretty susceptible to a shock which is the consequence of temperature change or even slight change of conditions if that change is very fast and drastic. Did you move your tree to that location from where the picture is taken in last weeks? There is also a possibility of pest problem but what I have in mind usually occur on indoor plants.
However if the leaf loss was drastic in short time period (a matter of week or two) I wouldn't say it is the soil problem to be blamed.