About two months ago, I bought a valencia orange tree from a local
nursery and planted it in the back yard. Since then, it not only has
shown no signs of growth, but the leaves have also started to turn
yellow and fall off. There are no visible pests on the plant.

I've been soak watering once a week as per the suggestion on the tag
that came with it. It has also received cow manure fertiliser and even
some liquid fertiliser.

I have noticed some black ant activity around the tree, and wondered
if that could affect its health (if they have colonised the root
system, for instance).

I'm assuming, of course, that leaf yellowing and falling off is not
something normally to be expected!

At the moment, I am just crossing my fingers and hoping it will
recover. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause would be
appreciated, especially if something can be done about it!

David


--

David Trudgett
http://www.zeta.org.au/~wpower/

As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing.

David Trudgett wrote:
> About two months ago, I bought a valencia orange tree from a local
> nursery and planted it in the back yard. Since then, it not only has
> shown no signs of growth, but the leaves have also started to turn
> yellow and fall off. There are no visible pests on the plant.
>
> I've been soak watering once a week as per the suggestion on the tag
> that came with it. It has also received cow manure fertiliser and even
> some liquid fertiliser.
>
> I have noticed some black ant activity around the tree, and wondered
> if that could affect its health (if they have colonised the root
> system, for instance).
>
> I'm assuming, of course, that leaf yellowing and falling off is not
> something normally to be expected!
>
> At the moment, I am just crossing my fingers and hoping it will
> recover. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause would be
> appreciated, especially if something can be done about it!
>
> David
>
>
I'm no expert, David, but it sounds like you might be drowning it! The
little orange tree that was in our yard when we moved here gradually
turned up its toes and died with yellow leaves, fungus and black ants in
very short order after winter rains. We found there's zero drainage on
our block and *nothing* grows here except swamp-tolerant plants! (My
husband thinks that's just the biggest hoot...!)

Anyway, you might try laying off a bit of the watering for a while and
see what happens. Or, you could dig the tree up and try it in a pot for
a while?

HTH,

--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, Australia

"Trish Brown" <kawbrown [at] ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
news:OeDee.163$mg7.1638 [at] nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...
> David Trudgett wrote:
> > About two months ago, I bought a valencia orange tree from a local
> > nursery and planted it in the back yard. Since then, it not only has
> > shown no signs of growth, but the leaves have also started to turn
> > yellow and fall off. There are no visible pests on the plant.
> >
> > I've been soak watering once a week as per the suggestion on the tag
> > that came with it. It has also received cow manure fertiliser and even
> > some liquid fertiliser.
> >
> > I have noticed some black ant activity around the tree, and wondered
> > if that could affect its health (if they have colonised the root
> > system, for instance).
> >
> > I'm assuming, of course, that leaf yellowing and falling off is not
> > something normally to be expected!
> >
> > At the moment, I am just crossing my fingers and hoping it will
> > recover. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause would be
> > appreciated, especially if something can be done about it!
> >
> > David
> >
> >
> I'm no expert, David, but it sounds like you might be drowning it! The
> little orange tree that was in our yard when we moved here gradually
> turned up its toes and died with yellow leaves, fungus and black ants in
> very short order after winter rains. We found there's zero drainage on
> our block and *nothing* grows here except swamp-tolerant plants! (My
> husband thinks that's just the biggest hoot...!)
>
> Anyway, you might try laying off a bit of the watering for a while and
> see what happens. Or, you could dig the tree up and try it in a pot for
> a while?
>
> HTH,
>
> --
> Trish {|:-}
> Newcastle, Australia

I think that when you plant citrus you should plant it in a mound of dirt,
that is higher then the surrounding ground.
Read here http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/citrus/cit-plant.htm
and http://www.greengold.com.au/greengold/CARENOTES/CARENOTES/ci trus.htm
take note of the position section.

Trish Brown <kawbrown [at] ozemail.com.au> writes:

> I'm no expert, David, but it sounds like you might be drowning it! The
> little orange tree that was in our yard when we moved here gradually
> turned up its toes and died with yellow leaves, fungus and black ants
> in very short order after winter rains. We found there's zero drainage
> on our block and *nothing* grows here except swamp-tolerant plants!
> (My husband thinks that's just the biggest hoot...!)
>
> Anyway, you might try laying off a bit of the watering for a while and
> see what happens. Or, you could dig the tree up and try it in a pot
> for a while?

Thanks Trish, and Jim. I think you're probably right about the
watering thing. It does make sense after having read those pages that
Jim referred to. We don't have a swamp, Trish :-), but our soil is
rather more clay than loamy, so the drainage is only so-so. I'll lay
off the watering and see what happens. If no improvement, I'll either
transplant/replant it or re-pot it over winter.

Thanks for the tip.

David


--

David Trudgett
http://www.zeta.org.au/~wpower/

A person cannot support the policies of the Bush administration
unless said person is lacking in either intelligence or decency -- or,
in the case of Bush himself, both. "I just didn't know" simply doesn't
cut it when your proclaimed ignorance is based on lies that are an
insult to the intelligence of a child.

-- David McGowan, April 2003.
http://davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr34.html

On top of what is obvious about drainage, keep an eye out for scale insects.
The black ants will carry them onto your tree very quickly. White Oil is the
usual treatment.

"David Trudgett" <wpower [at] zeta.org.au.nospamplease> wrote in message
news:m38y2t5adp.fsf [at] rr.trudgett...
> About two months ago, I bought a valencia orange tree from a local
> nursery and planted it in the back yard. Since then, it not only has
> shown no signs of growth, but the leaves have also started to turn
> yellow and fall off. There are no visible pests on the plant.
>
> I've been soak watering once a week as per the suggestion on the tag
> that came with it. It has also received cow manure fertiliser and even
> some liquid fertiliser.
>
> I have noticed some black ant activity around the tree, and wondered
> if that could affect its health (if they have colonised the root
> system, for instance).
>
> I'm assuming, of course, that leaf yellowing and falling off is not
> something normally to be expected!
>
> At the moment, I am just crossing my fingers and hoping it will
> recover. Any suggestions as to what might be the cause would be
> appreciated, especially if something can be done about it!
>
> David
>
>
> --
>
> David Trudgett
> http://www.zeta.org.au/~wpower/
>
> As a computer, I find your faith in technology amusing.
>

David Trudgett <wpower [at] zeta.org.au.nospamplease> writes:
>I've been soak watering once a week as per the suggestion on the tag
>that came with it. It has also received cow manure fertiliser and even
>some liquid fertiliser.

Scratch down into the soil out from the trunk to see whether the soil
is too wet or too dry. Citrus like soil that drains well, but the flip
side of this is that it means they also need regular watering.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

leftred wrote:
> On top of what is obvious about drainage, keep an eye out for scale
> insects. The black ants will carry them onto your tree very quickly.
> White Oil is the usual treatment.

Yeah, when I read about the ants, I wondered if maybe the tree has sticky
scale on it.