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Lemon Seedling Leaf Problems
lloyd.joness48hxyZm
Posts: 2
Hi all,
I'm not much of a gardener, but over lockdown I thought I would try to grow some lemon seeds from supermarket lemons for a bit of fun.
They are now about 6 months old, but recently have been dropping leaves a lot and some of the leaves seem deformed. They aren't uniformly curling up or down, they seem more "blistered". Some are cupped while others (particularly lower leaves) have drooped but otherwise seem strong and healthy. Some of the lower leaves have also yellowed, while others have small yellow spots in the leaves.
I had a fungus gnat infestation about 2 months ago, which I treated with diluted hydrogen peroxide and neem oil together with some crumbled mosquito bits. This seems to have done the job, though I still see the odd dead gnat from time to time (seems like a few hatch but quickly die, every other day in the morning I will find one on its back twitching). I have been very careful not to overwater since then and may actually have underwatered slightly. After the soil has dried out from the previous watering, I give the plants a deep soaking over the bath, allowing the water to flow out the drainage holes and then return them to their trays after circa 30 minutes, so they are never sitting in water.
I planted them in Miracle-Gro citrus compost, though in retrospect it may have been better to have mixed this with some grit / perlite to improve drainage.
I have looked at other online forums and youtube videos, but I couldn't seem to find anything to explain the "blistered effected". Some places suggested that the yellow spots (rather than general yellowing) in some of the leaves are caused by pests rather than mould / environmental conditions, but other than the fungus gnats I can't see any evidence of pests (no webs from spider mites etc).
I have uploaded some photos to show the above and would be very grateful for any thoughts / advice. You can ignore any small white flecks, this is some sand I placed over the soil to discourage the fungus gnats.
Best wishes
Lloyd
I'm not much of a gardener, but over lockdown I thought I would try to grow some lemon seeds from supermarket lemons for a bit of fun.
They are now about 6 months old, but recently have been dropping leaves a lot and some of the leaves seem deformed. They aren't uniformly curling up or down, they seem more "blistered". Some are cupped while others (particularly lower leaves) have drooped but otherwise seem strong and healthy. Some of the lower leaves have also yellowed, while others have small yellow spots in the leaves.
I had a fungus gnat infestation about 2 months ago, which I treated with diluted hydrogen peroxide and neem oil together with some crumbled mosquito bits. This seems to have done the job, though I still see the odd dead gnat from time to time (seems like a few hatch but quickly die, every other day in the morning I will find one on its back twitching). I have been very careful not to overwater since then and may actually have underwatered slightly. After the soil has dried out from the previous watering, I give the plants a deep soaking over the bath, allowing the water to flow out the drainage holes and then return them to their trays after circa 30 minutes, so they are never sitting in water.
I planted them in Miracle-Gro citrus compost, though in retrospect it may have been better to have mixed this with some grit / perlite to improve drainage.
I have looked at other online forums and youtube videos, but I couldn't seem to find anything to explain the "blistered effected". Some places suggested that the yellow spots (rather than general yellowing) in some of the leaves are caused by pests rather than mould / environmental conditions, but other than the fungus gnats I can't see any evidence of pests (no webs from spider mites etc).
I have uploaded some photos to show the above and would be very grateful for any thoughts / advice. You can ignore any small white flecks, this is some sand I placed over the soil to discourage the fungus gnats.
Best wishes
Lloyd
0
Posts
I have them in Miracle-Gro citrus compost with an inch of sand on top to discourage fungus gnats. I didn't know at the time that planting in pure compost isn't usually a good idea. When I next repot them, I think I'll try a 50/50 mix of citrus compost and perlite, but I am reluctant to stress them by changing the soil immediately.
I can't see any caterpillars in or around them, but having looked at the link above it seems like it could indeed be Oedema. I watered them yesterday, so I'll leave them for a fortnight and then use my moisture meter to check the soil. Ideally I would like them to nearly completely dry out, but don't want to go too far the other way and get leaf loss from underwatering.
The link suggests increasing the brightness of grow lights can help, but the ones iI have are relatively cheap and are already on their brightest setting, so I will try and focus on keeping the soil less damp. They're all sprouting new leaves, so hopefully as the plants grow and their water need increases, this will help too.