is it normal for an indoor orange tree to have all its leaves dry and curl up. Is this just aleaf drop?

Question

Is it normal to have a sudden change like this in an indoor orange tree? The room is usually at least 62 degrees, sunny and watered once a week. The fruit is ready but small. I live in Canada zone 5. I have other indoor trees that drop their leaves is this the same thing? I don't want this tree to die as it was expensive and iI really like it. Any info would be appreciated

Answer 1

I have an indoor calamondin (small oranges) and a ponderosa lemon tree. Whenever my leaves drop, it means something is wrong. I have to make sure the tree is watered (which does not seem to be an issue), the temperature (which you may have a little cold at 62 degrees) My living room is 68 and it is hard to get my trees through the winter at that temp, but they are really happy in the spring/summer at 70-90 degrees (I live in PA - USA). These are tropical plants so it may have to do with that. You might also have some kind of parisite. My trees also inevitably get spider mites (google it if you need to). The mites make the leaves curl and eventually drop. I noticed a leaf drop in my ponderosa this year and it happened to be that. You may also need to fertilize....other than those four things that is all I can think of. Oh, and I cannot forget about light - without substantial light for these tropical trees, they will have problems. So if I were you, I would check over these five areas and see where you stand or what you may need to do/change. I understand what you mean about the trees being expensive - they are! I hope you have better luck with your trees and they make it!!!

Answer 2

It is not normal for citrus to lose its leaves like that. My first suspicion is that you have over watered, or that you do not have enough drainage.

In Florida where I am, the soil is very sandy, so if you pour a gallon of water on the ground, it doesn't go anywhere but straight down, as a result the roots get a lot of air. If you dig down into the pot and it has a lot of clay, or a bit of washed off root is black instead of tawny white, then that would be your problem. The prognosis under that condition is not good.

It is less possible that you have underwatered, if you find that the soil is dry and sandy and the roots are white then that is a possibility. Fortunately a good amount of watering has a better chance of the tree surviving. I have had some citrus that was severely underwatered and had it come back.

Being in a heated house your air is very dry, so lack of water might be a problem. Also a citrus is very sun loving, not even liking shade much, so getting enough light in Canada in the winter is a real issue and I would guess you would need a lot of "grow" lights if you want to keep it happy

Mites and scale can be a problem but I presume that you would have mentioned either the scale insects or the curly leaves that indicate mites.

Answer 3

Yes it is i learned about it in science it meens there is some kind of chemical in it i think it is called axon it meens that if a plant needs light it will start leaning to the light and if it does not get light the leaves will turn brown, curl up , and adventoly fall off.