What's up with my lemon tree?

[Bamboozled]

Couple years ago a neighbor gave me a struggling lemon tree in a 5 gallon pot. I repotted it into a 15 gallon and last spring around the end of March it was covered in beautiful flowers and looking fantastic. About 6-8 weeks later, the flowers started shriveling up and the tree stopped growing.

The same thing happened this year. Here's a pic of how it was looking in March- soon after this pic was taken, it was bursting with flowers:

Here's how it looks now:

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Chuck]

I think it is a mineral deficiency. There are numerous leaves curling downwards before and after blooming and a lack of micro-nutrients can cause this. I would apply Chelated Iron as it has all of the micro-nutrients. Take a picture at the time of application and another picture from the same location 10 days later. I would also fertilize with your normal NPK fertilizer when you apply the chelated iron.

 

[Bamboozled]

Hey thanks Chuck, will order the Chelated Iron and I've got 6-4-6 citrus/avocado fertilizer on hand. I applied fertilizer about 6 weeks ago and maybe it's run its course.

 

[cpp gardener]

You also have a raging infestation of a piercing/sucking insect like aphids or thrips. Use your preferred insecticide to control them and you should end up with a good crop.

 

[Chuck]

You also have a raging infestation of a piercing/sucking insect like aphids or thrips. Use your preferred insecticide to control them and you should end up with a good crop.

Which picture shows evidence of insects?

 

[Bamboozled]

I'm not seeing any bugs even with a magnifying glass, nor did I see any last year, but aphids have gone after other things (Brussels sprouts etc) in the yard before.

 

[cpp gardener]

The curling leaves are typical diagnostic indicators of piercing/sucking insect damage, as from aphids or thrips. The damage was done when the leaves were very small and they have grown out from that point. It is normal for the leaves to stay curled long after the insects have died, been eaten, or moved on.
It would have been better for me to say that the insecticide needs to be applied shortly before flowering when the new leaves are just starting to unfold, but before most of the flowers are open. Additional applications will be needed as new growth appears through the Spring and into early Summer.
The curled leaves will stay that way. If you want to know if it’s getting worse, you need to remove the curled leaves and watch the new growth.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I have noticed lemon trees generate a lot of posts. If you enter 'Lemon tree' into the search function top right there is an awful lot of information, maybe not immediately applicable, but possibly quite interesting.

 

[Bamboozled]

The curling leaves are typical diagnostic indicators of piercing/sucking insect damage, as from aphids or thrips. The damage was done when the leaves were very small and they have grown out from that point. It is normal for the leaves to stay curled long after the insects have died, been eaten, or moved on.
It would have been better for me to say that the insecticide needs to be applied shortly before flowering when the new leaves are just starting to unfold, but before most of the flowers are open. Additional applications will be needed as new growth appears through the Spring and into early Summer.
The curled leaves will stay that way. If you want to know if it’s getting worse, you need to remove the curled leaves and watch the new growth.

Interesting, thanks for the rundown. I'll try this next spring.

I have noticed lemon trees generate a lot of posts. If you enter 'Lemon tree' into the search function top right there is an awful lot of information, maybe not immediately applicable, but possibly quite interesting.

Thanks, I've read a few and will delve into more of them. So much to learn.

 

[River]

I get those curled leaves every year and I think they are thrips. It doesn’t hurt anything. They will eventually fall off and new leaves will replace it.

As far as flowering. My Meyer lemon trees will blossom a few times during the year. Sometimes they take and other times they don’t