Disease on our orange tree
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My husband planted an orange tree last fall and it looked good until about a month ago. It got quite a bit of rain during that season. Now all the leaves are curling up and turning yellow and some have black streaks. Can anyone tell me what is causing this?
8 answers
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You need to contact your local extension office and take them a sample of the leaves and branches if they are also effected. The agent should be able to help identify the problem and provide solutions to help.
Catherine Smith
on Sep 30, 2013
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Thanks, I will give it a try. We live 35 miles from the ext service so not sure how soon I can get there. Just thought someone on here had the same experience or were knowledgeable about citrus trees.
Elaine Simmons
on Sep 30, 2013
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Give them a call and discuss your problem with them. You may be able to mail them a sample.
Catherine Smith
on Oct 01, 2013
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If you bought your tree from a good local nursery, I would feel free to ask them ask well. That looks something like citrus leaf miner damage, although the trails from leaf miners are usually not black.
Douglas Hunt
on Oct 01, 2013
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Couple of questions. When you planted the tree did you plant the root ball above ground or flat? Is there any grass or mulch around the bottom of the tree? Have you fertilized it at all since planting? Did you remove any fruit that set this year? These are questions your extension office will need answers to. If you planted the tree to deep and with a lot of rain the roots might be compromised, same with the mulch. Citrus trees are shallow rooted and hate to have anything on top of their roots. Even though you had a lot of rain it may not have been constant enough for a new trees. Depending on the size of the root ball the tree may have needed as much as 5" of rain a week to establish. You can try going to //edis.ifas.az.edu and search the data base for info on growing citrus in AZ. Good luck
Leona G
on Oct 02, 2013
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This maybe of help to you it's an extreme problem in California http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAE6KL3m2Tc
GreenSoil
on Oct 02, 2013
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I have lived smack dab in the middle of southern CAs citrus industry in a grove area near our state's citrus park for years, and we take this very serious. Living in AZ you are also in the path of quarantined areas for certain diseases. Without proper pictures of the whole tree it's hard to tell, but seeing that it happened so quickly my guess is either Brown Rot or Root Rot of some sort followed up with something else on top of it from your description. While it could be something like HLB, I think that usually takes years and I think you would have noticed it sooner. The black streaks on the leaves could be a sign of mold, but I don't know what kind. Bacterial diseases and fungus often follow damage done by other diseases or pests. Either way you really need to contact someone from your local extension immediately. Tell them you suspect that you have a citrus disease on your tree, as this will make it high priority on their end. Give them a full description of what you see and have done. They will send someone out to view the tree, so don't damage or cut it down in the meantime and whatever you do don't handle the leaves and wood and then touch another tree. IF the tree has some sort of reportable disease then they will remove it or tell you someone that can. In the least if it is something that can be handled, they can tell you exactly how to do it. The reason is simple, citrus disease is spreadable and a very expensive to the industry. All citrus disease is reportable so they can watch for the spread of disease, so follow up with a report to this website when you find out: http://www.saveourcitrus.org/ Never move fruit out of the area of a tree you suspect could have a disease or pest. And don't buy trees and fruit from out of state that have not been cleared by the USDA and never ever ship homegrown fruit out of the area.
Jill
on Oct 02, 2013
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Thanks Jill and to everyone else who responded. We found out that someone had turned the water off to our plants. A couple other Bird of Paradise that we had planted were starting to yellow also. But we went to the extension service this morning anyway and they put a couple leaves under the microscope. She is sure that it is just lack of water as she saw no disease. When I lived in Iowa I was a big gardener but here I don't know anything about plants so they sent us home with all kinds of material to look at. We got our water turned on of course and hope we can save the tree. By the way, I have an aunt who lived in Riverside and her folks were citrus growers in Hemet. Does that ring a bell to you? I am not sure how large Hemet is.
Elaine Simmons
on Oct 02, 2013
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