Hello,

I bought this dwarf tree and planted it into the ground on 05/30/07. I planted it in a mixture of cactus mix and existing soil (as advised by the nursery) and applied root stimulator (as advised by my green thumbed neighbor) to the root ball. I also put a layer of Gro Mulch, as advised by the nursery, which I removed yesterday after reading several threads on this site stating that mulch is bad for citrus.

On 06/01/07 and 07/01/07 I applied a 7-3-3 organic fertilizer containing mycorrhizal fungi. On 08/01/07 I applied Citrus Grower Blend with a .20-0-5 ratio. The tree gets 7 hours of direct sun per day.

I noticed on 08/04/07 the slimey trails and black dead areas on the newer leaves, as seen in the first and second pictures. And the newest leaves, in the third picture, are wrinkly and shriveled. The fourth picture shows one of the older leaves, which is turning brown. Is this normal? The last picture is a full shot of the tree. It was 27" tall when I got it and it is now 29" tall.

I was told by the nursery to fertilize once a month during the first year. I am beginning to wonder if that is too often? I water the tree every 3-4 days, depending on how hot it is.

I also have 3 other dwarf citrus, which have been getting the same treatments: a mandarin orange, a mexican lime, and a valencia orange. They are all doing fine. This is the first time I have ever planted trees, so I guess 3 out of 4 isn't bad.

Any suggestions, advice, or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I ended up taking a few of the leaves to a nursery and they told me right away that leafminers (tiny worms that bore into the leaf and eat the nutrients out of the leaf) are causing the damage to my leaves. She said they have been a problem in California this year.

They recommended a water based product called Spinosad made by Green Light, which I just need to apply to the problem leaves.