dwarf Orange tree (CARA) dying? (forum)

Carly K. starts with ...
Hi,

We planted a dwarf orange tree (cara cara - from daleys) about 2 years ago and it has never really taken off, but this winter it just looks like it's almost dead! (the past couple of months especially!) It never seemed to grow a lot (maybe an inch or so?) and the other 5 or so fruit trees we planted at the same time (also from daleys) are all doing OK! (2 dwarf apples are steaming ahead, lime is doing ok (assume dwarf it's not supposed to grow in leaps and bounds but it looks healthy enough), peach & nectarine, haven't done a lot of growing (but definately have some good growth there and are quite healthy (aside from curly leaf but we've sprayed so i don't think much else we can do there!) We also have a full size lemon & nectarine tree there, the nectarine is going to tower over all of the others and the lemon is doing so so (considering when it was planted our dog pulled it out not once but twice! it's only just started to have some growth spurts lately. - also has had gal wasp which required prune back last year)

I've noticed though that the lemon tree's new leaves are yellow with green veins (iron deficiany i assume? - picture #2) and the orange tree in question has yellowish colored leaves, not distinctively veiny though. I applied some iron supplement yesterday to all the citrus trees, i had fertilised aobut a month or so, but i'm not always spot on with the fertilising! They're all planted in a small area (now fenced off from the dog!) and the orange tree is the little stick in the middle of the right side (on the east side - it would get most sun because a shed is to the west side) We are in a lowish area with a natural waterway behind our back fence and along another 8 houses or so, so it gets very damp when it rains. The orange tree is always under water when it rains and it's in the wettest spot (not sure if you can see by the picture but it's sitting in a low pool of water at the moment! - probably not so good for it!

So I guess my question is, what should I do? Should I put the orange tree into a pot?? Should I give up? (is it already on it's way out and not worth saving? We don't really have another area where I can plant the orange tree in the garden (it's either just as wet or else it doesn't fit in with the other trees) Should I put something else in the spot where the orange tree was? (any suggestions?) Or should i try to pull out the orange tree and replant it on a bit of a mound in the same spot and re-vitalise the soil?

Thanks very much, appreciate your help :)

- Carly :)

(sorry the photos of the "fruit yard" are a bit hard to see, and we use it to store some other plants in pots before they go in the garden so the dog doesn't get to them!)
Pictures - Click to enlarge

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Time: 13th October 2010 9:18am

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About the Author Carly K1
Melbourne
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Hayden says...
Put the lime and lemon in a pot to provide more room! Then maybe build the area up a bit. Other people might be able to add a bit more but that is my suggestion.

Time: 13th October 2010 5:03pm

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About the Author Hayden
Central coast nsw
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BJ says...
Hi Carly,
There are many people with more experience than me, so I hope they will correct me if I am giving you poor advice.
Your trees look like they are suffering from poor drainage and disease (citrus leave minor maybe?)
Consequently I

Time: 13th October 2010 5:06pm

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About the Author BJ11
WA
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Carly K. says...
Thanks Hayden & BJ for your suggestions & advice, must appreciated!

The plants are a bit over a metre apart I thin, but is that ok as they're only Dwarfs? (except for the lemon & nectarine, which are a bit further apart from other plants - sorry the pictures aren't very easy to see)

I think maybe for the orange if I pull it out and build up the soil with drainage as you've suggested that would be good, as well I can build a trench between it and the peach tree and Aggie pipe any of the water from within the orange "ring" into a pebbled pit there.

I'd prefer to keep them in the ground if possible, but maybe i'll try the re-planting and then see how they go and move to pots if it doesn't work out?

I will look into the citrus leaf miner as well and maybe get some sprays out on them ;)

the "fruit area" is a bit of a mess at the moment, the weeds just seem to take over, we poisoned them a few weeks ago and the dead ones are yellow but there's lots of new ones! the plan is to make it pretty with either pebble or mulch and try to get rid of as many weeds as possible.

Thanks again,

- Carly

Time: 13th October 2010 6:35pm

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About the Author Carly K1
Melbourne
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Carly K. says...
Also, should i prune back the orange tree? (and/or the yellow leaves on the lemon??)

Time: 13th October 2010 6:36pm

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About the Author Carly K1
Melbourne
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