Finger Lime lost leaves (forum)

Ahron Page starts with ...
My native lime has started to drop all of its leaves. We only got the lime around 6 months ago and it was looking pretty sad then. We put it in a bigger pot and it started to look much healthier.

We then moved around 2 months ago and I have tried to put it in a spot where it would get the same amount of sun. It started flowering about 3 weeks ago and had heaps of flowers, but the leaves started falling off. Now it has hardly any leaves left.

Any help???????
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Time: 29th September 2009 7:12pm

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About the Author Ahron
Perth WA
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Don says...
Mine is doing exactly the same thing. Could they maybe be semideciduous?

Time: 1st October 2009 2:24pm

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Strathewen
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amanda says...
Maybe too much phosphate fert? I have only recently planted my first one of these and am wondering about phosphate fertilisers as it's a native? (but then again - not all natives have the same low threshold)
Maybe too cold at present where u guys are? Sept in Perth must have been freezing as it was pretty cold up here even?

Time: 2nd October 2009 10:29am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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Ahron says...
It must have just been the cold, because now we have had some warm weather it has gone crazy. Some of the new shoots are doubling in length a day.

I mainly only fertilizer with our worm castings and give everything a seaweed spray every now and then.

Time: 25th October 2009 8:51pm

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About the Author Ahron
Perth
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amanda says...
Hi Ahron - it's great you put the feedback in - now we all know for next winter!? I have noticed that some of my trees seem more susceptible to the cold too - maybe they are semi-deciduous too - my guavas have perked up lately and pushing lovely healthy growth. I thought they were sick :)

Time: 26th October 2009 9:48am

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About the Author amanda19
Geraldton. WA
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SarahUK says...
I've just been given a lovely Finger Lime plant a few weeks ago - I have it indoors on my desk at work where is gets the full morning sun. It started to lose all it's leaves so I repotted it with compost from my wormery. It's starting to lose even more leaves now! My desk is next to the radiator - is it possible that it's too warm? Our windows are single glazed, so it could be that it gets cold at night. Any ideas how I can save my lovely Spike.

Time: 30th November 2017 8:49pm

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About the Author SarahUK
England
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Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi Sarah
It's possible that the radiator is drying out your citrus. Redirect the emission away from your plant or reposition spiky. Another issue is lighting. It's winter now in UK and citrus needs at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight to thrive. I'm pretty sure your spiky is not getting the required minimum sun exposure. To ameliorate the light deficiency install a grow light bulb not just an ordinary light bulb. Led grow light bulb is better because they cost less to operate. Turn it on when your plant is no longer expose to the sun from noon until it gets its maximum sun exposure requirement. Another thing is don't overwater your plant. Citrus hate wet feet. Just give it a drink when the soil is about to dry but not totally dry. You can do the finger soil test.
Happy indoor gardening :-)

Time: 2nd December 2017 6:46am

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About the Author Fruitylicious1
TAMWORTH,2340,NSW
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mimimila says...
Hi,

So glad to have found this page. I got my Finger Lime about two years ago, a little over. It's in the ground. It's dropped all its leaves about 18 months ago, and nothing new has grown out. It flowers beautifully though! I wonder what can be the problem. Thanks!

Time: 28th February 2019 1:04am

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Original Post was last edited: 28th February 2019 5:08am
About the Author mimimila
Los Angeles, CA
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Potty Bob 1 says...
I believe Epsom salts may help , I think 2 teaspoons to 9 litres water ( Google correct measure ) . They also like bark and leaf mulch , like what they would have in the bush .
They also benefit from the occasional pruning .


Time: 1st March 2019 12:09pm

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About the Author Potty Bob 1
POTTSVILLE,2489,NSW
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Markmelb says...
Use low phosphorus Native Fertiliser on Fingerlimes ~ never use Epsom salts ~ is a myth ~ I tried and only set my other citrus back 12 months.

Time: 2nd March 2019 9:33am

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About the Author Markmelb
MOUNT WAVERLEY,3149,VIC
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mimimila says...
Potty Bob 1,

Thank you so much! I'll try right away..

Time: 2nd March 2019 3:13pm

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About the Author mimimila
Los Angeles, CA
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mimimila says...
Markmelb,
Thank you so much for your valuable advice.. Since I'm not from Australia, what would be a fertilizer NPK number approximately?

Time: 9th March 2019 3:33pm

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About the Author mimimila
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Markmelb says...
anything with under 3% Phosphorus is fine but if you can find under 1% even better - Cheers

Time: 10th March 2019 11:53am

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Original Post was last edited: 11th March 2019 8:17pm

About the Author Markmelb
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Bangkokii says...
Mine made strange tiny purple balls, it's just a tiny tree that i got a few weeks ago.
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Time: 12th March 2019 5:43pm

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About the Author Bangkokii
nonthaburi
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mimimila says...
Those are flower buds ^^

Time: 1st April 2019 3:31pm

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About the Author mimimila
MELBOURNE,3000,VIC
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Bangkokii says...
Oh i see, well they dropped and new ones appeared but they also dropped.

It is the dirhams emerald variety but this tree is so tiny that it's better to let it grow first i think.

Time: 4th April 2019 7:49pm

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About the Author Bangkokii
nonthaburi
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bruada1 says...
Finger Limes require small amounts of fertiliser every 2 – 3 months.
NPK (15:4:11) fertiliser low in phosphorous
Use only about 25–30% of the total annual amount of NPK fertiliser applied to other commercial citrus varieties.
It is best to also give small quantities of soil conditioners like seaweed emulsion or worm castings regularly e.g. every 2 weeks.
No fertiliser should be applied from flowering up until fruit are 1 cm long, otherwise fruit have a tendency to abort.
Be careful not to over-fertilise trees as dieback has been reported to occur.
http://anfab.org.au/edit/research_publications/growing-australian-native-finger-limes.pdf
https://www.sgaonline.org.au/finger-limes/


Time: 6th April 2019 10:53am

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About the Author bruada1
BUNGALOW,4870,QLD
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Melbloke says...
Good to know,thank you

Time: 25th August 2021 6:40pm

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About the Author Melbloke
BAXTER,3911,VIC
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