Lemon tree leaves falling/bitten off? (forum)

Talyda starts with ...
Hi there! Hoping someone can help me =)

I bought a lemon tree about 4 weeks ago, I've planted it and been watering it every other day.

It's in clay soil, but when I've planted it, I made the hole twice as big around as the base of the tree (maybe even a little bigger) and filled with potting mix, and am buying a bottle of stuff tomorrow that is supposed to help break up the clay soil. (sorry if I'm going on too much, want to try and make sure you have all the information! ;))

Anyways, I seem to be losing a lot of leaves. There's a few black ants on the tree, only like a half dozen or so, I know that there's earwigs in the peastraw that I've mulched with, but I haven't noticed any in the tree (they are in EVERYTHING around here =P)

When I looked today, I thought I'd grab a few leaves and see if they are just "pulling" off with nearly no pressure put on them, but then I noticed that there's at least a half dozen that seem to be bent in the middle of the leaf stem, and that where they are bent, they seem to be "thinner" not sure if they are being eaten right there or not, but that definitely seems to be where the problem is.

I can't see any obvious signs of anything else wrong, just losing SO many leaves!

I can take photo's if it will help at all =)

Thanks in advance for ANY help!

Time: 25th November 2008 8:54am

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About the Author Talyda
Sth Aus
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Mango-grower says...
I had a lemon that was planted in clay soil in a hole with good soil and looked miserable. After about two months I dug it up, put a 30cm high mound of bought soil over the hole and planted it in the mound with extra manure and sulphate of potash in the bought soil. It is growing like crazy now and has flowers and little lemons. I think a lot of lemon problems are caused by poor drainage or not enough fertilizer. This can make the leaves go pale and fall off.

Time: 25th November 2008 9:46am

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About the Author Mangogrower1
Brisbane
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Jantina says...
Sounds like good advice to me .

Time: 25th November 2008 4:18pm

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About the Author Jantina
Mt. Gambier S.A.
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Talyda says...
Thanks both =)

Time: 26th November 2008 2:45pm

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About the Author Talyda
Sth Aus
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Julie Walker says...
About the ant problem. I have a Meyer lemon tree - in a pot - which produced plenty of fruit last year. This year it had about 40 lemons starting to bud - but the tree is covered in ants and all the buds have dropped off. Any clues on what to use to get rid of ants on a fruit tree? Obviously don't want to use chemicals - but it is so disappointing to see a healthy lemon tree disappear and it is covered in hudreds of ants.

Would be grateful for any suggestions.

Time: 3rd December 2008 10:08am

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Vic
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kaylene says...
Hi Julie

I have the same problem with ants on my lemon and orange tree. They are both only about 5ft tall but all their buds have dropped off and there are ants all over them. I don't know if its the ants or something else is wrong with them. They are both in the ground attached to lattice against a fence.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Time: 25th October 2009 2:20pm

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About the Author kaylene1
WA
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Wayne says...
Have a look here Kaylene
https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum/ants-on-citrus/

Time: 25th October 2009 4:29pm

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About the Author Wayne
Mackay QLD
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