By Plant LadyWhen I moved to Florida from Chicago, the first thing I did was plant a Valencia orange tree in the back yard. The next thing I did was plant a Meyer Lemon. My idea was to add a Persian lime, but the Canker Police interfered with my plans. The oranges were sweet and plentiful, the lemons huge and juicy--typically one cup of juice per lemon--and I felt like a true Floridian, going out into the backyard to snatch citrus off the tree.
After the canker restrictions were deemed futile and lifted after Hurricane Wilma, I finally got that lime tree. Unfortunately, the hurricane also uprooted my lemon and orange trees, but eventually I got my wish and had all three.
The lime tree grew so big I had to buy one of those long pole pickers to reach the best fruit. Some years it produced so many limes that the branches would break at the point where they joined the tree and sag to the ground from the weight of all those plump juicy limes.
I brought big bowls of limes to the garden club, I gave them to my yard workers, the AT&T repair man, and dozens of friends who came over and picked their own. I made cerviche, gaucamole and would freeze baggies full of juice. "How many limes do you really need," I used to joke.
Well, you need more than I am going to have after tomorrow, when I will have my lime tree chopped down. It has been a while since I had one of those humongous crops, and the fruit I did have was much smaller, but I figured the tree was taking a well-earned rest. Instead, it was dying.
I am not completely sure what the problem is. There are so many citrus pests and diseases to choose from in Florida these days. It has some of the characteristics of citrus greening, the current scourge of the citrus industry, far worse than the canker that caused such panic a decade ago. But it also could be root rot or a virus.
According to my research, the symptoms of greening are "yellowing of the veins and adjacent tissues; followed by splotchy mottling of the entire leaf, premature defoliation, dieback
of twigs, decay of feeder rootlets and lateral roots, and decline in vigor; ultimately followed by the death of the entire plant."
My tree has mostly bare branches, mottling of some leaves, yellowing of a lot of others. A few blossoms, but no fruit.
On the other hand, if it is greening, is has not visibly spread to my other citrus trees--yet. But sometimes it takes years for some of these diseases to show their ugly faces and damage the tree or its fruit.
I have to admit I have noticed that my lemons are getting smaller--only about a half cup of juice, or even less, these days-- and my oranges never seem to ripen fully.
I am afraid it is only a matter of time. Growing citrus in Florida is not nearly as much fun as it used to be.
