Lemon tree with fungal infection?

[Jonathan Problemtree]

My lemon tree is having a hard time.

When I moved in, the tree had a problem with fungus. Some of the lemons grow with white mold visible on them, others get moldy and die while on the tree. I decided to pursue "leave it alone" treatment since I know little about trees. Things were ok for more than 3 years.

Recently, branches have started to die. I was on vacation for a while, and came back to a tree where 1/4 of the branches had lost their leaves. All of the dead branches are on one side of the tree.

What can I do?

 

[Conquistador3]

How much water did the tree get while you were away? Is you area experiencing a drought? Contrary to popular opinion all citrus trees have heavy water requirements and tend to suffer heavily from lack of it.

if the tree had no lack of water, try cutting off one of the leafless twigs (not branches, a twig will do) and report back on what color it is on the inside.

 

[Jonathan Problemtree]

This tree is on a drip watering system. In addition, there was significantly more rain than normal.

How much water did the tree get while you were away? Is you area experiencing a drought? Contrary to popular opinion all citrus trees have heavy water requirements and tend to suffer heavily from lack of it.

if the tree had no lack of water, try cutting off one of the leafless twigs (not branches, a twig will do) and report back on what color it is on the inside.

 

[Jason Douglas]

Take a pic of the root flair and surrounding area too.

Some pics of symptomatic, not dead, branches would help too.

 

[Jonathan Problemtree]

Hi,

I've had to wait on these requests because we've had a couple of rainstorms.

Most of the leafless twigs are white inside.

Ive uploaded a picture of a lemon growing on the tree with what I think are fungal spots in it, a branch that seems dead near the trunk but alive at the ends, and a branch that seems fully dead.

The root system is not very visually accessible.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Is that tree sitting some form of box or is that a stick in the grass I see?

 

[Jason Douglas]

Seeing some saprophytic decay on some stems but I think you've got a vascular wilt and/or a root and crown rot. Is there a discernable root flair? Looks too deep.
Prognosis is not good.

Planted in a box or container?

 

[Jonathan Problemtree]

Yes, it is planted in a box.

 

[Conquistador3]

90% chances the roots are compromised... it doesn't look good.

 

[Jonathan Problemtree]

What does "compromised" mean?

 

[Conquistador3]

What does "compromised" mean?

Probably rotting because of poor/insufficient drainage. Citrus trees use a lot of water, but like 90+% of plants they required well drained soil.

 

[Jonathan Problemtree]

What can I do about that?

By the way, this tree is not getting excessive amounts of water. During the dry season, it gets drip-watered for 1 hour every 72 hours.

It does get soaked during the rainy season, but thats usually pretty short.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Girdled roots,
Jeff

 

[Conquistador3]

The tree is box planted. This means either the roots have become girdled because they could not develop properly (good call) or drainage in the box is insufficient/absent.

In my opinion your best bet would be to remove the tree, roots and all, make well sure the box has some good drainage and plant a lemon cultivar that stays small, such as a Meyer.