Curling and Twisted Growth of Citrus May Be Normal When It's Hot

Q. The new growth on my citrus trees (Lemon, oranges, and grapefruit) are starting to curl up at they grow. Attached are a few pictures. They are watered every three days, 12 gals per watering.   I fed them every six weeks starting at the end of Feb with a balanced citrus fertilizer.When I had a yellowing leaf problem I gave them iron and spayed the leaves with Epsom salt.  Last feeding was Sept 1. I checked some of your past blogs but could not find anything that mentioned this kind of problem. Any thoughts or suggestions.

A. In our climate this is nothing to be concerned about. We don't have a lot of citrus here so many of the insects that might cause curling or cupping of leaves are not commonly present here.

Most likely what you are seeing is growth of citrus in response to our heat. I think the outer edges of the leaves become damaged or their growth slows compared to the rest of the leaf and new growth begins to distort.

You should not see this in new growth in the spring. In other parts of the country where citrus is more common this could be an insect related problem or an irrigation problem. In our case here and because it's happening on so many of your citrus it is most likely heat related and a temporary problem.