Q. The leaves closest to the trunk of my two-year-old
loquat have started turning yellow and falling off. New leaves have started to
grow and they look fine. It was a 5 gal tree when I planted it. Last year the
tree grew very well and produced a few loquats.This year the amount of fruit
appears to have doubled but it has developed this leaf problem.
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I did some
research on loquat leaves turning yellow. They suggested overwatering might be
the problem. I give it about 24 gals of
water once a week. I checked the soil with a moisture meter and it does not
show being wet.
A. I cannot give you any definite answers why your loquat
has initiated leaf drop and yellowing of the leaves. I can tell you this; many leaves
will yellow just before they drop from the tree so this type of yellowing just
means that the leaves have died and will drop soon. The leaf color of loquat
without chlorophyll is yellow.
When the tree has initiated the
dropping of its leaves, the leaves will lose their chlorophyll and hence their
green color. The remaining color after the chlorophyll has disappeared will be
yellow due to the presence of carotenoid pigments which are masked by the
presence of green chlorophyll.
Most likely this tree went
through some sort of shock. This shock initiated leaf drop. The shock can be
related to water, salts including salts from fertilizers, a light freeze, toxic
chemicals or salts such as a high concentration of fertilizer applied to the
leaves, etc.
The water-related problem can be
from too much or not enough. For instance, if it went through a very dry spell
it will drop its leaves. If the soil is too wet for an extended period, it will
drop its leaves. If fertilizer was applied to close to the trunk or the rate
was too high for the plant, it will drop its leaves.
There are two types of
overwatering; one is related to the volume of water the plant is given while
the other one relates to how frequently the water is applied. The overwatering
I am talking about is applying water too often, not overwatering due to applying
too much water in a single application. Once a week is not too often in my
opinion unless you have a drainage problem.
If you do not think the soil has
been too wet or you have not fertilized the tree by either applying fertilizer
to the soil or spraying leaves, then I would just wait and see what happens.
If you applied fertilizer to the
soil and you suspect the application was too strong, then flood the area with
water and push the salts through the soils and away from the trunk and past the
roots. That's probably the best I can do without more information.
My loquats did this last year leaving 4 naked cultivar seedlings with green tufts of leaves at the top. Recovered and looks fine this year. I have no idea why. Phoenix AZ
ReplyDeleteHelpful answer. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteVery helpful answer. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWe just went through an extended period of excessive rain, and the yard surrounding our tree was flooded and the area remained consistently wet for almost two months. Now the tree looks weepy and the leaves are starting to yellow. I hope it will come back around as it bears lots of yummy fruit every year. Sadly it's to big to move and even if we could the entire yard was affected by the water.
ReplyDeleteThat can happen. Think of it in a couple of ways. Does a human drown faster in warm or cold water? In other words does a human or other living thing survive underwater longer if the temperature surrounding their bodies are warm or cold? Of course cold. Trees are the same. If weather is warm and the roots become flooded the roots can die quickly. If the weather is cold then the tree roots can survive longer. Trees survive floods better during the winter than during the summer. You will know the trees survival when it grows again or not. Wait and find out.
DeleteIf you believe this to be a wet location and the tree dies, then re-plant on a small hill that is level and at least 12 inches wide and the width of the trees canopy.
DeleteMy loquat tree is yellowingn too. We had alot of rain in the last several weeks.
ReplyDeleteLeaves yellowing can occur when the soil stays wet for a long time. This can happen in rainy areas or in the desert because of frequent irrigation. Normally the soil gets wet and then dries out allowing air to get to the roots. When the soils stay wet for a long period of time (can be one day in warm weather and longer for cooler weather) leaves can die, turn yellow and fall from the tree. If the soil stays wet for a longer time period then the stems that had these leaves can die. If the soil stays wet even longer then the plant can die. This progression is all because the roots are drowning. What to do? Pray the soil drains and it stops raining. That's all you can do for now. The plants will recover from this if it stops raining in time, if the soil dries and the weather stays cool. You will not know until this rain stops and the soil dries out (drains). You can wait a couple of weeks and check the plant for how much death occurred by bending the stems and see if they spring back (alive) or snap easily (dead). Otherwise you must wait and see what happens. To prevent this in the future, plant new trees on raised soil area 12 inches (a foot) higher than the surrounding soil and equal in width to the spread of the canopy of the tree (its width).
Delete