What do I do with this 1 year old citron tree

by Rina
(Long Beach, NY)

I planted a citron seeds a little less than a year ago. I'm unsure what I need to do in terms of pruning or anything else for that matter. I've attached a picture. It recently started losing quite a few leaves.

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Sep 18, 2020

Confused
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

You're calling this 'citron' but citron is a type of squash. You mean Citrus, which are lemon and orange and similar plants, which usually grow to be a fair sized tree in warmer climates.

Unfortunately, this means that you may have trouble growing them in your area, which is much too cold to grow them outdoors, unless it's in a pot, so you can take it outside for the summer months.

They will typically lose leaves in response to lower light levels, and as we go into the fall here in northern latitudes, shorter day length. The only solution to this is to get a grow light, which will keep it happy all year.

Find out more about grow lights here.

I would try to keep it on 12 hours of light, 12 of dark and see if that stops the leaf drop.

If it doesn't, be aware that citrus plants have several issues that are a real problem; things like nematodes which live on the roots and cause a failure to thrive, and also a need for specific pH of the soil.

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