In the spring of 2002, I purchased a very small kaffir lime tree, about 7" high and with only about 3 small leaves. I have kept it as a potted tree since I live in Ohio and must bring it indoors during the cold months. It has thrived nicely for the past 2 years, and even did fairly well indoors last winter. It had a growth surge about 6 weeks ago and one of its two main branches shot up about an additional 7" and produced several leaves that have now grown quite large. Now, however, some of the leaves from last season have turned partially brown and fallen off. Also some of the new leaves are also starting to turn brown. Is there any hope? Should I prune it (I have not done any pruning so far)?

Any suggestions will be much appreciated!

When you say that the leaves are starting to turn brown...are they turning brown from the tips on down? Or are they turning brown in splotches. Is it a greasy, bruised sort of brown, or a dark, burnt sort of brown, or a pale, dry sort of brown? Have you noticed any insects flying around the tree, or webby things on the tree itself...look hard, sometimes they are hard to see. Have you been using a water soluble fertilizer? Are you sure you have been getting the plant thoroughly watered when you water?

I had two kaffir lime trees die on me, very much like you are describing, not to discourage you, though maybe it is not too late for your's, hopefully. I found that scale is an insect that got on all 4 plants I have had, and almost nothing else I have ever grown, at least not noticably. For this I spray it once a month with pyrethrin/rotenone. Otherwise, I have not really noticed any disease or pest. I got two more plants in July of 2003 with 6 leaves per plant, and they now have over 60/ plant! I have had a few leaves drop off, but none turning brown at the tip, and gradually turning brown the rest of the way, before dropping off, as they did on the first two. The soil mix I made for these was lighter - about half miracle gro soil, and half coconut fiber, with a couple handfuls of perlite thrown in. This makes it drain very well, while the cocnut fiber still keeps it moist. Maybe the plant is susceptible to root rot, which is the type of thing that would slowly kill, as with my first two, and what you are describing. Try repotting it, and see if that helps. Mine are in shallow 4 qt pots, and the plants are about 30 in. tall. They are also kept under 175 w metal halide lights, though I assume lighting is not a problem, since you said it did well indoors last year.

As far as pruning, I only prune it when I need a few leaves for a Thai curry or soup, but not many per plant-and just leaves that are tighly bunched up with others. Usually after cutting a few off, it stimulates it and some new tiny leaves can be seen within days, so maybe it helps.

Thank you for replying! The leaves are turning brown from the tips down. The brown would probably fall into the category of dark burnt sort of brown-not really greasy and not a really pale brown. I have not seen any insects flying around or webs on the tree. I have looked closely. I may have overfertilzed for a while, but have stopped for at least one month or longer. I was actually using a diluted mixture (quite a bit less than recommended) of Fox Farm Grow Big (6-4-4) and a little liquid seaweed when I watered. Now I am only using water. I think I am watering thoroughly.

After I posted my question here, I called Nichols Garden Nursery where I purchased the plant by mail. The woman I spoke with told me that sometimes citrus plants lose their leaves when there is a climate change. She suggested I spritz the leaves with water in case of insects and not fertilize as much. I did spritz leaves just in case but have not seen any bugs as I mentioned. The lime tree has plenty of light in a south facing room. The new growth has remained healthy so far . . . but I have lost about 8 older leaves.

Thanks again for your help, and sorry it took me so long to get back to the computer to answer your reply!

Hi - Thanks for sharing your information! I'm considering your recommendation to repot but almost always when I do that to an already ailing plant, they tend to die!! The new growth has not succumbed to the browning yet! I'm keeping a close eye though. I'll post any changes good or bad! Thanks again for your suggestions.

Let's hope it's just the older leaves dropping off - I have that happen sometimes on mine; in fact, I just cleaned up about 3 in each pot, and there are a couple others on each plant that look like I should use them first, and soon! Good luck, and keep us posted.

Another thing I remembered that I have done this year that I hadn't done before is keep fungus gnats in check in my indoor plants. I have a liquid I add a tsp. to each qt. of water when watering or fertilizing, and, aftter a few weeks, they were gone. A few stragglers initially, but now they are gone for good. I never had anything killed by them (I don't think!) but I have heard that some plants can be weakened by them.