Have I terminated this Calamondin?

Question

There is some advice here on how to grow a Calamondin orange (Citrus × microcarpa or Citrus citrofortunella mitis) and that is consistent with how one particular specimen was treated to survive (and fruit!) over about thirty years in a temperate climate. However the consequences of failing to water it (in a pot) for about a month have not been covered. It is outdoors now but was indoors at the time.

I gather the life expectancy, if tended properly, is around forty years and wonder if there is any chance this particular specimen might have survived. At present it has no flowers or fruit and has shed about one or two dozen leaves. The others are still hanging on but all have curled up and are brown.

This is a (I regret low resolution) photograph of it from about six or seven years ago (the pot is about 12" diameter):

Is there any hope for it?

Answer 1

Sure looks healthy to me regardless of the clarity. I realize this is a picture years ago. I would transplant this guy into a slightly bigger pot, clay, maybe 4" bigger in diameter using freshly purchased sterilized potting soil. No rock or gravel above the drainage hole beneath the soil! Lift the bottom of the pot off the surface of the saucer and/or the patio using tiles or pot feet. That will add to drainage in a big way.

Use fertilizer such as good ole Osmocote the only Scott's product I would ever, will ever use. Extended release 14-14-14. Safe stuff. Only use this 2 maybe 3 times per year, not 4. Follow directions. Have you ever fertilized this plant in all these years? Is this potting soil or garden soil in that pot?

Failing to water it for a month and this plant is still alive says something about the resilience and need to survive, huh. You have to send a recent picture. Give more information about watering habits, fertilizer, type of soil, last time it was transplanted. The numbers for age are only for these plants planted in the garden in the sub tropics, not for those in pots or outside their zone.

Please send a picture asap! Thanks, I mean you must be a bit attached by now and if it is still alive there is a chance.