Other reasons for burnt tips on plants

[LemonBonsai]

So I have a lemon tree that keeps developing burnt tips on the leaves. Ive attached picture. From what I know so far this is caused by build up of salt in the soil from fertilizing or using tap water, or by letting a plant get to dry or to hot with little water.

But for probably the last week we have had very very little sun, lots of rain which has flushed the soil. I did cut off all the tips that were burnt and now this one leaf has a burnt tip and its working its way up the leaf.

Could this be some kind of fungus? The brown part is crispy

 

[Forsoothe!]

Oops! The burnt edges are from the concentration of salts carried to the growing edges of the leaves by more water than the leaves can use, so overwatering is usually the culprit. If the plants are full sun plants in full sun that should only rarely if ever happen. Cutting off the growing leading edges of the of leaf means no more growth on that leaf.

 

[LemonBonsai]

Oops! The burnt edges are from the concentration of salts carried to the growing edges of the leaves by more water than the leaves can use, so overwatering is usually the culprit. If the plants are full sun plants in full sun that should only rarely if ever happen. Cutting off the growing leading edges of the of leaf means no more growth on that leaf.

Even with rain water? I thought the fertilizer carried the concentrated salts or tap water.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

One might believe that things happen very quickly and evenly in a tree in response to an external stimulus, like over fertilization. Sorta like they seem to do in humans, but this isn’t the case in either case.

cheers
DSD sends

 

[0soyoung]

The build-up of salt in the soil is the same thing as fertilizer-burn = desiccation. Basically, water moves into the roots by the root tissues being saltier than the roots' surroundings. Too much salt (fertilizer is just a collection of mineral salts) in the soil makes water move out from the roots into the soil, instead.

I think your tree got too dry about a week ago. So dry, that they, their petioles, and the young stems of the tree lost turgidity. You should have noted that the tree looked wilted one day. You carefully watered and an hour or so later you breathed a sigh of relief that turgidity returned and it all looked good again. But, as @Deep Sea Diver pointed out, the damage was already done - it just takes time for it to become obviousl

The brown tip is the farthest down the water distribution pipeline. So it dries first and recovers last. In this case the tip got so dry cells died. In the process they send a messenger compound down the phloem tubes that leads to other cells dying to seal off the damage … yada, yada, yada. There is no need to cut the leaves unless you just really don't like how it looks. Alternatively, you could just cut through the leaf's petiole to remove all the ugly leaves. You should get new leaves in their place a few weeks thereafter.

 

[LemonBonsai]

The build-up of salt in the soil is the same thing as fertilizer-burn = desiccation. Basically, water moves into the roots by the root tissues being saltier than the roots' surroundings. Too much salt (fertilizer is just a collection of mineral salts) in the soil makes water move out from the roots into the soil, instead.

I think your tree got too dry about a week ago. So dry, that they, their petioles, and the young stems of the tree lost turgidity. You should have noted that the tree looked wilted one day. You carefully watered and an hour or so later you breathed a sigh of relief that turgidity returned and it all looked good again. But, as @Deep Sea Diver pointed out, the damage was already done - it just takes time for it to become obviousl

The brown tip is the farthest down the water distribution pipeline. So it dries first and recovers last. In this case the tip got so dry cells died. In the process they send a messenger compound down the phloem tubes that leads to other cells dying to seal off the damage … yada, yada, yada. There is no need to cut the leaves unless you just really don't like how it looks. Alternatively, you could just cut through the leaf's petiole to remove all the ugly leaves. You should get new leaves in their place a few weeks thereafter.

Well last week we had heavy rain. This particular tree has not wilted at all this summer infact it grew quite a bit while in full sun.

So in this case it would be to much rain water that did this yes?

 

[0soyoung]

C'est possible.

I have not had a citrus bonsai, so I am unsure how leaves look before they drop. Too much water will cause root anoxia. The typical response to root anoxia is for leaves to resemble their appearance before normal leaf-drop. The yellowing of the leaves could be due to this. IMHO, brown tips aren't, but I don't have any firsthand experience with lemon trees.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

I agree with @Osoyoung.

The issue with Bonsai is that there is often a cacophony of causes, some stronger, some weaker in a problem tree, distanced by a variable time lag from an event for each cause. That’s partially with the number one answer to Bonsai issues is it depends.

Overwatering is a common culprit for yellowing of the leaves in potted lemon trees.

Burnt tip on a couple leaves… ??

One week shouldn’t of done things this severe unless you have poor soil and/or poor pot drainage. These issues can be easily neglected factors.

I’d for sure check your pots drainage holes to see if these are clogged or insufficient. Which can cause a root rot inside really fast.

…there is no cure for poorly draining soil except a repot with media change out.

For drainage assist, In the PacNW we often chock up one side of our pots with stones or wood blocks during extended rainy periods to help lower the water table in the pot…. and some of us bore extra drainage holes in their pots too.

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[LemonBonsai]

I agree with @Osoyoung.

The issue with Bonsai is that there is often a cacophony of causes, some stronger, some weaker in a problem tree, distanced by a variable time lag from an event for each cause. That’s partially with the number one answer to Bonsai issues is it depends.

Overwatering is a common culprit for yellowing of the leaves in potted lemon trees.

Burnt tip on a couple leaves… ??

One week shouldn’t of done things this severe unless you have poor soil and/or poor pot drainage. These issues can be easily neglected factors.

I’d for sure check your pots drainage holes to see if these are clogged or insufficient. Which can cause a root rot inside really fast.

…there is no cure for poorly draining soil except a repot with media change out.

For drainage assist, In the PacNW we often chock up one side of our pots with stones or wood blocks during extended rainy periods to help lower the water table in the pot…. and some of us bore extra drainage holes in their pots too.

Cheers
DSD sends

Nice tip! Ill keep that in mind