Feeding citrus trees
When all danger of frost is past, begin feeding citrus trees. (If your garden gets frost in February, wait until March.) Citrus are heavy feeders. A mature citrus tree in clay soil needs one pound of actual nitrogen a year. For example, if you choose a commercial fertilizer containing 16% nitrogen, such as 16-16-16, your tree would need 6 pounds of this product per year. Divide the fertilizer into equal batches and broadcast one batch all over the root zone once a month from now through June. Use less on younger trees.
Check out Pat Welsh’s Southern California Gardening:A Month-by-Month Guide for more tips.
I moved last July & my new home has a very large established naval orange tree.
It produced tons & tons of large, juicy beautiful oranges, but with little flavor. We started picking organges in Dec/Jan and still have some fruit on the tree. What do I need to do to make these pretty oranges have more flavor?
I live in Lakewood, Calif. and enjoy you site very much.
Thanks
Marilyn
Unfortunately, there is not much I can do to help you with the flavor of your oranges.
The flavor of citrus fruit is mainly determined by the climate, the variety and the root stock. However, Lakeside has enough winter chill and enough heat in summer that your navel oranges should have very good flavor and I am surprised they do not.
Above are the scientific facts, but some gardeners claim that organically grown fruit tastes better.
Based on this claim, below are some ideas that just might give you tastier fruit, though none of what I am about to write below is scientific. What follows is based only on hearsay, and I do not know for sure that it will work.
If your tree is growing in a lawn the frequent intervals of watering might be detracting from the flavor of the fruit and make fruit watery. You might get better fruit if you spread out the intervals between irrigations to once every two or three weeks and then watering deeply for several hours instead of watering all the time and often.
Additionally, fertilizing with Sul-Po-Mag ( to provide potassium) is said to increase sweetness. Feeding with with manure and blood meal (to provide nitrogen) is said by some to increase flavor, and seaweed extracts (to provide trace minerals) are also said to increase flavor and health of citrus trees. Also apply John and Bob’s Soil Optimizer according to package directions. This product unlocks the natural nutrition in soil.
These steps might help your fruit taste better but I cannot guarantee it, since as I stated above, flavorful citrus usually results from fruit grown in a climate with some interior chill—though not too much—along with a good rootstock and variety.
If you have been fertilizing with commercial synthetic fertilizers some gardeners feel that this way of fertilizing subtracts from flavor while the organic fertilizers I have named here may improve flavor. Also, make sure the tree has adequate trace minerals. If the tree has yellow leaves with green veins, even after you apply seaweed extract, then also apply chelated minerals according to package directions to correct chlorosis. Chlorosis (lack of trace minerals causing yellow leaves with dark green veins) often comes from overwatering of citrus growing in clay soils.
How often should I feed. I was told three time that fit certain holidays and I have forgotten the holidays.
Thanks in advance
Now in November is not the time to be feeding citrus. Citrus are warm weather plants. They bloom in February and thus should be fed in late January. However, this timing was developed by growers using commercial synthetic fertilizer which is high nitrogen and fast acting. When home gardeners are fertilizing with organic fertilizers it is okay to apply them at mid-month since it takes longer for organic fertilizers to take effect. Professional citrus growers should feed their trees in late January, applying as much as 1 pound pure nitrogen to a mature tree annually. (The three numbers on the fertilizer package or bag stand for the percentages of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the product. So in order to feed one pound actual nitrogen you need to apply 5 lbs of a 20-20-20 formula fertilizer for each mature tree. Younger trees should be fed proportionately less. Professional growers throw it on the ground all around the tree under the drip line. Home gardeners can also sprinkle the fertilizer under the drip line, but additionally all over the ground under the canopy of the tree but don’t place it within 2 feet from the trunk. Feeder roots exist right under the surface under the mulch all over the ground under the tree’s canopy but not right next to the trunk. In a home garden you can feed more than once if you wish. To do so, divide the total amount needed by each tree into three parts and apply the fertilizer three times a year, in January, April and July. Read my book month by month for more detailed directions and monthly reminders when to do each job.
for citrus trees i was told to feed from oct – april , once a month, with 5-20-10 and 0-10-10. is 16-16-16 better. Or is 0-10-10 better to make fruit sweeter.
Whoever told you to feed in winter is wrong. You do not want to encourage new growth during winter. I advocate organic fertilizer and feed the whole amount under drip line, and under the canopy of the tree where feeder roots are, but not right next to the trunk in late January or divide it up into equal amounts and feed in January, March, May, and July. Also an emphatic No to 0-10-10. A mature citrus growing in well-drained soil needs 1 pound actual Nitrogen per year. Citrus are heavy feeders. Sweet fruit is a result of climate, enough winter chill makes fruit sweet. Root stock and variety might slightly effect the flavor and sweetness but mainly it’s the climate. The Citrus Belt is best.
Hi…thanks….my trees are on a slope. Water runs downhill. Tried drip hoses but coyotes wanted the water and ate thru them. Now I use hose and sprayer. They are 40 years old.
I was told by the Cal Ag people to water every two weeks. ?????They used to be big producers. Now almost bare.
I love the Bears Lime. But now the new trees in pots drop tiny fruit like crazy. ?????
Thank you for your help….always. We needed a local guide.
Citrus trees do not survive long in pots or 1/2 wine barrels. To give you an example, my neighbor sent her gardener to ask me to come over once to see her ‘Meyer’ lemon. Her gardener watered it very well, he thought, every week but all the leaves fell off. When that happened, my neighbor and her gardener both thought the tree had died. I scratched the bark and showed them the tree had not died but was still alive inside. Next, I asked the gardener to water the tree and I showed them how the water was running off just inside the walls of the 1/2 wine barrel. It was pouring around the roots and out the drainage hole on the bottom and the roots were not even getting wet. I dug in gently with a trowel to show them the dry soil and bone dry roots. I told my neighbor to have her gardener dig a big hole in the ground, loosen up the roots of the plant and plant those roots into the ground. Her gardener dug a big hole and then got a friend to help him move the tree and lower it into the hole. Once the tree was growing in the ground and well and deeply watered, it soon grew new leaves. One year later it began bearing flowers and fruit again, and is still alive today and doing fine. When planting on a bank the best way is to begin by building terraces and this is what should have been done in the beginning. Many years ago, there were many gardens in San Diego with excellent terraces on banks that were made with rock found on the property and held together with mortar or concrete. Then the ground behind them was made level and once that was done you could plant your trees there. My gardener built all the terraces in my garden 30 or 40 years ago exactly as I asked him to do. Every once in a while we need to re-build a section, but mainly they stay just the way they were in the beginning then you can water to your hearts content on flat ground and the water will sink into the soil instead of running off. If any runs off, we just pile some earth or compost there to hold the water in. Regarding your trees on a slope, undoubtedly they originally had watering basins that could be filled up with water to sink slowly into the ground and irrigate the roots of the tree. These watering basins are now worn away and long gone. One solution is to build new permanent watering basins, or terraces under the drip lines of your trees. For longest and most successful solution, you will need to construct new watering basins, like walls with proper foundations out where the drip line of each tree is. You could build these terraces of concrete, concrete block, wooden planks, brick-and-mortar or rock-and-mortar. Bring in fresh earth to pile on the bank inside the watering basins to hold the water in. Some inventive people have even used old tires to build watering basins and filled them with earth. In commercial orchards on slopes, tractors create furrows between the trees. The furrows are level, but always outside the drip lines of the trees and these furrows hold the water so it can penetrate down to the roots of the citrus. A word of caution: Whatever you do, do NOT dig or take earth from under the canopy of the trees in order to build your watering basins. If you do that all the fruit and leaves will fall off and your trees may not bear fruit again for at least a year, or maybe two years. If this sounds like too much work I have a second and easier solution: Cover the entire bank with a layer of mulch 3 to 4 inches thick and renew it every year in October. Tree trimmers chippings are fine and cost nothing, or if you prefer you could apply a three or four inch-thick layer of horse manure. Then water with a sprinkler, very slowly under each tree. This way, the water will sink into the ground and it won’t run off. This will be very helpful during the winter rains. By spring your orchard will be fully restored to health and vigor.
Hi Pat,
Enjoy your webpage. I live in Alta Loma zone 10A. I want to plant an apricot tree, a dwarf or mini. Suggestions?
Thanks for your time
Russ
Thank you for your kind comment. I recommend ‘Royal’ or ‘Blenheim’ apricot. (Both names are the same tree.) It tends to bear heavily in alternate years but the flavor is wonderful, it is a reliable variety and easy to grow. At least that’s my experience and it should grow well for you in Alta Loma. I like the full size tree but a good nursery should be able to sell you a grafted specimen on a rootstock that will ensure that the tree won’t grow too large. It would be best to wait until January and plant bare root instead of planting from a can. However if you are impatient and you find what you want in a can now in March, that is okay too. Also if you go to a top flight nursery they may give you extra instruction and guidance. Be sure to use dormant spray in winter after the leaves fall off and do this more than once. Once a month during winter is best.