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Advice about Citrus Trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Citrus trees are still the very popular fruiting tree today, as they were in our grandparents time.

It is great to be able to pop outside and pick a few ripe oranges or lemons for the table.
There is little reason that all New Zealanders cannot do so, if they have a few citrus trees.

Growing up in Palmerston North I had an uncle (Jack Franks) who lived in the Awapuni area and on his returned serviceman’s quarter acre, he had a wonderful citrus orchard. I think he had just about every type of citrus fruit and variety available in those days. Big, beautiful, rounded trees about 10 foot tall, with a never ending selection of ripe fruit to choose from. The really amazing thing about the whole orchard was that he had grown every tree himself, from pips!
I remember one time when my mother took me to the movies and during the shorts was “Movietone news” where we saw a feature about oranges being grown on one of the e wet soil and the tree will thrive.

I have several citrus trees growing in both size containers, 50 litres and 100 litres and have found that the larger container produces a bigger tree faster.

By the way if you have access to 200 litre plastic drums then these cut in half and with some drainage holes drilled, are ideal and cheap too. (often free from places that have to dispose of them)
Citrus trees need sunlight and will do poorly in shaded situations so the more open and sunny a spot the better. While the tree is establishing it is best to provide some wind protection such as a screen of windbreak cloth on the prevailing wind side.

If planting into a large container for either partly burying in the ground or sitting on top of the soil, use a mixture of purchased compost with a little soil or vermicast (worm casts) added.
Citrus trees require a good amount of natural food and it is best not to use Citrus Fertiliser, which harms the soil life and worms. Instead make up your own citrus feed using sheep manure pellets and blood & bone. Another excellent food is Bio Boost which is also available as Break Through.

A monthly sprinkle of Fruit and Flower Power for the magnesium and potash that the citrus require and a small amount of BioPhos (natural phosphate) occasionally caters for their basic needs.
I use old chicken mature around the root zone of my trees and find that it works well also.
Citrus trees are not free of diseases or pest insects so some controls are needed at times.
The common citrus diseases can be prevented or controlled with sprays of Liquid Copper.
A couple of sprays a month a part should fix any diseases that attack the trees or for prevention a spray of the same in the spring and autumn is good value.

The insects that attack the foliage causing black sooty mould can be controlled with Neem Tree Oil sprays. Two or three sprays about a week apart will control aphids, scale and mealy bugs.
If mealy bugs appear you need to also treat the soil with Neem Tree Granules to get the pests in the root zone.
Citrus tree borer is a problem if they attack your trees. I had two of my younger trees attacked this summer and noticed the tell tale sawdust particles from their feeding.
To kill the grubs I made up a solution of Neem Tree Oil at 25 mls to a litre of warm water and watered this mix into the root zone after applying a good sprinkling of Neem Tree Granules on the soil.

It took two to three weeks before the activity stopped so the pests must be history now.
If you have a number of exit borer holes on your tree then these should be blocked with a dab of acrylic paint. Left open they are an invitation for the adults to enter the tree and lay their eggs.
A big mistake that many gardeners make with their established citrus trees is to trim the branches to obtain a nice shape or keep under control.

Trimming branches causes congestion as each branch trimmed will produce a number of branches along its length. The best way to keep a citrus tree in a good shape and open is to remove total branches back at their source which is the trunk.
The ideal time to do this is about now, as the citrus tree borers on the wing should be finished for the season. When you remove a branch seal the wound with a mix of petroleum jelly and copper mixed together or acrylic paint with copper added.

A mature citrus tree can have all of the following, at any one time for most of the year; new flowers, young fruit along with ripening fruit. When you tree reaches this stage ensure you water it regularly during dry times as the tree will take the juice out of the mature fruit for its water needs on the maturing fruit.
A young tree will tend to produce fruit with thick skins but as the tree matures the skins will become normal.
Lack of juice and sweetness is a sign that there is insufficient potash so remember to sprinkle some Fruit and Flower Power every month.
Some old tricks with citrus trees are: throw some steel nails or bolts under the tree. These will rust and release the iron content that the tree needs.
In days gone by one would empty the family po under the citrus tree occasionally. The reason is the nitrogen in urine. As family

Po’s are not a household item these days then us men should relieve ourselves occasionally out in nature by the citrus tree. (In our PC world this is best done at night so not to be arrested for indecent exposure). The tea pot was also emptied occasionally under the citrus tree and as many do not use a tea pot anymore, throw a few used tea bags under the tree instead.
For those gardeners that are really keen on having healthy plants then a annual sprinkling of Ocean Solids and Simalith is good value for the mineral content they provide.
Occasional sprays of Magic Botanic Liquid over the foliage and under the tree will also assist greatly.
Young citrus trees can be protected in winter against frosts with Vaporgard.
In the cold of winter immature fruit may turn yellow as if they were ripe, don’t be fooled it is just the cold, not ripe fruit.
Lime trees are the most difficult to grow and they are best planted in a container so they can be moved to a warmer sheltered spot in winter.
If you buy a seedless citrus tree make sure that it is planted well away from any lemon tree that bears seeds. Cross pollination will cause your seedless to have seeds.

73 comments on “Advice about Citrus Trees

  1. Mike Gallagher on said:

    I have a dwarf lemon tree about two years old, an Auckland, and something keeps chewing the leaves off it.
    Can you suggest what the pest is and how should I control it please?

  2. Mike Gallagher on said:

    I have a dwarf lemon tree about two years old, in Auckland, and something keeps chewing the leaves off it.
    Can you suggest what the pest is and how should I control it please?

  3. I had simular problems with my potted citrus and passion fruit vine, I found the green stink bugs and passion vine hoppers had set up home, I tried various sprays which are readily available , I lost a lot of my stock including a big tree which had been a present the year before, finally I found if I mixed a solution of conquer oil and a sachet of confidor, sprayed then resprayed 2 weeks later..don’t like using chemicals and will be looking at trying to find an organic way to prevent it happening again, but I was desperate not to lose any more trees…hope this is helpful once I’ve found an organic way to control/prevent it happening again will post on here..I’m at present going through some old Gardening notes of my dads/grandads which I brought out with me from the UK …he used many natural substances I memories of him brewing all sorts of smelly concoctions…

  4. Rochelle on said:

    We have a lemon tree (well established) and the fruit is getting eaten by fruit fly (or something similar). It starts when the fruit is still on the tree, the skin gets eaten then it falls to the ground and they continue having a good feed. How can I get rid of these little critters in a safe manner where the fruit is still good to eat?

  5. John McMillin on said:

    Wally, I live in Hawkes Bay and at present are contemplating in planting the following trees. Lemon, Lime, Mandarin, Tamarello, Avacado can you advise me how to go about this to get them established etc. etc. etc.

  6. colleen tunnicliffe on said:

    I have a mature tangelo tree, short thick trunk
    and 3 main branches leading up. Borer has set into a portion of the main trunk and running up one of the brances. It is now looking sick, short of leaves and those remaining have yellowed badly. Is there anything I can do to save the tree. The remaining 2 main brances still look good and healthy.

  7. Hi Colleen, Damn lemon tree borer. You will notice that there are old holes in the branches that have been there for some time. Unfortunately the only solution I know is a poisionious one – You will notice frass or sawdust castings especially on recently bored holeds – you can use BV2 spray straight into the new holes (available from Fruitfed) – as a natural alternative you could try Neem tree oil aproach prescribed by Wally – see below.

    Regards

    Tim Durrant

    To kill the grubs I made up a solution of Neem Tree Oil at 25 mls to a litre of warm water and watered this mix into the root zone after applying a good sprinkling of Neem Tree Granules on the soil.

    It took two to three weeks before the activity stopped so the pests must be history now.
    If you have a number of exit borer holes on your tree then these should be blocked with a dab of acrylic paint. Left open they are an invitation for the adults to enter the tree and lay their eggs.
    A big mistake that many gardeners make with their established citrus trees is to trim the branches to obtain a nice shape or keep under control.

    Trimming branches causes congestion as each branch trimmed will produce a number of branches along its length. The best way to keep a citrus tree in a good shape and open is to remove total branches back at their source which is the trunk.
    The ideal time to do this is about now, as the citrus tree borers on the wing should be finished for the season. When you remove a branch seal the wound with a mix of petroleum jelly and copper mixed together or acrylic paint with copper added.

  8. Ron White on said:

    i have a young potted lemon tree, bountiful in flowers, but is loosing the new fruit. The fruit grows to about acorn size then falls off. The pot is a large ceramic one, easily 100 lt capacity and is in a sunny sheltered area. The tree has a perodic feed of blood and bone.
    What needs to be done to stop the new fruit from falling off

  9. M Cullimore on said:

    I have a young lemon tree. The leaves are falling off, but there doesn’t seem to be any other problem. Can you tell me what I should do. I have never tried to grow a lemon tree before.

  10. Jacqui on said:

    Hi,
    Ihave just purchased an Hawaiian Lime tree and would like to know a little about it and the best place to plant it.
    I notice by the picture that the fruit are large and yellow in colour. I love the flavour of limes in my cooking and have always bought the small green variety available in supermarkets. What variety are these? I wonder if I have bought a less tasty variety of lime and not the sharp intense flavour I’m use to.
    Cheers
    Jacqui

  11. Pam Stevenson on said:

    I would like to espalier a lemon tree on my north facing back fence. I’d like to purchase a lemon that has thinner flesh, is flavoursome and hardy. What do you suggest?

  12. just planted a 4 ft lime tree there are 3 limes size of golf balls and hundreds of little ones less than a quarter inch on the tips of branches do i just let them be or do i pinch them off it is april 4rth and we live in east valley of arizona so i believe the season is over

  13. colleen on said:

    I have a large mature mandarin tree.
    It has a short trunk, only about 8 inches in hight, from there it branches out to 4 branches. Two of these are badly affected with borer, it runs down into the trunk itself.
    Can I cut these 2 off which will include cutting part of the trunk itself away, I have sprayed all the affected area with borer cure. But still feel I need to cut this badly affected away.
    Please advise.

  14. sally on said:

    I have a minuture lemon tree, 5 years old in a pot. but still no sign of flowers or fruit, it has had fertilizer and taken care with wind and has good sunshine What more can I do to help with getting some fruit.

  15. Maggie on said:

    I have a small lemon tree, approx 6yrs old, it has never been pruned, is in a sunny spot and produces good amounts of fruit. The problem is the fruit is completely dry inside. The skin is quite thick and sometimes appears slightly browned and wrinkled. What if anything can I do?

  16. Hi Maggis
    Give it a dose of potash every month.
    Regards
    Wally Richards

  17. Kay Yost on said:

    I have a Key Lime tree approx 14 years old. It blooms and small limes form but they fall off about 10 days later. I have had a few mature limes on this tree previously.

  18. Hilary on said:

    We have a lot of citrus falling onto the ground that are unripe. What can I do with the unripened fruit? Does it ripen once off the tree at all? Mainly mandarins and the occasional grapefruit. I hate to think of the fruit going to waste.

  19. Hi Kay,

    You may need to try thinning the fruit by picking some of the smaller bunches and branches to two’s and threes.

    regards

    Tim D

  20. Margaret on said:

    We have a grapefruit tree that up till now has only had a few pips, I do not know what breed it is, only that it is years old. It is a prolific bearer and fruits all year round. The problem is, it now producing heaps of pips. We have a mandarin tree about three metres from it and a lemon tree about 30-40 feet away. The lemon tree is also a prolific fruiter. The manderin tree has small fruit and has been in about 5 years.
    A friend has mentioned that maybe the Mandarin tree is too close and upsetting the Gragefruit, could that be so? The lemon tree has been in as long as the grapefruit so I am assuming that it is not the problem.

  21. Hi Margaret,

    It sounds like the grapefruit may be getting pollen from the surrounding species. They are bread to have no pips so it is reverting back to its natural state. i suggest moving the Mandarin if possible and introducing another seedless citrus species or grapefruit. Perhaps a lemonade. This is slightly lamens advice and someone else may have a solution.

    Fascinating them birds and bees eh 😉

    Regards

    Tim d

  22. My citrus trees are all dying – so it seems. Black leaves fruit rotting on trees. What can cause this and can I do anything to save them. Is it the cold this year? Please help.

  23. How far apart would I plant citrus which I want to espalier and advice to do same.

  24. Hi I live in New Zealand and have a old orange tree growing in the back garden the oranges from the tree have lumpy skin not smooth and the bark on the tree has a white type of ring around the bark and the stem of the tree. Is it possible that you could advice please. Many thanks Linda

  25. Heather on said:

    Hi linda
    I would suggest your citrus tree needs a spray of confidor and oil, it sounds like you have insects in your tree and the black is the excrement it has left behind, usually you need to spray twice 10 days apart.
    hope this helps

  26. Chrissie on said:

    Hi there, i have several lemons and lime trees that are about two years old. I have never pruned them and they have not produced any good fruit. Please Please tell me how to prune and what sprays , feeds etc I need to Get these trees to grow and survive!

  27. The leaves on my young lemon tree (planted this year) have rust like marks on them and some leaves are starting to curl. I have sprayed with copper oxychloride.

  28. I have a lemon and a lime tree flowering for the first time. someone said you should remove these to get better fruiting later . what are other peoples experiences with this. Cheers DAVE.

  29. I was interested to read the advice of not planting a seeded citrus variety with a seedless variety. I have a Meyer Lemon and 3 Satuma Mandarins within spitting distance from each other, going on over 20 years now, never had any seeds in my mandarins !!!

  30. Dave…. Citrus tend to ‘self-thin'( will blossom, but won’t set fruit), especially the lime, which can also take a lot longer to hold fruit, so enjoy the blossom’s fragrance. If you find your shrub is determined to set fruit, then you should remove the fruit for the first couple of years, to allow the tree to put it’s energies into growing.

  31. Hi Fiona ,thanks for your advice, Cheers Dave.

  32. Why although my tree has lots of flowers it has little fruitg?

  33. I planted 2 mandarin tress 2 seasons ago. They were in fruit when I planted them. The mandarins matured & were lovely. Last year the trees had a heap of blossom followed by lots of timy little pea sized green mandarins but 99% of them dropped to the ground & we got no ripe fruit. can you suggest what the cause may have been. I have sprayed with copper in case that was it & put vaseline around the trunks as I noticed some ants over winter. Since then the tees look healthier but would like the blossom that is now abundant to turn in to mature fruit & not fallen ‘peas’. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
    Thanks
    Anne

  34. I am interested in growing lime trees in Northland (Waipu -inland and sheltered). Do you know if they would generally survive and if a particular type would do better than another?

  35. The leaves on my lemon tree (in a pot) have turned yellow and look dusty. What do I need to do to remedy this? I want my new lemon tree to live!

  36. I have two mandarine trees in pots, 1 has a branch with thorny type spikes is this normal? if not what do i need to do?

  37. Irvine Marr on said:

    Small 2 year old meyer lemon-appears healthy,plenty of flowers,small fruit develop then fall off??

  38. I have a meyer lemon tree and for a number of years the leaves have not grown very big and look as if they have been eaten and the flowers fall of, although some stay and produce a fruit although not very big.
    I had a vegetable garden near it and it and club root infested the garden so I am wondering if this is the cause of the trouble with the tree. I was advised to put some thing called tricho something around the tree and this seems to have helped as the new leaves have grown bigger and greener , but now they are also starting to show the old signs. The new leaves are getting little bubbles and the leaves look chewed and are yellowing.
    Do you have any advice?

  39. stacey on said:

    I’m a keen gardener & was looking up how to care for my young maderine tree & mature lemon tree…this web page has given me great advice I will use. Thank you!

  40. Kevin Tanner on said:

    I’m having trouble with red spider mite,particularly on lemonade tree, but also on orange and mandarin.

  41. Our lime tree is about 5 years old, looks healthy, is fed and watered regularly and each year has masses of blossom. Fruit form but fall off when not much larger than a match head. We have had 3 fruit ripen to maturity. It is espaliered against a wooden wall which gets more or less all day sun. We wondered if the concrete floor of the house is still leaching into the ground causing the tree to not fruit properly……….the house is getting on for 50 years old and I would have thought there would not be much in the way of leaching though? Any help would be appreciated…………Jill

  42. shona on said:

    I have a lime tree which I think is approx 4 years old.( just moved into the house a year ago)
    This is apparently the first year it has actually produced fruit. However I have not been able to pick and use them as they are tiny and have seemed to be this way the whole of summer?
    I have also noticed all the leaves are falling off ??

  43. I have a three yr old lemon dwarf, it was full and beautiful last yr producing some small acorn sized fruit last summer, this spring ive replaced outside onsunny porch, fed and fertilized as normal then 2 wks ago all the leaves beagn to fall , i have a bare tree with tons of flowering fruit on the branches, but my branches are turning fom green and healthy to spotted and brown, what should I do?

  44. Renee on said:

    Yay, i live in Palmerston north! Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll go down and get a lemon tree tomorrow!

  45. Kisha S. on said:

    I have a lemon tree and it has produced fruit and is flowering, however the new fruit is turning black and falling off as well as the flowering buds. This is a indoor/outdoor tree. Can you please please tell me what I need to do to bring this poor tree back to life or make it healthy again. Like mentioned the fruits have grown to about acorn size, but they turn black and fall off. The flowering bud were gorgeous, how ever the fruits that came from them did not grow big at all like tear drop size and also turned black and fell off. Please can you help, as well as offer whatever food or fertilizers I should buy yo make it healthy and strong again. Thank you so much.

  46. Carol on said:

    Hi

    I have a lime tree that is probably 4 years old and it has a couple of small limes on it and the leaves on the tree are black. Why are they black and how can I fix it.

    carol

  47. Maree Gourley on said:

    Hi. I have 7 new citrus trees – lemon, mandarin, tangelo, orange, lemondae. Lots of good compost used at planting also possibly fish frames buried beneath. Gradually each tree is turning yellowy/orangy on th enewest growth. One has marked white/yellow on older growth. Have ussed Epsom Salts, citrus fert & 3 days ago sulphate of iron. Seems no change if not worse. HELP! How long before you`d expect to see improvement? It is winter I know so not really any growth happening. pH levels round each tree vary from 6-7.5 which is why I used the iron. I am very worried about my trees, I don`t want to lose them! Hope you can help.

  48. Hi
    Firstly black sooty mould on trees means there are insects secreting honey dew which turns to black sooty mould.
    Get rid of the insects by spraying Neem Tree Oil and the mould will weather off over time.
    It takes about 3 months and 3 applications of epsom salts before the leaves green up
    Regards
    Wally Richards

  49. Yates Farris on said:

    I have a Meyer Lemon tree and a Navel Orange tree, and have found an ugly worm (almost looks like a twig with a wierd head). Only found a couple on each tree, and have pulled them off. What is this, and what is the prevention. The only treatment I have given is Neem Oil. These are young trees.

  50. Hi, Have a 10 month old lemon tree planted in a tub at our beach house. Was doing well, even had smallish lemons.They never ripened. In March/ April it started to loose leaves. I cut off the fruit , but that didnt help. Was completly bare of leaves and thought we had lost it. Last month new leaves started to appear.Really want it to survive but am wondering if we are doing something wrong.Is planted in a sunny position but is exposed to the south. Have got lots of shells on top of potting mix to help retain the moisture. Is this ok? Would appreciate any help.

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