Growing Citrus
Heaps of people ask me how my citrus are growing so well. I have three main tips:
Feed them Citrus are hungry. I feed mine a handful of organic fertiliser once a month, nearly all year round (give or take lazy weekends…). I do have sandy soil, so the nutrients wash through quite quickly - if you are clay you might get away with a little less often. Keep an eye on it too, if you have too much lush new growth your tree will be a pest magnet! Also beware of heavily feeding a tree that has recently set its new fruit - the tree might drop them all! Best to wait a month or so. If you are feeding your tree less, regularly, you shouldn’t have this problem.
Good Drainage If you have clay either really improve the local drainage, plant on a mound, or keep it in a pot.
Remove Competition Don’t let other plants or grass grow up close - citrus have shallow roots and don’t like competition - that being said I have seen some lovely trees with grass right up to their trunk! But if your trees are struggling, try to keep the ground underneath them clear and mulch well (keep it a few centimeters away from the trunk though).
If you find the leaves on your trees are yellowing, they are usually just hungry. In exceptional circumstances the PH might be out making it hard for them to take up the nutrients, but as a first step, feed them. Liquid and foliar feeds can be absorbed quickly and are a quick fix, but follow up with feeding the soil as well (see step one). A yearly spray of trace elements keeps on top of the smaller nutrients as well.
I encourage biodiversity and letting nature do its thing but you do not want to be fostering large colonies of pests that can destroy agricultural crops. Be a responsible fruit tree grower!
The main ‘pests’ I see around here are:
Citrus Leaf Miner:
These leave silvery trails across new leaves and the leaves grow kind of stunted. I honestly don’t really worry about it. Sometimes I cut the worst bits off. If your tree is young and has heaps of new growth they are more susceptible (make sure you aren’t overfeeding), but I find it eventually balances out. If you are REALLY concerned you can use a homemade white oil (olive oil, detergent, water - shake, shake, shake and spray in the cool of the day) but please make sure there is nothing else around and wash it off before the sun gets too strong and you burn your plant.
Gall Wasp:
These cause thick lumps in your branches. If the branch is small, cut it off, bag and bin. If the branch is larger you can try sealing the wasp in by painting the gall with clear nail varnish.
Bronze Orange Bug (
Musgraveia sulciventris):
These evil little blighters suck the goodness from your new leaf tips and young fruit. leaving you with fruit that has soft brown patches on the outside and dry brown flesh on the inside! Unfortunately they’re not the easiest to control. Early sprays with neem oil at the end of winter can help kill eggs. Once they hatch, sprays are less and less effective as the bug grows. Personally I find a vacuum cleaner the most effective and soul-satisfying solution (even if your neighbours will think you’re weird). I have a cheapo one specifically for this purpose because it will smell a bit!
Not a pest:
Orchard Swallowtail butterfly babies (caterpillars):
WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT BUTTERFLIES! Seriously, on everything but the smallest of trees (I’m talking seedlings here) just leave them, they don’t do THAT much damage, your tree will always grow back stronger with new fresh leaves, and you will have butterflies. For really little trees, if they have chewed pretty much every leaf, I relocate caterpillars to another larger citrus tree (please put them on a food source!). If you don’t have another tree, see if your neighbour does. If not - see what happens! They have nearly decimated some of my potted seedlings and they have always re-leafed beautifully, just give them a bit more TLC.
