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Citrus

Cultural Requirements:

SOIL

  • Well dug, free draining soil essential
  • Will not tolerate wet feet or heavy clay soils – in this situation, raised planting is recommended
  • Dig in Organic Compost or peat to help break up clay soils and improve water-holding capacity of light sandy soils

POSITION

  • Warm sunny position with some protection from strong winds

WATERING

  • Summer moisture is essential, especially in hot dry weather
  • Citrus have fibrous surface rooting system – essential this does not dry out – mulch in summer with peat, compost – do not put mulch too close to trunk

FERTILISER

  • Fruit Tree and Citrus Food – Sept, Dec, Feb (see packet for details)

PRUNING

  • Citrus require minimal pruning
  • Dense growing varieties, e.g. Mandarin, may need some thinning otherwise to keep in shape – usually when fruit is picked
  •  Advisable to remove any fruit in first year to encourage growth of tree and establish good strong plant

General

  • Citrus make ideal container plants, especially Mandarins and Limes.
  • Use a quality container mix and Yates Waterwise Water Storage Crystals to avoid drying out in summer

Pests & Diseases

Aphids

  • Small, black/green insects clustering on new growth
  • Spray with Confidor

Mealy Bug

  • White, cotton wool –like insects cluster together on leaf axils and stems
  • Spray with Confidor

Scale

  • Brown scale insects which cling to stems and suck at sap, weakening growth
  • Spray with Conqueror Oil

Lemon Tree Borer

  • Black grub which bores its way through trunk and woody branches cutting off sap flow
  • Borer ‘dust’ visible on ground under tree in bad cases
  • Cut out affected branches

Verrucosis

  • Fungus disease causing curly brown scabs or blisters on fruit 
  • Spray with Copper spray

Varieties

GRAPEFRUIT

  • Golden Special - Large pale yellow fruit. Sharp flavor. Heavy cropper
  • Jamaican Wheeny - Large, golden yellow fruit. Juicy. Bears mid-winter

ORANGES

  • Washington Navel - Rich flavor. Fairly seedless. Ripens mid to late winter
  • Harwood Late - Excellent for juicing. Thick skinned fruit late winter
  • Carters Navel - Excellent for juicing. Thick skinned fruit late winter

TANGELOS

  • Ugli - Unusually large fruit. Tender and juicy. Late winter
  • Seminole - Extremely sweet and juicy. Thin skinned tender fleshed fruit.

LIME

  • Tahitian - Hardy. Heavy cropper. Excellent container feature
  • Mexican - ‘The Bartenders Lime’. Small green fruit.

MANDARINS

  • Clementine - Delicious sweet fruit. Heavy bearing. Late winter
  • Encore - Usually rich flavoured. Excellent for tub growing
  • Silverhill - Very cold resistant. Heavy bearing. Mid winter
  • Satsuma - Popular easy peel mandarin. Medium sized sweet flat fruit. Ripens mid winter
  • Miagawa - New Japanese variety. Very productive, earliest strain of easy peel Satsuma. Sweet. Ripens May – June. Excellent quality, good keeping fruit. Needs thinning to attain good size.

LEMONS

  • Genoa - Quick to bear small to medium sized fruit in winter
  • Yen Ben - Medium sized seedless fruit. Excellent sharp flavor
  • Villa Franca - Thick skinned fruit with sharp flavor. Winter and summer
  • Meyer - The common sweet lemon. Excellent for drinks
  • Lemonade -  Light flavoured and refreshing