Citrus

Citrus

Induldge in growing your own source of Vitamin C

There is nothing quite like the taste and satisfaction of eating the fruits of your labour and whats more these juicy winter fruit can help beat winder colds. These fruit trees are extrememly versatile, can be grown easily in pots and have beautiful scented flowers.

Getting Started

There is an enormous selection of citrus available today so here are Big Jims recommendations.

• Lemon
  Lemon Meyer - gives huge yields of juicy fruit with thin skins
• Lime
  Kaffir - leaves are great for cooking
  Bears and Tahitian - produces a good yield of juicy fruit.
• Mandarin
  Satsuma  type varieties: Miho, Silverhill and Okitsu Wase to name a few.
  All Satsuma varieties are sweet, juicy and seedless with easy peel.

We have also got a huge range of oranges, tangelos, ugli fruit and lemonades perfect for your home garden.

When buying multiple citrus choosing varieties which will all fruit at different times with give you fruit for a longer period.

Location

Autumn is the best time to plant citrus as it gives the plant time to develop new root systems before the winter, so come spring time the tree is ready for the growing season.

Plant your citrus in a warm sunny position protected from cold winds. Citrus need well draining soil. Dig in plenty of compost. Alternatively, citrus grow well in pots. This means that the plant can be moved around the garden to make the most of the sun during different sesons.

Planting

• In the garden: Plant the citrus tree in the ground as deep as it is in the pot/bag. Put a couple of handfuls of sheep pellets in the hole at the same time. Back fill the hole with soil and water in well.
  
  Mulch with compost or bark around the base to protect the feeder roots and retain moisture but make sure not to cover the trunk with mulch.

• In pots: Use a good quality mix like Daltons Tub Mix. If it is a large pot place a few handfuls of stones of broken plates or bark at the bottom of the pot to ensure good drainage. The pot must have drainage holes.

Care

When plants are young protect from frosts. This especially applies to limes. Cover with frost cloth.Remove all fruit produced in the first year to promote growth of the tree so it can support the   fruit in years to come.

Pruning

Citrus do not require much pruning. All that is needed is shaping of the height and width after fruit harvesting. Remove suckers.

Feeding

All citrus are gross feeders and require fertiliser application in Autumn and Spring. Apply Tui Citrus Food around the drip line (not to close to the trunk) and water in well.

For citrus growing in pots feed with Osmocote a  controlled slow release fertiliser or Miracle-Gro which is a liquid feed and is great for all your pots.

Note: do not fertilise citrus at time of planting. The first fertiliser application can be made about 6 weeks after planting.

Plant Protection

Citrus are pretty easy to care for but there are a couple of problems that may appear and are easily remedied.

Scale; this is a sucking insect which is easily identified by the black soot which they attract. To prevent this spray with Conqueror Oil in spring and autumn. The oil will also deal to aphids and mealy bugs

Verucossis is a fungal disease. It can be identified by brown blisters or scabs on the leaves and fruit. Use Champ DP twice a year in autumn and spring to prevent this. Both Champ DP and Conqueror Oil can be used together.

Harvesting

Harvest these juicy fruit when ripe. For excess fruit make marmalades and jams.