How to fertilize citrus trees – old advices no longer apply?

In some ways, old gardening tips, tricks and manuals are gold, but sometimes even this golden information may get old and become outdated. A typical example includes citrus tree cultivation. Are you one of those who think that rain water and iron fertilization is best for plants to fight chlorosis? If you do, allow us to correct these statements a bit.

A well-known saying claims that an exception proves the rule, but not all citrus trees may thrive if you follow the “old” way. For example, if you follow everything according to the manuals and still do not have the harvest you want then let us take a look and see what citrus fertilization “trends” of today are all about.

Rainwater? No, not really.

This has been true for a long time actually but not anymore. You do not need to place a barrel under the roof gutter. After all, if you live in a city this could be quite problematic. Experts recommends moderately hard water with a calcium and also for the soil.

Photo: Pixabay

Even low pH value in soil is no longer the hardcore rule. Keep in mind that acid fertilizers take calcium from the soil. So, what else is new?

Alternate mixed mixtures with professional fertilizers

In this regard, calcium salt works best. You will not find calcium in multi-component liquid fertilizers. And if you use solid fertilizers, there is not enough of it. So, how should you fertilize? Prepare a solution with 0.3% calcium salt and 0.3% potassium sulphate. But this alone will not be enough. You should add a professional fertilizer to this nutritious mix too. So, try to water once with your homemade fertilizer and once with the professional fertilizer. And how often should you do it? In winter, citrus trees need to get the amount of nutrients once a month, and in summer, once every two weeks.

And if your tree gets the dreaded leaf chlorosis? Iron usually will not help. The problem is much more likely due to high phosphorus content (some store-bought products have high content of phosphorus). In this case, just change the fertilizer and the problem should go away.

Preview photo: Pixabay