Grow Your Own Magazine

Just bought a diddy-sized lemon tree from Lidl.

What is different about citrus compost compared to multi-purpose. What is the nutrient balance of citrus feed? Ta.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

2 different answers here, the first is a citrus enthusiast's web page;

The second is Westland's description of their Citrus compost;

Not sure if that will help you, or cause more confusion...

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Sarah

“Tell me one last thing,” said Harry. “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?”
“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”

Until I re-read it. JI no3 seems to be too acidic for citrus at 5.5-6.0, so add lime to bring it too a less acidic 6.5.

Thanks for the info.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

If citrus like slightly acidic compost can I use ericaceous compost (and feed)?

Lidl Online

Lidl have some cheap.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Maybe a mix of ericaceous and general purpose? Might be too acid otherwise. Also I think the drainage is really important. I've often read that water-logging will kill citrus much faster than the cold. A good measure of sharp sand is probably the easiest way to do this.

I'm also interested in the nutrient make-up of citrus food - any expert growers out there?!

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Resistance is fertile

This site compares nutrient ratios in 'specialist feeds'. Looking at them all I can't see a common amount, they're all different? Maybe so long as they're regularly fed?

citrus fertilisers

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Manda, here is a link about citrus :Home Citrus Growers full index

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I grow, I pick, I eat ...

Lol! thats the homepage of the link I just posted momol!

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Oops, sorry, didn't know it is the same, I kept this link for years now, back them we were hunting for citrus ( got around 15 or 16 types) .

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I grow, I pick, I eat ...

You've got 15 or 16 citrus trees?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

They were all on dwarf root stock. Back then was in Singapore and my hubbie love citrus plant . We give them all away when moved back to Europe . I misses them !!!
My custard apple and all the other plant .

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I grow, I pick, I eat ...

i believe citrus just generally needs more nitrogen than is found in other feeds. i imagine any specialist citrus feed will be beneficial. i bought feed for my lemon tree from the citrus centre: CITRUS FERTILIZER as it says it promotes bushiness which is definitely what my tree needs!

Thanks redamiral, I was trying to save money rather than over-spend on specialist branded citrus stuff. I shall just use a nitrogen rich feed and see how it goes. Also will probably try some eracacious compost (unless its full of peat, then I'll use multi-p) cut with some sand & perlite.

Awww thats a shame momol - I think you should buy some more.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

good plan! i think you'll be fine with that. i grew a lemon tree from seed, so its at least 10 years old now, and it was only last summer that i started to notice it had visible signs of nitrogen deficiency -- i hadn't fed it at all for it's whole life! Doh. so now of course i need to repair the damage.
however, as mine did very well without it for so long, i reckon something with an extra kick of nitrogen should be fine.
i think i also read citrus can be prone to iron deficiency.

Hi all,
As a newcomer (see Introduce Yourself) to this forum I thought I’d throw in my two-penorth.

Most young citrus trees need different feeds for the summer to the winter. The winter feed does - as redadmiral says - helps to feed the foliage,,,,, but then you need the summer feed, to promote the actual fruiting.
Though the fertiliser mentioned is probably great for the winter, personally I wouldn't use it in the summer.

I started with a couple of citrus about 3 years ago.
Some specialist swear that the only way to get good fruit is to keep the soil moist at all times,,,,, but another specialist states that keeping soil moist is bad & that it's better to run almost dry then almost drown them !

I bought my first 'Orange' tree from a well known & respected supplier in Cornwall.
After just a few weeks it started to wane . When I looked better at it, apart from finding out that it wasn't an actual 'orange' tree but a calamondin ! I found that it was just 4 twigs stuck into the soil ! After 6 ignored e-mails I gave up !

My first lemon tree has flowered for 3 years but wouldn’t keep the fruit on the tree,,,, until last year. I have 3 great lemons still on the tree, still growing & ripening.
I have a tangerine tree that has over a dozen fruits also still growing & ripening. I’m hoping that this years weather will make things go a lot quicker.

I’ve just sprouted some Clementine pips (you know clementines ? The ones without pips ???) So am keeping my fingers crossed for these.

I currently use a standard separate ‘Winter’ & ‘Summer’ feed for my stuff.
I also have fig, nectarine, olive, kiwi, hazel nut, cherry plum trees etc. All quite young,,,, but am expecting a lot this year ! oooooops - did I speak to early ?

Good luck to you all

I bought a lemon and a calamondin (hope they are edible) from Wilkinsons after my run in with dead plants from Woolworths. Anyhoo, I purchased a small bag of citrus compost (about three and a half quid) to pot them in. I then invested in winter citrus food - about a fiver - from Wyevale on the way past ('tis a 60 mile round trip to my closest Wyevale). I must say that it has been worth the investment as the lemon has grown by four inches and as many leaves since its purchase at the end of January. The calamondin has been slightly slower but has more shoots appearing. I will invest in the summer citrus food next trip to Wyevale (which might be tomorrow). Although it seems expensive at a fiver, you dissolve it in water and I have made up a litre in a pop bottle and keep that in a cool, dark cupboard and water every 10 days. This lets the compost dry out quite a lot between and the plants seem happy at the moment.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Hi Furkin, thanks for your reply, very interesting. I've only just the diddy lemon tree (20cm high), so I guess it won't be fruiting for a while yet!

What is the difference between summer and winter feed, and which brand do you use? (edit - what variety feed is yours stg43?)

I also bought a Lidl fig (it is little too) but am not sure of the variety, I imagine its Brown Turkey - what variety is yours, has it fruited yet?

I had black olives on my tree last year, but I've pruned them both so won't get any this year.

Look forward to hearing more about your growing success through the year.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

SHIRL: The Calamondin is edible, if you like very, very sour stuff. Apparently, they don’t grow very big and are very bitter - I’d have thought o.k for marmalade if they are juicy enough, & you grow enough ! As mine didn’t grow, I didn’t actually experience the taste.
I do like Cumquats tho’, so I imagine it’s similar. Talking of Cumquats (!?), I have just planted some seeds today !
As I say, your plant might be growing great at the moment (due to winter feed) but you will need to swap that about now, for the summer feed - or the plant will grow foliage/size at the expense of the fruit/flowers.
I am constantly amazed at how much we spend on fertilzers/feeds/compsts etc, when some of the plants are so cheap (I mean ‘reasonable’ !) The small tubs of winter/summer feed should last me about 5 years tho’, so it snot too bad.

MANDA: I have seen fruit on tiny trees - so you never know !
Difference ? I couldn’t remember, so reading off the packs:
SUMMER: (4 years supply for one tree) “The summer formulation is high in nitrogen to promote growth & development of fruit & flowers. The winter feed provides nourishment but is lower in nitrogen to discourage winter growth which tends to be weak & yellow”
WINTER: DITTO
I got mine (SCARLETTS) from Wyvale.

I don’t know what my Fig is now (marker lost) but that also fruited from quite small. They tend to do better in poorer soil (along with Olives), as again, too much nutrients will feed the foliage at the expense of the fruit. If they fruit early enough, they can have a second fruiting.
My Olive is only about 11” high,,,, it has had tons of flowers for the past 2 years & tons of tiny tiny fruits that just don’t grow. I’m about to re-pot it,,,, but want to be a bit careful as per Fig tree !

I was shopping this morning (about 5-00am) & decided to get a couple of mangos,,,,, purely for the seeds. I have just eaten half a mango (wasn’t hungry,,, just wanted to get at the stone). I was amazed at the size of it. It’s whopping. I’ve taken the kernel out & will be planting that today also.
It made me wonder whether I ought to have taken the kernels out of the Christmas nuts that I planted a couple of weeks ago ?! Stew late now !

All the best

I grow my lemon tree in a mix of multi purpose compost and grit which it seems to like OK as it looks pretty healthy. In theory I then feed it regularly with citrus feed during spring and summer but ease off both watering and feeding over winter. Seems to work OK for me but may not be the best approach.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?

Lol! Can see you're well and truely obsessed! Thanks for the info.

ps not all figs have two crops

Baud Nursery. Fig Tree Specialist.

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

If you're just using gen purp compost Manda, you could lower the pH a bit by sprinkling a little iron sulphate on the top before you water. Someone mentioned citrus occasionally suffering from iron deficiency, and this would help with this problem too.

You could also use sequestrine - more or less the same stuff but works quicker and is more expensive!

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Resistance is fertile