Caring for the Citrus

I picked the last of the Valencia oranges.  I finished squeezing enough juice from the fruit to start the week off with a delicious morning drink to combat colds.

We are getting much too much of pink grapefruit which we love; however, it is not recommended to eat while on certain medications.  Instead, we carried half a bushel to the City Rescue Mission who accepted the fruit gracefully.  Some, we set out by the road with a sign for "Free Oranges" and some we did eat, sparingly.

Valencia

The citrus trees have yet to sprout so it was a good time to closely cut the growth from under all the citrus trees on the Back Forty.  We trimmed out the hanging branches from the grape fruit tree and trimmed out the dead limbs and branches from the orange trees.

With a low setting on the tractor, I trimmed the grass further making a close cut ring around the trees.  (As you can see, the Valencia tree needs a lot of attention.)

The most important task to do for the fruit trees is to liberally spray them with a Homemade Insecticidal Oil.  Mix  2.5 tbs mild dish-washing detergent and 2.5 tbs vegetable oil with one (1) gallon (about 4 liters) of soft water.

To make hard water soft, boil it and let it cool.  (Hard water contains calcium and other minerals.)

Finally, it is also time to fertilize the citrus trees to give them a good start for their fruit production.  It is strongly recommended to use fertilizer specifically for the citrus.  If you like to mix your own fertilizer, consult a nursery that specializes in citrus.  It is important that the trees get mostly nitrogen.

It is also important that the trees not be mulched but that the area under the trees are free of weeds and debris.

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