I have promised J1 that I would look this up, her citrus have yellow leaves. IMO it’s from watering, 24/7/365…J2 spread some custom citrus feeder around, but I told J1 that Epsom Salts, around the feeder line, would also help.
You are my first port of call…
Dinetta said:
I have promised J1 that I would look this up, her citrus have yellow leaves. IMO it’s from watering, 24/7/365…J2 spread some custom citrus feeder around, but I told J1 that Epsom Salts, around the feeder line, would also help.You are my first port of call…
Epsom Salts = magnesium, not boron, but yes, yellowing leaves can be an indication of magnesium deficiency. Could also be an iron deficiency so some Iron Chelates might be indicated, especially of the leaves are yellow with green veins. If it is just the older leaves that are yellowing but new ones are green then more nitrogen.
I agree that continuous watering can leach away nutrients.
bluegreen said:
Dinetta said:
I have promised J1 that I would look this up, her citrus have yellow leaves. IMO it’s from watering, 24/7/365…J2 spread some custom citrus feeder around, but I told J1 that Epsom Salts, around the feeder line, would also help.You are my first port of call…
Epsom Salts = magnesium, not boron, but yes, yellowing leaves can be an indication of magnesium deficiency. Could also be an iron deficiency so some Iron Chelates might be indicated, especially of the leaves are yellow with green veins. If it is just the older leaves that are yellowing but new ones are green then more nitrogen.
I agree that continuous watering can leach away nutrients.
Thanks BlueGreen, I’ll have a look at her leaves…they’ve been yellow since Christmas, the fruit was not very good.
Dinetta said:
I have promised J1 that I would look this up, her citrus have yellow leaves. IMO it’s from watering, 24/7/365…J2 spread some custom citrus feeder around, but I told J1 that Epsom Salts, around the feeder line, would also help.You are my first port of call…
Firstly, Epsom salts is Magnesium sulphate. Not Boron.
Also many citrus orchardists use folair sprays of manganese and zinc.
Maybe it just needs a good mulching with old chook poo and straw. They are gross feeders. I chuck a bit of citrus food around, but our lemon tree sits next to the gravel pit where our grey water goes. So it gets food from there. At our previous place we had one planted down on the septic outflow. Again, nice foody water. I have also used washing soda to green up the leaves sometimes.
This might be useful:
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/citrus
Thanks all, I had a look at that site Buffy, some good info there.
OK Epsom salts is not Boron…whoops…now I know…
I really do think J1’s problem is she waters those trees 24/7/365…She’s a chook poo enthusiast (but I“m keeping mine) so maybe she needs to provide her trees with a dose of this as well…around the drip line…if she’s watering direc tly against the tree trunk I don’t see how the fertiliser is being incorporated into the soil, as it’s been such a dry two years so far…
Dinetta said:
Thanks all, I had a look at that site Buffy, some good info there.OK Epsom salts is not Boron…whoops…now I know…
I really do think J1’s problem is she waters those trees 24/7/365…She’s a chook poo enthusiast (but I“m keeping mine) so maybe she needs to provide her trees with a dose of this as well…around the drip line…if she’s watering direc tly against the tree trunk I don’t see how the fertiliser is being incorporated into the soil, as it’s been such a dry two years so far…
I’d ask J1 to unhook the drips on one tree and put a micro sprinkler or two so that they water the drip zone. See if it puts the other trees to shame.
Citrus are gross surface feeders but the application of fertilisers is better at certain times of year than other. Again I’ve never consciously, deliberately put any fertiliser on my citrus since the first application when I planted them.
roughbarked said:
Yes we have discussed this before.
Buffy’s comment about spreading mulch is good as long as the mulch isn’t too thick. I mulched mine once in 35 years. Sure they need it again but they aren’t yellow. I never water my citrus trees at all other than water they may get by me attempting to grow other things nearby. As Buffy knows, my annual average is not more than 400 mm.I’d ask J1 to unhook the drips on one tree and put a micro sprinkler or two so that they water the drip zone. See if it puts the other trees to shame.
Citrus are gross surface feeders but the application of fertilisers is better at certain times of year than other. Again I’ve never consciously, deliberately put any fertiliser on my citrus since the first application when I planted them.
Thanks RoughBarked…your seasons are similar to mine, aren’t they? Cold dry winters and hot wet summers…not the Mediterranean climate that citrus is native to?
Dinetta said:
roughbarked said:
Yes we have discussed this before.
Buffy’s comment about spreading mulch is good as long as the mulch isn’t too thick. I mulched mine once in 35 years. Sure they need it again but they aren’t yellow. I never water my citrus trees at all other than water they may get by me attempting to grow other things nearby. As Buffy knows, my annual average is not more than 400 mm.I’d ask J1 to unhook the drips on one tree and put a micro sprinkler or two so that they water the drip zone. See if it puts the other trees to shame.
Citrus are gross surface feeders but the application of fertilisers is better at certain times of year than other. Again I’ve never consciously, deliberately put any fertiliser on my citrus since the first application when I planted them.
Thanks RoughBarked…your seasons are similar to mine, aren’t they? Cold dry winters and hot wet summers…not the Mediterranean climate that citrus is native to?