Hi, long time gardner, first time blogger. I'm looking for help with a navel orange tree I purchased at a Florida fruit grower stand about 3 years ago. The tree was about 2 feet tall when I planted it 3 years ago. Now the tree is about 5 feet tall and looks healthy. My concern is the tree is growing out and not upward. Maybe I'm just short on patience but I have not noticed any increase in height in the last year or so. Three seasons ago we got over 2 dozen delicious oranges from the tree and were very excited. Then a year ago we only got 3 oranges at harvest and they were not very sweet. Currently I have about 2 dozen oranges on the tree about the size of base balls. I fertilized the tree with ferti-lome citrus (19-10-5) the past 2 years and the leaves are dark green and look healthy. I also use Sta-Green fertilizer spikes staying at least 12 inches from the tree trunk. The soil in my area is heavy clay. When I planted the tree, I dug a hole about 5 feet deep and 5 feet wide. I mixed potting soil, garden soil, humus and cow manure in a wheel barrow and back filled the hole. I did not add any sand to the mix, could this be part of my problem? Any ideas?
Hi, Dexter here. I'm new to computers and even newer to this UBC program. I posted attached concerns regarding a "slow" growing (?), navel orange tree approx. 10 days ago. Appears I've had 79 reviews to date, but no (0) replies. What should I do to receive assistance? Did I post in the wrong location? Love this program. Thanks!
I don't know enough to know where to start off to provide you an answer to your question, this is my first year growing citrus trees and I am still learning myself. However, this answer was given in response to a planting question on a different thread. Some of what Millet suggests may help you get you tree growing in the right direction.
Young citrus trees that are planted in the ground 3 years or younger, should never be fertilized with a fertilizer stronger than an 8-8-8. Your tree should have grown much larger in the 3 years that it has been planted. You say you have fertilized the tree, but how often? Citrus a very heavy feeders, requiring a lot of nutrition. During your tree's 1st year it should have been fertilized 6 times between March 1st and the end of August, The second year, 5 times during the same season. Now that the tree is in its 3rd year of "growth," 4 applications of fertilizer should have been applied. Starting in the 4th year and forever forward, fertilize the tree 3 times each growing season. Without going into the amount of fertilizer that should have been applied at each application, you can look it up on this forum by using the search function. Forget about using fertilizer spikes. Spikes are not a good method for citrus trees. Also I notice you are using a decorative mulch around your tree, this is also not a good practice with citrus trees. Mulches retain moisture against the tree's trunk, and can cause root and trunk rot as the tree grows older. Next year as your tree starts it 4th year you can use a 10-10-10 fertilizer, but do not go any higher in the future. Lastly, you planted the tree incorrectly. However, since you made the mistake of digging a hole too large for the tree's root system, it was better that the hole was such a large 5X5X5 hole. This at least kept the irrigation water of killing the root system, as there was ample room for the water to drain out of reach. Citrus roots have a hard time growing from one alluvium into another type of alluvium. Therefore the trees root system will more or less be contained inside the hole that you dug. Unless you have applied the amount of nutrition that your young tree required, then that is probably the cause of such minimal growth, and poor crop development. You also can call the the University of Florida at 352-392-2411 and purchase a copy of the booklet "Florida Your Dooryard Citrus Guide" by Jim Ferguson. It will be very helpful in explaining the correct care of a young citrus tree. The best to you and this Navel Orange tree. - Millet (1,246-)