I am new to gardening in the sub-tropics and have taken responsibility for this very thirsty orange tree. It was discarded in a field after the New Year/Spring Festival celebrations. What kind of orange tree is it and how can I nurse back to health?
Its pot is far too small for the size of the plant. Plant it in the ground, or at least a very much larger pot, and water frequently for the first year until it has grown a larger root system.
Thanks for the reply Michael F. I found it lying in a field without a pot, the earth is like cement and heavy as heck, so I assume it is mainly clay. I carried it home (not an easy feat), and stuck it in the only thing I had so I could get it some water asap. Today I bought a large container for it. Any ideas what kind of orange tree it is? I haven't had the guts to try the fruit...
You're fortunate to have found such a nice tree. You might actually have more than one; it looks like there are two main trunks in the first photo. If that is the case, I would try to separate them if possible. By the way, don't over do it with the watering; they're susceptible to root rot. Allow the soil to dry out moderately before watering.
Yes, there are two trees. It seems common to stick two or three together, wrap them with wire and prune to the desired shape. They were discarded at the end of the New Year celebrations (like Christmas trees in Canada). Thanks for the info about root rot, I would have soaked them too much. I was going to keep them together but removed all of the wire today so I can pull them apart and plant them in their new pots...after I take my bike and bucket out and scavenge for soil...if root rot is an issue maybe I should add sand for drainage? Most of our local soil is red clay.
Materials that would increase soil porosity are bark chips, calcined clay chips, and perlite. Sand is rather heavy and may be too fine.
I will ask around and see what I can come up with. I don't speak Chinese and very few people here speak English, and the ones that do usually do not garden. I have not found any dedicated gardening stores, just landscape businesses tucked away in the outskirts of town. I've seen locals use left over soil from mass plantings (we are experiencing mass urbanization including incredible mass landscaping.) Local vendors that sell potted plants don't sell dirt, they have a mound or two they use for customers buying plants and new pots. Once I combined small bags of old school potting soil from a local super market, local earth, and sand(it's pretty gritty, not soft and fine) to plant our window box full of snake plants. And amazingly they are not only still alive but spreading like crazy(not as slow growing as I thought!) And...is it okay to remove the fruit? I think that's what attracted a couple of moles, or baby rats or something, while I was removing the wires from the orange trees...
The fruit can be removed but it would be a shame since they're so decorative (and tasty if you don't mind some sourness). Gritty is good; it'll help with drainage.
Okay...I MAY try the fruit...maybe in as juice...with sugar ;) I removed the lowest fruit and will see how it goes. We have a lot of wild life here. I snapped this picture with my phone as the little furry guy I mentioned before scuttled to safety under our patio sink. Shrew maybe? The second picture is a little insect that greeted me a few days ago, any idea if he is a gardeners friend or foe? And the last is a real Asian lady bug! The kind I do not want to bring home I'm told.