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Citrus trees work hard to produce flowers and then grow the fruit, as well as keeping the foliage green and growing. If undersupplied with nutrients they may abort their fruits or concentrate on growing the fruits at the expense of the leaves. To help them stay healthy, they need regular feeding with a finely-tuned fertiliser which will give them the nutrients they need to perform all these tasks. Our special Summer feed formulation keeps leaves green and correct yellowing leaves (chlorosis) in Citrus and other plants. The Summer formulation contains high nitrogen to encourage green leaf growth. Summer Formulation for use between April and September. During the Spring and Summer Citrus trees will put on about 4 flushes of new leaves. To give them the nutrients they need, add feed to their water once a week, and give enough to dampen all through the compost. Check the compost daily, and whenever the surface starts to turn a light colour, give more water right through the pot, so that some starts coming out through the bottom. If the pot is very dry, you may need to dunk the whole pot in a bucket of water until the bubbles stop coming up. Watering may be needed every day in hot mid-Summer weather; and may not be needed for a week if the weather is cloudy and cool. Flush the plant through with copious water once or twice a year (normally during
the summer, when you can take it outside), to remove any build up of fertiliser
salts from the compost which may adversely affect the take-up of nutrients.
Winter Formulation for use between October and March
Taking this into consideration, the Winter Citrus feed formulation reduces the amount of nitrogen (to avoid encouraging new growth) while keeping up the trace elements to keep the leaves green and the fruit developing. Remember that in Winter Citrus trees will use less water than in Summer, so check the compost daily and when the surface becomes a paler colour starting to dry out, water right through the pot, ensuring that all the compost is dampened. Then don't water again until the surface starts to dry again. This may not be for 3 weeks in cloudy, cool weather, or may suddenly be every week if the weather is sunny. And in Summer it might be every day in hot sunny weather. The Winter fertiliser should be added to the water either weekly (if you are needing to water every week), or whenever you water (if less than weekly). Use the Winter Formulation between November and March. 1 tub of 160gm is enough for 1 houseplant-size tree for 2 seasons. Dilution rate is 1 teaspoon to 2.5 ltrs of water. |
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In Autumn, as the temperatures drop and day length gets shorter, a Citrus tree
will slow down its growth, and below 10°C it will go into dormancy. During the
Winter months the tree needs enough nutrients to keep its fruits growing, but
new growth should be discouraged while light levels are low, because new
growths will emerge weak, spindly and too elongated as they look for higher
light.