Citrus soil
Nutrient air and water permeable soils are suitable for citrus plants. A mixture composed of equal parts of sod, sheet earth, manure humus with the addition of coarse river sand 1:1:1: 0.5 is best suited. The older the plant, the percentage of turf in the mixture increases. The land is prepared in advance: turf is removed from meadows and laid in piles for decay, deciduous humus is taken from under limes and birches, river sand should be well washed. The acidity of the soil should be from 5.5 to 7.0 pH, if the acidity below can be added to the mixture of hardwood ash. Soil acidity can be measured with an acidity indicator or with a litmus test. The finished mixture must be sieved through a mesh. Ready mixtures can be frozen, the number of pests and weeds in this case decreases. A good result of soil disinfection is obtained by steaming in a water bath. Water is poured into a pan of a larger capacity and a pan of a smaller capacity with earth is placed. The "bath" is installed on the stove and warmed up, when the water boils, withstand the mixture for about 0.5 hours, shake out the ground and fill up a new portion. Sand can be baked in the oven before use.
Formation of citrus canopy
In order for citrus fruits to have a beautiful crown, they began to bear fruit faster at home, and tree formation is needed. First of all, on a tree grown from a seed, shredded or grafted, you need to form a trunk. Before pruning and pinching the plant, create the shape of the future tree in your mind. What will it be like? You can give a rounded shape (most suitable for stunted citrus), you can form a palmette (suitable for large spreading trees), you can bush, etc.
I will dwell on the classic form - a tree with a rounded crown. The trunk is trimmed or pinched at a height of 20-25 cm from the soil level. Then lateral shoots should appear on the trunk - future branches of the 1st order. But citrus fruits are very stubborn, instead of lateral branches, the upper shoot may repeatedly appear - the continuation of the trunk. How sorry it would not be, immediately remove, achieve your goal - you need skeletal branches. Pinch sprigs of the 1st order with a length of 20-25 cm, make sure that they are evenly spaced, located in different directions on the trunk, there should be at least 3-4 of them. Branches of II or more orders of branching pinch with a length of 15-20 cm. Remember, fruits in citrus fruits are formed on branches of 4-5 orders.
While the plants are young, pay attention to the illumination of the crown. For its uniform development, citrus should be rotated 10 degrees every 10 days. Make sure that young shoots do not go inside the crown, bend them to the sides or remove them.
Do not allow fruiting until the crown is formed - branches with fruits do not give growth.
Citrus transplantation
You need to transplant citrus fruits when the roots are completely covered with an earthen lump, you can find out about the transplant by looking at the bottom of the pot. If roots appeared from the drainage hole, a transplant is necessary. Prepare a new pot, it should be 2-3 cm larger in diameter, pour drainage (expanded clay or charcoal) on the bottom, fill it with sand and top your soil. Take a plant, turn it over and remove the old pot, if the pot does not come out, then you can knock on the walls with a wooden stick. Taking out the earthen lump, immediately put it in the prepared pot in the center, fill it with an earthen mixture along the edge and tampe well. The tamping can be done by lightly tapping the pot on the floor. Try not to disturb during the transplant, especially to injure the roots of citrus fruits. Water well. Protect plants in the first days after transplantation from direct sunlight.
When transplanting, do not bury the root neck. With poor compaction of fresh soil between the pot and the plant, air voids may remain, this can lead to citrus disease and dumping of the leaf apparatus. Young plants (1st year of life) are transplanted 2-3 times a year, from 2-4 years annually (preferably before growth at the end of February), older than 1 time in 2-3 years, while the upper soil layer often changes. Plants in the first 2 months after transplantation should not be fed. Citrus dishes are suitable for any, best clay and wooden, large plants grow well in tubs or large plastic planters (they are much lighter in weight).
Citrus watering
Watering citrus fruits is carried out heated (5 degrees higher than the temperature in the room), settled for at least a day with water. If possible, use snow, rain or taken water from ponds for irrigation. When using tap water, it must be poured into a wide-throated container in advance and put in the sun to evaporate chlorine. Tap water is hard - to soften it, use citric acid 1 gram per 5 liters of water, nitric or acetic acid 4-5 drops per 1 liter of water.
Water from a watering can with a strainer, prevent erosion of the topsoil. Proper watering is important for citrus fruits - water the plants abundantly, try to completely moisten the entire earthen lump. The end of watering is the water protruding onto the pallet, after half an hour drain it. Watering needs can be determined in the following ways: the topsoil is dry to the touch; lightly tapping a wooden stick on the pot (if it is clay) - in this case, the sound will be sonorous; the soil color is darker wet than dry. When re-drying an earthen coma, the pot must be put for 2-3 hours in a container with water for complete impregnation, otherwise the water will flow down the walls onto the tray when watering.
Do not forget to shower plants at least once a month, protecting the ground in the pot from water ingress with plastic wrap. A strong warm stream from under the shower washes not only dust from leaves and branches, but also many pests. In the autumn-winter months, spray plants from the spray bottle with warm water in the morning and evening hours.
Citrus feeding
Citrus fruits, growing at home, have a food area 30-40 times less than in open ground and therefore it is necessary to pay great attention to plant nutrition. It should be warned right away that citrus fruits planted in large pots do not grow better, and the soil in the pots turns sour. It is necessary to ensure that the earthwork is fully used by the root system and the applied fertilizers are easily absorbed by the roots. Excessive amounts of fertilizer also cause the soil to sour and can cause death without replanting.
You can do without additional top dressing if the topsoil in the pot during the growing season is changed monthly. To do this, carefully remove the top layer to the roots with a wooden stick (try not to damage the roots) and fill up with a new mixture.
For fertilizing watering, use mixtures of basic macro- and microelements. Fertilizers "For citrus," "Effect" and others with a content of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium in a ratio of 5:5:5 with the addition of magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, molybdenum, sulfur, etc. are best suited. Top dressing in the spring-summer period should be carried out 2 times a month, in the winter period 1 once every 2 months. It is useful to alternate feeding with mineral fertilizers with organic matter. Citrus fruits respond positively to feeding with potassium permanganate (pink solution) and iron sulfate (2 g per 1 liter of water), it can be produced every month.
For top dressing, I use only liquid fertilizers, I don't look for them on purpose, you go to the store, take a bottle and see that the ratio of the main trace elements is approximately equal.
Mineral fertilizers
Effect-spring N-P-K 10-5-5, macronutrients S, B, Cu, Mo, Zn
Effect-autumn N-P-K 2-7-7, trace elements S, B, Cu, Mo, Zn
I use the spring effect for feeding early in spring (spring for citrus fruits comes in February) to awaken plants and build up vegetative mass.
The effect is autumn from October to spring 1 once a month to complete the growth and ripening of shoots, to preserve the leaf apparatus on short winter days.
Dose: 1 caps per liter of water.
From April to October, I 1 use a mixture of these fertilizers once a month: 1 cap per 2 liters of water, while the N-P-K ratio becomes approximately 6-6-6.
Organomineral fertilizers
Citrus flower planet N-P-K 0.2% -0.1% -0.5% trace elements B, Cu, Mn, Mo, Zn.
Dose: 1 teaspoon per 2 liters of water with root dressing,
1 teaspoon per 4 liters of water for cornea (spray 1 times a week)
Ripai-KA S-04 or Ripai-KA No. 2 N-P-K 0.3% -0.2% -0.5%
trace elements B, Cu, Mn, Mo, Zn.
Dose: 1 teaspoon per 2 liters of water with root dressing.
I use it once a month from February to November.
Organic fertilizers
Garden of Miracles - Lemon N-P-K 6-3-6 g/l
Garden of Miracles - Rainbow N-P-K 10-10-10 g/l
Dose: 2 caps per 2 liters of water.
I use it once a month from February to November.
GUMI-20 a natural growth regulator of 5 drops per 1 liter of water during watering between top dressing.
Approximate feeding schedule:
In order not to get confused, I feed the plants on the 10th, 20th, 30th of each month. 10th - organic, 20th - mineral, 30th - organomineral. From November to February, fertilization 1 once a month with mineral fertilizers. I try to use natural fertilizers - cow infusion 1:10, bird droppings 1:20, for lack of feeding from vials.
Citrus acclimatization
Plants are living organisms, getting to your home, they break away from their usual habitat. To grow citrus fruits at home and get fruits from them, you need to pay maximum attention to them. Especially immediately after purchase - any plant must be immediately examined for pests and diseases. From greenhouses (and not only from them), plants usually come to us infected with coccids (shields and false shields), spider mites, whiteflies, aphids.
It is necessary to remove all visible pests, treat with drugs that are harmful to these pests, repeat the treatment 2-3 times in the interval specified in the instructions. Cover with a plastic bag and put on the windowsill so that the sun does not fall. When installing a plant, watch the leaf blades, it is advisable that they are directed flat to the glass.
After a few days, start moving the plant to its designated place (10 cm after 2-3 days). After two weeks, cut the bag on top, cut off the top after another week, and cut the bag in half after another week, and then remove it altogether. Do not forget to spray the plant in the morning and evening, make sure that the sun does not fall on the water droplets - there will be burns. After a month and a half, feed the plant with organic or mineral fertilizer. I am sure that with this care the plant will develop normally and will not shed leaves and shoots.
Author - collector of citrus plants Alexander Mikhailovich Zaitsev Alex