Citrus compost & feed?

[shirlthegirl43]

I bought a lemon and a calamondin (hope they are edible) from Wilkinsons after my run in with dead plants from Woolworths. Anyhoo, I purchased a small bag of citrus compost (about three and a half quid) to pot them in. I then invested in winter citrus food - about a fiver - from Wyevale on the way past ('tis a 60 mile round trip to my closest Wyevale). I must say that it has been worth the investment as the lemon has grown by four inches and as many leaves since its purchase at the end of January. The calamondin has been slightly slower but has more shoots appearing. I will invest in the summer citrus food next trip to Wyevale (which might be tomorrow). Although it seems expensive at a fiver, you dissolve it in water and I have made up a litre in a pop bottle and keep that in a cool, dark cupboard and water every 10 days. This lets the compost dry out quite a lot between and the plants seem happy at the moment.

[smallblueplanet]

Hi Furkin, thanks for your reply, very interesting. I've only just the diddy lemon tree (20cm high), so I guess it won't be fruiting for a while yet!

What is the difference between summer and winter feed, and which brand do you use? (edit - what variety feed is yours stg43?)

I also bought a Lidl fig (it is little too) but am not sure of the variety, I imagine its Brown Turkey - what variety is yours, has it fruited yet?

I had black olives on my tree last year, but I've pruned them both so won't get any this year.

Look forward to hearing more about your growing success through the year.

[Furkin]

SHIRL: The Calamondin is edible, if you like very, very sour stuff. Apparently, they don’t grow very big and are very bitter - I’d have thought o.k for marmalade if they are juicy enough, & you grow enough ! As mine didn’t grow, I didn’t actually experience the taste.
I do like Cumquats tho’, so I imagine it’s similar. Talking of Cumquats (!?), I have just planted some seeds today !
As I say, your plant might be growing great at the moment (due to winter feed) but you will need to swap that about now, for the summer feed - or the plant will grow foliage/size at the expense of the fruit/flowers.
I am constantly amazed at how much we spend on fertilzers/feeds/compsts etc, when some of the plants are so cheap (I mean ‘reasonable’ !) The small tubs of winter/summer feed should last me about 5 years tho’, so it snot too bad.

MANDA: I have seen fruit on tiny trees - so you never know !
Difference ? I couldn’t remember, so reading off the packs:
SUMMER: (4 years supply for one tree) “The summer formulation is high in nitrogen to promote growth & development of fruit & flowers. The winter feed provides nourishment but is lower in nitrogen to discourage winter growth which tends to be weak & yellow”
WINTER: DITTO
I got mine (SCARLETTS) from Wyvale.

I don’t know what my Fig is now (marker lost) but that also fruited from quite small. They tend to do better in poorer soil (along with Olives), as again, too much nutrients will feed the foliage at the expense of the fruit. If they fruit early enough, they can have a second fruiting.
My Olive is only about 11” high,,,, it has had tons of flowers for the past 2 years & tons of tiny tiny fruits that just don’t grow. I’m about to re-pot it,,,, but want to be a bit careful as per Fig tree !

I was shopping this morning (about 5-00am) & decided to get a couple of mangos,,,,, purely for the seeds. I have just eaten half a mango (wasn’t hungry,,, just wanted to get at the stone). I was amazed at the size of it. It’s whopping. I’ve taken the kernel out & will be planting that today also.
It made me wonder whether I ought to have taken the kernels out of the Christmas nuts that I planted a couple of weeks ago ?! Stew late now !

All the best

[Alison]

I grow my lemon tree in a mix of multi purpose compost and grit which it seems to like OK as it looks pretty healthy. In theory I then feed it regularly with citrus feed during spring and summer but ease off both watering and feeding over winter. Seems to work OK for me but may not be the best approach.

[smallblueplanet]

....
I was shopping this morning (about 5-00am) & decided to get a couple of mangos,,,,, purely for the seeds. I have just eaten half a mango (wasn’t hungry,,, just wanted to get at the stone). I was amazed at the size of it. It’s whopping. I’ve taken the kernel out & will be planting that today also.
It made me wonder whether I ought to have taken the kernels out of the Christmas nuts that I planted a couple of weeks ago ?! Stew late now!

Lol! Can see you're well and truely obsessed! Thanks for the info.

ps not all figs have two crops

They are several types of fig trees :

- Caprifig type (or male tree) shelter the Blastophaga during the winter, which is the insect specifically responsible for its sexual pollination.

Its fruit, parasitized by the Blastophaga are not edible.

- Domestic Fig Trees (or female trees) which, depending on the variety, produce one or two crops of figs.

BIFERES produce two crops per years :

The brebas ripen in July on the past years growth according to the variety and according to the years producing 10-50% of the crop (average 20-25%). The brebas are parthenocarpic (they ripen without pollination).

The Autumn Figs comprise the biggest production, and ripen from August (the 1st for the earliest ; the 30th for the slower ones) until the first freeze of the year’s growth. Depending on the varieties, the fruit are either parthenocarpic or sexual (require the intervention of blastophaga). But caprification like that practiced in North Africa is not necessary, even if there are no Caprifig Trees in the orchard.

UNIFERES (onecrop fig trees) do not have repeat flowering and only produce Autumn figs (parthenocapric or sexual depending on the variety). Some early varieties produce fruit in August, a period generally poor for figs.

Baud Nursery. Fig Tree Specialist.

[Paul Wagland]

If you're just using gen purp compost Manda, you could lower the pH a bit by sprinkling a little iron sulphate on the top before you water. Someone mentioned citrus occasionally suffering from iron deficiency, and this would help with this problem too.

You could also use sequestrine - more or less the same stuff but works quicker and is more expensive!

[smallblueplanet]

Now Paul, where am I gonna get FeSO4 from?

Oh well, as baby lemon is small I might shell out for some real citrus compost stuff to get it going, but when its bigger its gonna have to make do and mend like the rest of us!

[Paul Wagland]

Now Paul, where am I gonna get FeSO4 from?

Here ya go!

J Arthur Bower's Sulphate of Iron Available From AHS Direct Garden Products UK

[Alison]

Here ya go!

J Arthur Bower's Sulphate of Iron Available From AHS Direct Garden Products UK

You can get that in the garden centre so no probs to get hold of - have used it for various acid loving plants but not for citrus.

[smallblueplanet]

£3 delivery too. They must pay you too much Paul! Is it organic?

S'okay will check in GCs for citrus compost, it is only a small plant (at the minute!!!!). Might check Lidl too as they've got some eracacious stuff in today apparently. Thanks Alison.

[Alison]

According to the latest GYO mag, it says that "Citruses like free-draining soil, so use a loam based potting compost like John Innes along with added sharp sand and horticultural grit to help with the drainage", it also suggests a mulch of pea shingle and using a good quality citrus fertiliser. No mention what so ever (as far as I can see anyway!) of them needing any acid though or of nitrogen deficiencies, maybe that's all taken care of with the "good quality citrus fertiliser"!???????

[smallblueplanet]

Got to go down the Builders Merchants soon Alison for some roofing battens for my water feature plan and trellising for the wisteria, I'll get some sharp sand, grit and pea shingle too. I've seen various articles that don't mention acid compost, think drainage and correct feeding regime might be more important?

[Paul Wagland]

Looks like drainage is the main 'health' issue, and then feeding if you want them to fruit?

£3 delivery too. They must pay you too much Paul! Is it organic?

Cor, I wish! It was more to show you the sort of thing to look for than a recommendation of the supplier

As for organic... not sure!

[smallblueplanet]

Looks like drainage is the main 'health' issue, and then feeding if you want them to fruit?

Ha! what good's a G&T without a slice?

[Furkin]

Feed Wise - I'm sure that's why there are specialty Summer & Winter feeds available.
Whilst I realise that one is for foliage & one is for fruiting,,,,,, I would have thought any other supplement would have been thought of within the product,,,, or is that just me being a bit optimistic ?

This bit of warmth & sunshine lately has started my lemons to ripen up a bit (or at least turn yellow ?!),,,, fingers now crossed for the tangerines,,,, they didn’t grow much over the winter, but are beginning to now. I bought it at the end of lat summer, so I haven’t had my own fruit from it yet (well I say that,,, the last couple that fell off I left in the porch (no,,, not the porsche - that would be silly !) One of them turned yellow, so out of curiosity I opened it. It was perfect,,,, beautiful little tangerine segments,,,, I obviously had to taste them, & they were great. I opened the green one, & that too was edible (if you like sour things - I do, have just planed some Cumquat seeds).

I am just changing from winter to summer feeds now for mine.