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lizzyw2001

Valencia Orange tree

14 years ago

Hi!

I posted a message on the fruit forum about my orange tree. I got some great advice from there. I wanted to come here and post a pic to see if I should leave it alone, or if there is anything else I should do. Here is the original message..

Hi,

My husband and I just planted 4 Valencia Orange trees on the slope in our backyard last weekend, they are small, about 2-3 ft tall and the trees are not looking as healthy this week.

In particular, one of the trees leaves are turning from a deep green to a lighter shade of green, more like a light lime color, and the leaves are also curling in.

Before we planted, I was told to give the trees a good watering 2-3 times per week for a couple weeks, until the roots set, and to mix the dirt with 50/50 with planting soil. The day we planted them, we gave a good watering, then moderate rain on Wed. About 20 feet above the trees are three 25' radius sprinklers which we also installed last week. We set the sprinklers to run twice a day for the first week to help establish moisture on our otherwise previously dry hill.

On Saturday, after watering the trees with the hose, is when we noticed how the color has lightened over the past 7 days.

From our searching on the internet, we're not sure if we're over watering, under watering, pest issues, or just shock from transplanting.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

To add to this, the reason we did the 50/50 mix was because the hill is composed of primarily decomposed granite and it was hard, hard dirt.

Here is a pic http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a73/generic1776/Family/?action=view&current=Feb2012BirthdayWeek007.jpg

hope this works..

Comments (3)

  • 14 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Lizzy, post the HTML code, not the URL. That will put your photo right into the body of your message. You'll know if it works when you preview your message. Your photo will show right up in your message :-) Just float your mouse over the photo and the "Share:Edit:Delete:Move" window pops up. Left click once in the HTML code window, and that code will then get copied to your Windows clipboard. Now all you need to do is right click in your message and select "Paste". Your HTML code for the photo will then be pasted into your message.

    And Lizzy, to respond to your soil, which you mentioned is mainly DG: So is mine. Adding amendments to DG will not help. You're MUCH better off adding a good layer of compost as I mentioned to the tree wells. It is not recommended to amend soil for trees. Your tree needs to learn to live in your soil. And the way nature takes care of this is by organic materials building up on the soil surface, then slowly being broken down my soil microbes creating a rich layer of organic material on top of the soil (i.e., topsoil). You can speed this up by adding compost 3 to 4" deep in your wells. Fertilize. Then top with wood chips to help retain soil moisture for us in drier climates. You don't mention where you live, but I'm assuming it's either S. California or Arizona where DG soils are common. You can add your location and your Sunset zone to your GW User Name (see mine). Very helpful to know, as we have forum members from all around the world. Many of the Citrus Forum members only grow their citrus in containers due to their winter weather.

    And for our Citrus Forum members, I had asked Lizzy to post over here. Here was my previous advice to her from the Orchards Forum:

    Okay, applenut is correct, never amend your soil. You just create a hole the tree will love to live in, and the roots will be less inclined to venture out. Instead, you should dig a hole about 2 to 3 times as wide as the root ball to loosen up your native soil. Plant the tree at the same height it was in, in the pot. Create a nice large well around the tree, with the perimeter of the well lower than the height of the trunk (so water will drain away from the trunk, and to the feeder roots which are at the edge of the canopy and a little beyond. What is known as the "drip line".) Mulch 2 to 4" deep with compost, then top with wood chips to help maintain moisture. If you're on clay soil, you're much better off building raised beds (a whole different topic). Wait to fertilize for a couple of months, until the feeder roots are established, then fertilize about every 2 months from Feb/March through Oct/Nov with a good citrus fertilizer that also contains micronutrients (Grow More Citrus & Avocado food is an excellent product). Don't worry about adjusting the pH. Not necessary here in S. California. NEVER allow overhead sprinklers to water your citrus trees as you currently are doing. They do not like their trunks wet, and this is a sure way to kill a young citrus tree, fast. Instead, use microsprinklers or 2 to 4 drips to fill the well (with young trees, they only need one or two drips, but lay 4 and turn them on as your tree grows, as well as move them out and away from the trunk to follow the canopy edge). Water well enough so that the soil is moist for about 12 to 18" deep. The philosophy of deep watering has been revamped for citrus. Citrus are shallow rooted trees, so if you're watering 2 to 3 feet down, you're just wasting water. The easy way to know - use a rod (I use one of those cheap green plastic covered metal plant stakes you can get at Home Depot/Lowes). If you can easily insert the stake 12 to 18" down, your soil is moist enough. You may also need to apply a micronutrient foliar application, soil drench or micronutrient granular application in the early spring/late winter, as our S. California soils tend to get depleted, and our colder winter rains can lock out the absorption of micronutrients, which will cause your leaves to look chloritic. It's usually not iron deficiency for most folks in S. Calif, but manganese deficiency. You can use Grow Power Citrus Grower's Blend, which is a water-soluble micronutrient product that can be sprayed on the leaves or poured into the soil. Here is a good resource for you to manage your citrus. I agree with applenut, your trees may be too wet. Check the soil and see. If so, turn off your sprinklers, then pull them out, and set microsprinklers or drips. Once established, a once a week watering is probably fine except during our very hot days in the summer, when you'll need to check and make sure your trees don't get too dry. They first symptom of being too dry will be cupped leaves. This is actually how commercial growers know to water their orchards.

    And, bookmark this site:
    http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/Fruits_&_Nuts/Citrus/

    This is the UC Davis Backyard Orchard-Citrus page. Very helpful for us here in California.

    Lastly, you're probably better off posting this sort of question either on the Citrus Forum or on the California Gardening Forum.

    Patty S.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers: How to Grow Citrus in the Ground

  • 14 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    {{gwi:563542}}

    Hey it worked, thanks Patty.

    I guess what I'm trying to get at is should I dig it up and replace the soil we added with the hillside dirt? Or just lay off the watering and test it with the stick method you mentioned? Or a combo of both? And I'm in Murrietta, ca.

  • 14 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    Oh gosh, no. Don't go to all the labor! Just work on filling your wells with compost. Be sure the outer ring of the well is lower that the soil at the trunk, and keep the compost and chips away from the trunk as well, to prevent the trunk from staying wet and rotting. The outer ring of your tree well should be a bit beyond the drip line (canopy edge). Okay, you're right up the road from me, and a wee bit hotter. Use your rod to test moisture. Let your soil dry between waterings. A nice deep watering every one to two weeks right now should be plenty. We're going to have a couple of warm days, then we will be cooling down. From your photo, looks like your soil is nice and moist, so just get yourself some nice compost, some wood chip mulch (not bark), and you're set. That, and a nice drip system you can control.

    Patty S.