Citrus Citrus fruit

Planting position: Full sun. Ideal for frost-free areas or provide with frost- and wind-protection. Spacing of 5m between trees.
Requires regular watering during growing. season, and never allowing soil to dry out. Light well-draining, compost-enriched loamy soil and generous layers of mulching. White-wash young trees for sun-protection, prior to growing good crown foliage. Prune only on dead wood, over-long branches and unwanted growth.
Propagate from budding.
Fertilising programme after planting, during beginning of autumn and summer: 1st year - apply 75g of Magnesium sulphate and 500g of 3:1:5 divided over the months; 2nd year - apply 75g of Magnesium sulphate and 525g of 3:1:5 divided over the months; 3rd year - apply 75g of Magnesium sulphate and 575g of 3:1:5 divided over the months; 4th year - apply 75g of Magnesium sulphate and 600g of 3:1:5 divided over the months.
Harvesting is done when the fruit is ready to be eaten. Citrus fruit is ripe when the skin’s colour is good. Some fruit must be picked immediately or they start dropping off, but never pick citrus when it’s wet.
Pests, diseases and their cures: Citrus psylla - spray new foliage with Metasystox 3 times every 10 days, or Dursban with a safety period of 60 days; Black spot - Spray with mineral oil together with copper oxychloride (half the petals have fallen) and ‘Valencia’ (two months after petals have fallen).

Oranges these well-known fruits love moisture. Some varieties may sweeten the longer they hang. Mandarins, tangerines or ‘Naartjies’ are quite frost sensitive. Lemons are more tolerant to cold winters and bears sour fruit high in vitamin C for most of the year. Grapefruit trees are large and pretty sensitive to frost. Prune when needed after fruiting. Its large fruit is yellow and seedless. Lime fruits drop when mature and is very frost sensitive. These fruits are produced for most of the year. Other citrus includes Tangelos, Kumquats and crossbred varieties.