Browse Forums Landscape & Garden Design 1 Aug 22, 2011 4:11 pm As you can see by the photo's, my orange tree is struggling along. I have behind it a lemon and lime. The lime tree has born fruit but neither the lemon or orange. This mean a hell of a lot to my wife as her mother is in these pots (don't ask) so transferring or other solutions probably not possible. They don't get much sun (if any) but get water. Do i need to move them out of the shade and into a sunnier spot? Should i look at trimming it down to encourage new growth, and how if so? Any help to get it looking at bit better would be great guys and gals. Cheers. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Is my Orange tree suffering? 2Aug 22, 2011 10:23 pm Woah...Ok. You really need to get these into some sun. Orange trees need a lot of sunlight and plenty of water. Dont let the potting mix dry out. Put some mulch above the potting mix. Give them a bit of a prune and they will jump to life. In a pot, you will need to feed these things as they lose nutrients that they would normally get from the earth. Go and get some slow release fertilizer designed for citrus. I guarantee they will jump to life if you do as mentioned above. Otherwise, you will have some dead trees. Re: Is my Orange tree suffering? 3Aug 23, 2011 7:54 am ^ +1 Citrus loves sun. Being in pots, it should be easy to give them plenty of sun, but not expose them to the bad hot summer sun, as you could just move them to a better position. Also, add some organic compost to the pot (if you are allowed to "disturb" the soil in the pots). You can buy it in BGS in bags!! Apply some Powerfeed (per instructions) to the soil and the plants. My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Is my Orange tree suffering? 4Aug 23, 2011 2:39 pm Thanks for the reply guys. Guessing i should move all three out into the sun by the sounds of it. We put them around the corner because where we live is very blustery conditions and i was worried they would be ripped apart. Will fertilize asap. Have already trimmed the orange tree, so now plenty of water and the aforementioned fertilizer. Re: Is my Orange tree suffering? 5Aug 24, 2011 11:54 pm Please avoid fertilising it. Nothing could be worse. How is it that so many of us think (Mostly horticulturists and gardeners alike) that everything needs fertiliser? They all did fine 100 years ago before the chemical companies came along to convince us that our plants need chemicals too Never feed a sick plant. (Never feed a healthy plant either) Feed the soil. (Fertilisers do not feed soil organisms, they kill them in most forms) When you feed soils, the soil feed plants and that is how you make good plants happen Get them out in the sun and leave them there. Also its winter and quite naturally when the soil is cold, they slow their metabolisms down and have a sleep, so look like poo for the most part anyway. Apply some molasses in water, mulch the base of the plants with heavy layers of straw or tree lopper mulch (even in pots) repot them using certified organic potting mix (look for the organic certification not just the word organic) Keep the water up to them in summer. Give them a prune if you want. Clear out the foliage that is growing toward the centre. Aim to get it a wine glass shape. If you want just let them be for a few years and then start shaping them. Those look a damn site better than mine at the moment and I'm not the slightest bit concerned about them Very common on rendered homes Smaller suppliers get the lower quality raw materials 6 11862 Hello. I just bought a few acres in Habana, Mackay, and my horses seem to love hanging around under this tree. I would like to name the paddock after this tree. Can… 0 9528 |