Without doubt, you’d be hard pressed to find too many Adelaide gardens without a citrus tree. They love growing and producing, and we need to help them achieve their goal! First thing to do is look at your fruit. If it’s a little on the small size chances are it needs a feed. And citrus more than most plants can be a little picky about what you fertilise with – make sure it’s a dedicated fruit and citrus food. Organic based Dynamic Lifter Plus Fruit Food certainly does the trick on citrus and other fruit trees. Apply the pellets around the base of the tree, preferably around the drip line or outer canopy where you’ll find most of the feeder roots. How often should we feed our citrus? Spring, summer and early autumn will give the plant enough nutrients to grow, flower and fruit. Best to avoid winter as any new growth is a magnet for citrus leaf miner. The citrus leaf moth lays its eggs on citrus leaves over the cooler months which hatch and burrow into the leaf causing distortion. In large numbers this pest can seriously affect the growth and productivity of the tree. A gentle way to attack these insects is with a pyrethrum and canola oil spray. Pyrethrin is an extract from the pyrethrum daisy and disrupts the nervous system of sucking and chewing insects while the canola oil smothers and deters the citrus leaf miner moth from laying its eggs on citrus leaves. Combined, they help stop the cycle. If you want to pick delicious fresh citrus then keep the feed up and the insects off. YATES WATCH THE CLIP
