How to Care for Your Citrus this Summer

Citrus trees have a shallow root system that can dry out rapidly during the heat of summer. Moisture stress can adversely affect fruit quality and tree health, so it’s important to keep the soil or potting mix moist with regular and deep watering. If you find that the soil is not absorbing the water, no matter how much watering you do, then apply a wetting agent like Yates Waterwise Granular Soil Wetter. This helps improve soil moisture levels by breaking down the waxy, water repellent layer that can develop on the surface of soil or potting mix and allows water to better penetrate down into the root system.  

Citrus in pots will dry out much faster than trees growing in the ground, so more regular watering of potted trees will be required.  

Take the additional step of applying an organic mulch, like straw or bark chips, around the root zone. This helps keep the soil or potting mix moist, as well as protecting the root system from baking summer sun. Keep the mulch a few cm away from the trunk. This helps improve air circulation and reduce the chance of fungal diseases. Also remove any grasses and weed growth from around the tree’s root zone. Weeds steal valuable water and nutrients from the tree and reduce air flow around the trunk.  

Feeding citrus regularly is the key to promoting a bounty of autumn and winter fruit. Citrus are very hungry plants and it’s common for them to suffer from nutrient deficiencies. Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food is a complete citrus food that has been specially formulated to provide citrus with the nutrients they need. Apply Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food around the root zone of in-ground and trees in pots every 1-2 weeks during summer, while citrus trees are busy developing their fruit. The benefit of using a liquid fertiliser during summer is you’re watering and feeding at the same time.  

Sweet sugary sap that’s flowing through citrus plants is a magnet for sap sucking pests like Scale Insects. Scale Insects can be brown, white, pink or grey and appear as small raised bumps along leaves and stems. Sometimes the Scale are hard to spot themselves, however if you see Sooty Mould developing on the leaves (a black ash-like film) or Ants moving up and down the stems then they’re indicators of a sap sucking insect pest like Scale. Regular sprays of Yates Nature’s Way Citrus & Ornamental Spray, on both the upper and lower leaf and stem surfaces, will help keep Scale under control. It’s based on natural pyrethrin and vegetable oil and is approved for use in organic gardening, so is ideal for gardeners wanting to use organic methods of insect pest control. 

Young Bronze Orange Bugs (BOB), also known as stink bugs, that started to infest citrus trees during spring are now maturing into large, dark brown adult bugs during summer. They’re continuing to feed on shoots and citrus fruit stalks, causing leaves to wilt and young fruit to blacken and fall from the tree. Targeted sprays of Yates Nature’s Way Citrus & Ornamental Spray, directly contacting the Bronze Orange Bugs, are an effective way to control these damaging pests. Bronze Orange Bugs can squirt nasty, foul smelling liquid at you, so it’s best to wear eye and skin protection when spraying. 

During late summer and early autumn, citrus trees can grow a fresh flush of new foliage. This leaf growth is tender and vulnerable to attack by Citrus Leaf Miner, causing leaves to curl and distort and develop silvery tunnels. Citrus Leaf Miner is a pest that needs to be prevented, by spraying the new leaves every 5–14 days with an oil-based spray like Ready to Use Yates Nature’s Way Citrus & Ornamental Spray. This creates a film of oil over the leaves, which deters the female adult Citrus Leaf Miner from laying her eggs. These protective sprays reduce the chance of eggs and therefore leaf-damaging larvae.