Trees: 5 Tips For Beautiful Citrus Fruits
If you have ever visited the French Riviera in the spring, you may have been struck by the scent of orange blossom emanating from bitter orange trees at this time of year. If this sweet fragrance has inspired you to start growing oranges and other citrus fruits, here are 5 tips for having beautiful citrus fruits.
1- Choosing the right rootstock
When it's not possible to plant a citrus tree in the ground, you can still have a beautiful citrus tree in a pot as long as you choose the right rootstock. This is the first of 5 tips for having beautiful citrus trees.
Among the trees in the Rutaceae family, it's not the variety that determines the tree's resistance to pot culture, but rather the choice of rootstock.
For pot culture, it's recommended to choose citrus trees grafted onto Poncirus trifoliata rootstock, which has a more adaptable root system because it's less pivot-like and better able to withstand cold and excessive watering.
2- Contact specialized nurseries.
To know the rootstock of your future tree, you need to buy it from the right place! That's why the second of the 5 tips for growing beautiful citrus fruit is to go to nurseries that specialize in this type of tree.
Contrary to what is often imagined, specialized nurseries are not more expensive than generalist garden centers.
If you go to a nursery specialized in citrus cultivation, your efforts will be greatly rewarded because you can benefit from the advice of specialists to choose the right specimen.
3- Carefully prepare the planting hole.
The third of the 5 tips for having beautiful citrus fruits is to properly prepare the planting hole. When planting a citrus tree in the ground, it should not be done lightly, as the tree is intended to stay in place for years or even decades.
Therefore, it is important to take the time to dig a hole that is large enough, 60 to 80 cm deep. The care given to the soil at the time of planting will condition the future of your tree.
4- Enriching the soil properly
The trees in the Rutaceae family are plants that are nitrogen-hungry. That's why another one of the 5 tips for having beautiful citrus fruits is simply to feed them well!
At the time of planting and regularly thereafter, they need to be given fertilizer rich in nitrogen and/or nettle manure.
Like many other plants, a tree that is hungry will develop less well and may not bring its fruits to maturity.
5- Water generously.
Even if the episodes of drought increasingly frequent in France encourage gardeners to save water in the garden, the last of the 5 tips for having beautiful citrus fruits is to water them sufficiently.
It should be known that citrus fruits need a lot of water, even if they do not like to have their roots soaked.
To ensure your lemon tree or orange tree is in good shape, it is better to water it heavily at once rather than a little every day. Sufficient watering is important for successful citrus cultivation and obtaining beautiful harvests.
If you want to learn more about the culture of these emblematic trees of the French Riviera, we recommend the book "Cultiver des agrumes bio" by Jean-Noël Falcou, published by Terre Vivante (26 €).
