My citrus trees are looking dodgy!!

We have had citrus trees for many years and they are kept in a cool conservatory during the winter, and often popped outside in warmer weather. We have lemon, grapefruit and a couple orange trees but not one of them has flowered or had any fruit whatsoever. We feed them in summer and keep them well watered, can you advised what sort of compost would be more suitable for them, as to be honest they are stuck in 'any old stuff'! Probably in desperate need of re-potting. They are also suffering from scale infestation, which results in a disgusting sticky residue - have tried all the recommended stuff but it doesn't seem to help. Any ideas will be gratefully received.

 

Hi Susannah sorry I haven't a clue but I'm sure someone can help you out if you have no joy in this section try the Edible Gardening one I'm sure someone could help you out there.
Helen.xxx.

 

I also have a Lemon and Orange trees.
The orange is only in its second winter but full of fruit.

The Lemon is a few years old now its got fruit on but on inspection today I noticed its also got Scale insects and the sticky residue.

What I am going to do in the next few days is wash every leaf with a good stong mix of soapy water, above and below each leaf. Hopfully it will get rid of the Scale insects and also clean the leaves of the residue.

My trees are in a greenhouse that is just frost free? the roof glass does get frosted when jack is around.

Hope that I have encourage you to try the same. I will report back in a few weeks as to the outcome on reinfection.

 

Susannah, Blue, to get rid of scale insect you ideally need a systemic insecticide. These pests are protected from the outside by their "shells", but they feed by sucking sap from the plant. So the only way to kill them is through the plant. Make sure the insecticide you use is safe for use on citrus fruit. Susannah what are you feeding your plants with? To flower and set fruit, plants need potash, and the best source of potash is tomato feed.

 

I've struggled for years trying to grow citrus sucsessfully, long term, in pots.
Have had partial sucsess, but never those really dark green leaves that they have when you buy a plant, and the fruit always seems to tail off.
Its not that they die, they just dont do very well, and scale is a real problem along with red spider mite.
I grew a clementine in a greenhouse border for a while and it was great, no problems, apart from getting too big for the greenhouse that is.

Personally, I dont think they are suitable for pot growing, but thats probably because I've not managed it. :D
I should add that I've got about a dozen or so of various types, but none are REALLY doing the buisness.

 

I am inclined to agree, Pete, when I used to by them for the garden centre they would look brilliant when they first came in, but if I hadn`t sold them in the first three months they looked terrible.

 

Something I was going to ask you about David.

I get the impession that most citrus sold in gardencentres are grown in open ground somewhere warm or in a polytunnel.
They are then dug up with fruit attached and established in pots for a short time before sale.
The fruit is always out of proportion to the size of the plant, and many have been pruned drastically.
I could be wrong, but for the prices they charge there's something dodgy going on.

Just looking around the reduced plants at most gardencentres gives it away, any citrus usually have very few leaves left.

 

Pete, I would say you are right. The fruit is always fairly mature when the plant goes on sale, that is the selling point. If there were no lemons on a lemon plant no one would buy them. But they are not sold to the retail outlets until they are in that condition. The saying in the industry is, no matter what it is if it is in flower ( or fruit ) it will sell, and that is true. Yoder mums are another example, you buy them early spring, about 3 inches tall and in full flower. What you should do is put them in a greenhouse, take all the flowers off and wait until they are about a foot high before planting out, preferably in their second year.

 

Yes, David.
I think we are a throw away society, I'm not sure we are expected to grow those citrus on for years.
Maybe buying from a specialist is the answer.
I know many people who buy all kinds of house plants, never repot them, just thow them away and buy new ones.

 

It`s a shame Pete because you can`t beat buying a young plant and watching it mature. I`ve got three plants in pots which I bought when they were young, and they are brilliant now. They are an Acer palmatum dissectun atropurpureum, a Musa basjoo and an olive. I intend putting the last two in the ground next year, replacing a Box, Viburnum and Hibiscus.

 

So guys am I right in assuming you wouldn't recommend these citrus plants as a long term thing?
Helen.xxx.

 

I think some people have worked it out Helen, I understand it was normal in victorian times, on large estates, for such plants to be grown in planters that were moved outside for the summer.
Somehow, I think there must have been much more winter care taken of them, than us poor old modern gardeners can normally achieve.
Orangeries were the thing, a greenhouse just devoted to citrus etc.
But dont give up, I dont. :D

I know what your saying David.
Somehow citrus seems to be sold as a HOUSE PLANT.

 

Absolutely Pete, when, as you say, they need to be grown in a heated, humid, greenhouse.

 

Well folks I'm not giving up.

I have washed all the plants down with a very strong soap mix. Found lots of dead Scale insects and a few live ones.

The Lemon tree produced 8 good sized fruits last year, this years are still small at the moment. The Satsuma its in its 2nd winter with me and it has a good crop of fruit about ready to pick now. Some are a bit small (about �½ size) but most are normal size.

 

How big are your plants Bluedun, and where did you buy them.