SUMMER CITRUS CARE
Feed, water and prune to keep them healthy,
Help your fruit plants deliver a good harvest
IREALLY wish that this week’s AG was a ‘scratch and sniff’ edition, because the blossom on my lemon tree smells absolutely glorious! It started flowering in the greenhouse and every time you walked past you would get a waft of its rich and exotic perfume.
Now I have moved it to a sunny and sheltered area of the patio and although the scent is more diluted, it still hangs in the air.
I am especially delighted that the plant is doing so well because 18 months ago it had lost all its leaves and looked extremely sorry for itself. Luckily, citruses are pretty robust, and with light, warmth and care should recover even when they look dead.
Citruses come into their own in the summer. They are self-fertile and produce their first flush of flowers in May with repeat bloomings through the season, setting fruit each time. Lemons in particular can fruit heavily, and you may need to remove some to stop the branches from snapping under their weight.
If kept somewhere reliably warm and dry, like a conservatory or greenhouse, the plant may require daily watering, but check its compost first so you don’t give it too much. Water with rainwater, and feed with a nitrogen-rich summer fertiliser. Feed large plants weekly and smaller ones once a fortnight. Citruses are vulnerable to attack by many garden pests including mealybugs, glasshouse red spider mites and scale insects. You should also check their compost for vine weevil larvae. Deal with all pests immediately with a chemical or organic pesticide.