Citrus Trees & Insects
- Citrus trees need warm or hot summers and mild winters to thrive. Tropical and subtropical climates are ideal. They also do well when you keep the soil consistently moist without letting it get drenched or dry in between waterings. To grow and produce fruit, your citrus tree will require large amounts of nitrogen in addition to iron, zinc and manganese.
- There are many varieties in the citrus family and varieties within varieties: There are sweet and sour oranges, mandarin orange and sour-acid mandarin; there are lemons and limes; grapefruit and kumquat. In addition, there are the hybrids. The tangelo, for example, is what you get when you cross a mandarin and a grapefruit.
The first citrus to be cultivated was the citron, which is probably the least tolerant of cold weather in this plant family. - If you're looking for instant gratification, planting a citrus tree will be disappointing. Even grafted trees need to develop for a few years before they will bear fruit. Seedlings will take 10 to 15 years. But if you can wait, by the time the trees mature, they will be 10 to 30 feet tall, producing the most fragrant flowers and delicious fruit for many years.
- Harvest season will depend on what type of citrus tree you have. Most of them ripen in late fall or early winter, but some varieties, like the Valencia orange, will be ready in spring to summer. This means that if you plant two different varieties, you could have fresh oranges 8 to 10 months of the year.
You'll also find varieties that don't need to be picked immediately after ripening. The fruit will stay on the branch for a long period before it begins to degrade.
Don't use the color of an orange or lemon as your signal to harvest. You'll know it's time to pick the fruit when it tastes right. In addition, don't pick the fruit (except for the one you'll use for the taste test) unless it is ripe. Once picked, a citrus fruit will not ripen. - Your citrus tree may fall prey to a range of insects: aphid, citrus whitefly, citrus thrip, brown soft scale, and bud and red mites. Not all of them are life-threatening. For instance, aphids only become a problem if there's an infestation during growing season. They suck the sap from the leaves, killing them. If you don't stop this process, the leafless branches will also die and fall. The infestation will eventually take the whole tree down.
As soon as you notice insects, spray them with jets of water. If you see brown soft scales or mites, apply horticultural oil. Also, use sticky bands on trunks to catch ants. While they're not harmful to citrus trees, they eat the natural predators that kill mites.