How to Grow Citrus Trees in Sand
- 1). Dig a hole that is twice as wide and twice as deep as the pot that contained your citrus tree. A spade or a shovel works for the digging. Fill the hole with water and allow the water to drain out on its own. An hour before planting, gently remove your citrus tree from the pot. Have a bucket filled with water and put the roots of the tree into the bucket of water. This will ensure that all the roots will get a thorough soaking.
- 2). Using the dirt from the hole, add some sand and compost to make the drainage better. You may also add some manure. Do not use too much or you will burn the roots of your tree. The type of soil that citrus trees prefer is heavy loamy soil with a pH measurement of five or six. After the water has drained away, put some of the soil into the bottom of the hole.
- 3). Remove the tree you have soaking in the water. With your fingers, tease out some of the roots, especially those spiraling around the root ball. This will help your tree roots to grow out. This is necessary if the tree you purchased has been growing in the same container for a long time. If left this way, the roots will continue to grow around themselves and choke the tree to death.
- 4). Place your citrus tree in the hole so the top section is about two inches above the level of the ground. This will level with the ground as the soil below your tree settles. Fill the hole with the rest of your soil mixture of sand, soil and compost to ground level. Add sand around the base of the tree trunk. If you add mulch around the base of the tree trunk, it could cause collar rot. The sand helps to prevent this from happening.
Over the sand, add the mulch. Pound a stake into the ground beside the tree. Tie a rope to it and the tree. This will help the tree to grow upright, and the wind won't knock it over easily if it blows hard. Water the area thoroughly.