What do you know about Citrus Trees?

[Redeye]

I have a Tangerine tree in my backyard, that was badly pruned. The leaves are turning yellow and falling off (not all yet, but I rake once a week)
I love the fruit, and wanna save it
Best I can figure, I need more Nitrogen and phosphates (IE fertilizer). The drip line is a low point, and I have sprinklers, so I think overwatering has been an issue, since it just makes a pool of water in there. I fixed that I think, but now I think there is very little nutrients left for the tree from the past few month/years of overwatering
This is my opinon after Googlen' citrus trees
Anyone have better knowledge on this

Old tenant said there were two trees, and the other one slowly died, and he expected this one to die

[DaveMorris]

I have a tangerine in my front yard. It gets watered every other day with my grass and I can't pull the fruit off of it fast enough. All I do for fertilizer is sink a few of those citrus tree spikes around it once a year. I have already pulled 4 Home Depot buckets worth of tangerines from it and it still doesn't look like I have picked any of them. Of course I do live in Lemon Grove!??

[Redeye]

I put a spike in acouple days ago
I guess it's wait and see time:)

[RussM]

Avoid overwatering... alot of water does result in heavy fruit-bearing, but it comes at the expense of tree growth and health. Heavy fruit load on a smaller/younger tree can cause splitting and broken branches.

Those fruit tree spikes work great; I pound 1 or 2 new ones in near each of my citrus trees twice a year, depending on tree size.

On those yellowed leaves and on healthy green ones too, look on the underside for:

sticky white spots (citrus whitefly eggs/larvae)
fluffy white pods (cottony cushion scale)
brown/black bumps (citrus scale) (may be on branches as well)
blackish powdery mold/fungus (top and/or bottom of leaves).If you have any one these, do the following:

1. Blast the undersides of all leaves as best you can with a strong stream of water (I use a pressure washer with a wide fan spray; a garden hose will work fine though if you have decent water pressure.) If you don't get soaked yourself, you're not doing it right!!:D
2. Let dry overnight.
3. Spray the whole tree *thoroughly* with a fruit & vegetable soap solution, saturating the undersides of leaves in particular.
4. Repeat weekly until the visible signs are gone, then continue weekly for 2-3 more weeks.

The first two are common in CA... I've fought both. The last one is a secondary affliction that sets in when a tree is weakened by some other disease or parasite.

[ManTis]

hey red eye...I know you are over watering. Cut back water to once a week and water 30 to 45 minutes during that watering schedule. Leave the water at a low flow, dont flood the tree. Citrus trees like deep watering with a well drained soil. if you want quick results to see it green up use triple 15 as the fertilizer. Depending on the age and size of the tree use 1 to 5 pounds of the stuff....YES 1 to 5 pounds. Apply around the base but do not let the fertilizer touch the trunk of the tree, it will burn the tree. Then you have to water the fertilizer into the soil. And then continue the once a week watering schedule.

Russ advice is great too. He is right on target.

If you need any help let me know....I will do what i can to help.

good luck
michael

[Redeye]

I knew the overwatering was a big issue, just now getting the hang of these old screwy sprinkler timers
I have'nt seen it pool up like since the rain, so pretty sure the sprinkler issue is fixed, I'll check leaves and tree for infection/infestation tomorrow during the day
Thanks for all the help

[DaveMorris]

My tangerine tree, which is actually a Sumatran Orange Tree, gets 25 mins of lawn sprinklers every other day. It has been watered this way for the last 8 years. In that time it has pretty much doubled in size and each year it produces at least 300 - 400 tangerines. Water does not puddle up around it and the soil has very good drainage. 3 or 4 citrus spikes each year and it is good to go. I do get scale on some of the leaves, as well as lots of ants and one garter snake that lives in it. The fruit is extremely sweet and seedless. I love this tree!

[Redeye]

lemme get some seeds! :)
Found some white fuzzy stuff on bottom of numerous leaves(possible eggs or mold)
looks like mold, but leaning more twards eggs, since russ said those were white and sticky

Drainage is an issue with my backyard, since the whole yard is a slope twards the house abit in area, and I have an uneven lawn