Citrus plants need loving and comprehensive care if they are to look good and bear fruit in this country. They have special needs in almost every respect. Whether it is summer or winter also has a decisive influence on care.
How do I properly care for my citrus plants?
The care of citrus plants includes: regular watering (daily in summer, monthly in winter) with lime-rich tap water, fertilizing with mineral fertilizers during the growing season, repotting every 2-3 years, regular cutting and a cool, frost-free winter quarters.
Pouring
Citrus plants come from always humid areas of the world. In our latitudes, they therefore have to be regularly supplied with water during the growing season, precisely because they are cultivated as pot plants. In summer, daily watering may be required, but in winter, once a month is sufficient.
It is now known that citrus plants have a high calcium requirement. You can therefore water them with lime-rich tap water without hesitation - it will even do you some good. However, be sure to avoid oversupply, as waterlogging is not tolerated.
Fertilize
Mineral fertilizers are more suitable than organic ones because their nutrients are better and more quickly available. However, it is the same whether long-term or immediate fertilizer is used. Fertilization is only carried out during the growing season according to the fertilizer manufacturer's instructions. All types of citrus require the following nutrients:
- in approximately equal amounts of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K)
- in smaller amounts phosphate (P)
- For example, an NPK fertilizer with the combination 20-5-15 is suitable
- Trace elements such as boron, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese and zinc are also required
Tip
Various fertilizers are available commercially that you can use to fertilize citrus plants. If you have to supply a lot of citrus plants, you can also buy the individual nutrients cheaply and mix the fertilizer for citrus plants yourself.
Repotting
Repotting takes place in spring about every 2-3 years. You need special soil for citrus plants, but you can mix it yourself cheaply. The pot should also keep up with the size of the plant.
Cutting
Whenever a single branch grows unsightly from the crown in summer, you can shorten it as soon as possible. Aside from these cosmetic fixes, the best time to prune citrus plants is late winter, around February and March.
Prune regularly for good branching. Choose an outward-facing bud and place the scissors about 3 mm above it. Cut diagonally and in the direction of bud growth. During winter pruning, you can also cut damaged or dead branches back to old, he althy wood. You should coat the edges of larger cuts with tree wax (€11.00 on Amazon).
Wintering
Overwinter your citrus plant cool and frost-free. Depending on the species, the ideal temperature can be between 3 and 15 °C. The warmer the winter quarters are, the brighter they should be. If it is too dark, the plant will lose leaves, but will sprout again in spring.
All owners who do not have a suitable overwintering room can overwinter the citrus plant in the living room, but will then have to care for it more intensively.
Tip
Place the bucket on Styrofoam, because cold soil regularly causes a citrus plant to have yellow leaves.
