[Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

[Tyler Storey]

Hi Frances,
Your orange tree -- also known as an ornamental orange, bitter orange, and
Seville orange -- will respond to exactly the same culture as other citrus,
so yes, some fertilizer may help, as will good deep water.  Give your tree a
good soaking in a "doughnut" that extends a few feet on either side of the
canopy drip line.  The idea is to keep the water away from the trunk and as
far out as the roots extend beyond the canopy.  Build a shallow basin with
some loose dirt if necessary, then fill the basin a couple of times with the
hose.
Next, sprinkle some high nitrogen fertilizer in your doughnut, and water
again, this time aiming to get the water three feet deep into the ground.
Follow the guidelines on the fertilizer package to determine how much to
use. You can use a soil probe to measure how far the water goes, or you can
generally judge that one inch of water in your basin will penetrate to a
depth of 4 to 6 inches of your soil, and fill up your basin accordingly.  
You water before fertilizing to make certain that your tree's roots aren't
"burned" by the fertilizer, and then water again to move the fertilizer down
to where the roots can use it.  If in doubt, use less fertilizer, not more.

Especially with a mature tree such as yours, it is important that the tree
be watered deeply and as far out as the dripline and beyond.  A 40-year-old
tree has a wide root system, and watering just near the trunk will do no
good.  In the hot Summer months, I would water that deeply every two weeks,
and then much less frequently in the Winter.
And lastly, do be very cautious in pruning your old tree -- better yet, just
don't do it. Citrus are very prone to sun-scalded bark, and on an older tree
sun scald can essentially kill it, as an older tree no longer has the
vigorous growth needed to recover.  
You mentioned marmalade in your note to Olin.  The Seville orange is not
only the source of the world's best marmalade, it's also the flower from
which eau de cologne, neroli oil, and orange-flower water are derived. Even
better, the fruit is an essential ingredient in Cuban and Yucatecan cooking.
If you're very ambitious, you can pick the blossoms once they open and layer
them with fine white sugar until they're dry, them blend it all to a powder
to make orange-blossom sugar, which I am certain must be good for something,
though I can't think what.
I hope this helps,
Tyler

tyler at tylerstorey.com
http://tylerstorey.com
602-738-2978

-----Original Message-----
From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of
francesh at openworksweb.com
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 9:19 AM
To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page


85018
francesh at openworksweb.com

I have an artifical orange tree that is about 40 years old.  The leaves have
become wrinkly and more sparse.  Can fertilizing help with this problem? Is
there anything that can help the health of this old orange tree?


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