[Arid_gardener] Orange tree

[Dick Gross]

That is pretty normal, Janice, in a young or newly planted citrus. Relocated, the plant is bound to suffer some transplant shock and shedding immature fruit the first year is pretty normal until the root system can support the above ground structure and the fruit. Don't rush it.

Personally, I would stop the drip and deep water in the the entire basin but keep water from the main trunk. I have four 30 plus year old trees that, after the first year, have never had water in the whole basin unless it rained. The feeder roots are concentrated in an area around the drip line, the only area with feeder roots that can assimilate water and nutrients. 

I rewater after I scratch a couple inches in the basin and find it quite dry. I always water deep regardless of how long it has been since the last irrigation.

Your basin should always be a little beyond the drip line to encourage feeder roots to reach out.

There are many master gardeners here who are citrus experts. I encourage any of them to contribute to or critique these coments. This is citrus country and the species does quite well here without much help from us as long as it gets adequate water in the right place.

If any of this is confusing, don't hesitate to reply.

Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
University of Arizopna Maricopa Cooperative Extension 







=+ the basin
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Janice Fletcher 
  To: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu 
  Sent: Sunday, May 06, 2007 9:40 PM
  Subject: [Arid_gardener] Orange tree 


  Hi, I planted a young orange tree a month ago, about 4 feet tall, the tree came with blooms and started to form small fruit.  But, the fruit started to fall off.  The tree has drip on it twice daily(15 minute) with deep watering once every 2 weeks.  Any suggestions?  Thanks, Janice


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  Arid_gardener mailing list
  Arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu
  http://CALS.arizona.edu/mailman2/listinfo/arid_gardener
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://CALS.arizona.edu/pipermail/arid_gardener/attachments/20070507/496dce34/attachment-0001.html