Why your citrus is struggling.

Every day for the past few weeks people have been coming into Four Seasons Nursery with some photos of, or a story about, an almost dead citrus, and they’ve all been asking us “why?”. It could be a lemon, an orange, a lime, maybe even the unbearably tart kumquat (each to their own); whichever citrus they’re growing our answer this season is always the same; “the rain.”

We have just sloshed our way through the wettest Summer in decades, and Autumn was almost as bad. Now, as the temperature drops and the days get shorter, we are supposed to be given a reprieve from all of this water (Winter having, allegedly, less rain than Summer). Instead we’re getting more record breaking rainfalls- Monday was the wettest June day in half a decade- and there’s still more on the way. We are all well and truly sick of it, but we’ll live. Your citrus might not.

Why? Because citrus like it hot. They love the sun baking down on them, drying out the air and drawing out their flowers. They love a good drink too; they’re not overly drought tolerant, but they absolutely hate having “wet feet”. This is when there is so much water in the soil it has nowhere to go, and so it sits around a plants root system, causing it to slowly rot. For the past few months there has been more rain than most soils can drain, and so the roots of your citrus have been drowning. To add insult to injury the warm but wet summer caused insect populations to explode, and all the usual suspects (aphids, scale, citrus leaf miner, curl grub) have been running wild.

So what can you do? The first thing you should address are the pests; your citrus is having a hard enough time in the rain without being eaten as well. Have a look on your leaves for aphids and leaf miner, and on the branches and trunk for scale. Hit aphids with Confidor, leaf miner with Pest Oil and the scale with Antiscale- all of these are available at Four Seasons Nursery. Your citrus’ root system may also be under attack from curl grub; it’s hard to tell without having a bit of a dig, and with the roots in such a fragile state this is definitely not a good idea. An application of any Curl Grub Killer will ensure this isn’t an issue (also available at Four Seasons Nursery).

If you can improve your garden’s drainage without disturbing the citrus’ roots, for example by digging in an agpipe nearby, it will be of some benefit, and if your citrus is in a pot it is recommended you move it to a more sheltered position for a while (though still in as much light as possible).

Other than that all you can do is sit tight and hope for some sunshine. When the weather warms up in September you can give your citrus a decent feed; Four Seasons Nursery sells some excellent citrus-specific fertilisers that will do wonders.

If you have any questions please pop in to see us, we have raincoats for us and umbrellas for you.

Cheers,

Mike P.

What to do with all this rain?

Hello to all,

If your anything like me you will probably be fed up with all this rain. All summer long and with no end in sight. However, this doesn't mean that their isn't anything left to do in the garden. Rain may save you some work in the yard, like watering your plants, but it can also create a lot of new work. Below is just some of the many things you can do for your garden during the rain that wont break the bank and when the rain does stop, give you a great head start in the garden so you can start enjoying the sunshine faster.

1. Mulch - as my colleague Steve pointed out in our last blog, mulching is a great way to retain moisture in the soil. With all the wet weather about make the most of it because as soon as we get a nice sunny day the soil will dry out and it is no good for the plants. This will also help prevent the weeds that are going to spring up after a good rain period. Make sure you use a weed mat for extra protection.


2. Fertilize - the lawn, the garden or where ever its just a great time to do it. Watering after fertilizing is a good idea to avoid fertilizer burn on your plants and lawn and Mother Nature is going to do it for you for no extra charge. But be careful not over do it. Fertilizer run off is no good for our waterways and our native bushland.


3. Put indoor plants outside - instead of watering your indoor plants, place them outside. They'll get a good clean from the rain and will reward you with beautiful shiny foliage and the rain water and fresh air  is beneficial to them.


4. Don't Spray - Even if we get a few hours of sunshine, if it looks like its going to rain then don't spray. Most herbicides/fungicide's and insecticide's need a 24 hour period without rain for results. Its a waste of both time and money because you are going to have to respray later to get the treatments you need.


5. Plant new Plants - Just after the rain, when the soil is still moist, is a great time to plant your new plants. The soil is moist and the plants wont need to be watered in to much (It's also easier to dig in a moist friable soil). Also if you use a product like Seasol, it will be easier for the plants to take it up.


6. Visit the nursery - A rainy day is the perfect time to visit the Nursery. There are less people around meaning you get the best pick of the plants and staff can generally spend a few extra minutes with you to discuss any problems or ideas with your garden. Bring your brolly and take a leisurely stroll around the nursery, its one of the best times to see it.

So make sure you've got some good wet weather gear  at home and get on out there in the garden so when the sun does decides to show up for summer you can spend more time enjoying it.

-Happy Gardening-

Matt M