»Top tips for growing a healthy and productive citrus tree«
Citrus is one of the fruit trees that is widely grown and there are tips that need to be considered to ensure success.
There are many varieties of citrus but the most important factor when choosing a variety is the rootstock. Different varieties of citrus have different characteristics and during grafting, you need to choose a good variety for the scion and the stock.
Grafting citrus
After choosing a right root stock, choose a bud stick and trim off the leaves and thorns off the bud stick. Ensure that the bud stick is healthy ie free from pests and diseases and also that it matches the root stock.
Make a T shaped incision in the rootstock and fit a bud cut from the scion into the T shaped incision. After fitting the bud, wrap a polythene or Sellotape around the grafting part beginning right below the incision.
In three to four weeks‘ time, the grafting union would have formed and hence the polythene wrap is removed as well as the shoot of the root stock.
Managing citrus
When planting citrus, ensure that you plant it at the right time on the onset of rains.
During planting, make a nice square hole and put the nursery citrus tree. Put a little bit of soil and then add about 50g of phosphorous fertilizer and cover it up. Cover up the soil but ensure not to cover the grafting union.
Put composted farm yard manure on top, mulch and then water the tree . When the tree flowers for the first time, it is advisable that the you pull off the flowers and this enables more vegetative growth and improves productivity of the tree.
