Citrus species + cvs

Citrus

Description

Citrus have been in cultivation for centuries and are widely planted throughout mild and warm climate regions of the world. Both flowers and fruit are valued in landscapes and gardens; flowers provide a sweet spring-time fragrance and fruit are valued for eating and in juice production. Their long history of cultivation has led to many variations in fruit types for both agricultural and garden plantings.

Citrus for our gardens are available from most garden centers and nurseries across the Inland Empire. Some varieties are available as dwarf, compact or standard sizes that fit different sizes of spaces. All grow best with good sun exposure, loam type soils and with regular moisture throughout the year. Flowering produces a lot of sweet fragrance and occurs from mid-winter to early spring. Citrus develop shallow root systems that benefit from a surface mulch cover; avoid soil compaction and understory planting around citrus. Citrus are seen as increasing the benefits and productivity of plants in our gardens and an appropriate use of water.

Several popular varieties of citrus for landscape and garden use and edible fruit are: Orange ‘Valencia’ is a vigorously growing full size tree to 25 ft. tall and as wide. It has a sweet thin-skinned fruit that is excellent for juicing; Lemon ‘Eureka’ is a full size tree, 15-20 ft. tall with thorns. Its fruit has a thick skin, is deep yellow in color and is a top commercial variety; Grapefruit ‘Oroblanco’ is a full size tree, 15-25 ft. tall. Fruit is thick skinned and considered the best tasting white-fleshed grapefruit that is sweet and seedless; Kumquat ‘Nagami’ is a small tree to 15 ft. tall. Fruit has a sweet skin, sour flesh and many seeds. It is often grown as a container plant. Again, there are many choices to explore and variations in sizes and productivity.

Plant Type: Tree
Foliage Character: Evergreen
Habit: Upright, Low-branching, Dense
Growth Rate: Moderate
Foliage Color: Medium green, Dark green
Flower Color: White
Flower Season: Summer, Spring
Soil Adaptations: Well-draining soil, Loam
Exposure Adaptations: Heat, All day sun
Function: Culinary use, Container plant, Background plant, Attracts bees, Fragrant flowers, Specimen, Courtyard and patio tree, Screening, Residential spaces, Raised planters, Espalier
Height: 8 ft. – 25 ft.
Width: 6 ft. – 25 ft.

Watering Schedule: Medium

For most situations, we recommend watering once per week after establishment, watering very deeply in summer, less deeply in fall and spring, and even less in winter.

See our recommendations for how much water to apply each time you water, below. Note that these recommendations are intended for inland valley areas of Southern California including the Inland Empire, San Gabriel, and San Fernando Valleys. People in cooler or warmer areas may use this as a baseline but should adjust based on local needs.

Learn how to provide 1” of water to your landscape here, and adjust to provide more or less based on the recommendations above for each time of year.

Seasonal Watering Recommendations

June – August: once per week, water deeply, applying approximately 1.25” of irrigation.
September – October: once per week, water deeply, applying approximately 0.75” of irrigation.
November – February: once per week, water deeply, applying approximately 0.5” of irrigation.
March-May: once per week, water deeply, applying approximately 0.75” of irrigation.

Learn how to provide 1” of water to your landscape here, and adjust to provide more or less based on the recommendations above for each time of year.

Adjusting to your local needs

These recommendations for Medium / Moderate water demanding plants were created for Southern California inland valley areas. Southern California areas closer to the coast and along the coast will usually be able to water significantly less during the warm months of the year. For desert areas, check with local experts to be sure plants are appropriate for the area and anticipate needing to water more.

As a very general baseline, people in Los Angeles and similar areas can try setting a schedule of 80% of the in Spring, Summer, and Fall and adjust as necessary based on observation. The difference is less pronounced in the winter months, so we recommend starting with the same recommendations as above for winter. People in cooler coastal areas such as Santa Monica can try using this same approach but adjust to use 75% of the chart recommended minutes for the Spring, Summer, and Fall months.

Important Notes

These are general guidelines. Always observe and adjust as necessary for your landscape.
If it rains over 1” you will likely not need to water for at least another week, possibly longer. Before watering again, check the soil. It should be significantly dry at least 4” below the soil surface before watering again.
It is important to group plants with the same water needs together in the landscape to avoid needing to over or under water plants when running your irrigation system.
“Smart timers” or weather sensitive irrigation controllers such as Rachio and Hunter Hydrawise are ideal for watering plants in this category because they will automatically adjust how much they water based on the weather so you do not need to reprogram the timer seasonally. Rebates for these types of irrigation controllers are available through socalwatersmart.com.

Significant pruning is generally not necessary on healthy plants. If the space accommodates, plants are easiest to grow, and most productive if the canopy is allowed to grow low, but not all the way down to the ground. Be sure to immediately prune out any “suckers,” or vigorous shoots growing from the base of the plant slightly above the soil line. These vigorous shoots will not produce good fruit, will be bad for the form of the plant, and will compete with the main part of the tree. Depending on the rootstock used by the nursery, sucker leaves may look different from the main branches, and stems may be extra thorny. Water sprouts, which are vigorous vertical shoots growing from branches should also be removed when young. Watch out for scale, white fly, and other insect pests, and take care of issues before they get worse. Start by spraying pests off with a hose and high pressure nozzle. If they return, see the link below for approaches that avoid the use of pesticides: For more extensive information on growing Citrus click here. References