3 BIG Mistakes Gardeners Make Growing CITRUS Trees

This video discusses 3 BIG mistakes gardeners make growing citrus trees. Citrus tree care is different than most fruit trees, and citrus must be treated differently, or you'll have citrus tree problems resulting in unhealthy trees and poor fruiting. These citrus tree tips will fix these common mistakes!

TABLE OF CONTENTS
0:00 Common Mistakes Growing Citrus Trees
0:26 Mistake #1: Fertilizing Citrus Incorrectly
3:44 Mistake #2: Pruning Citrus Incorrectly
6:05 When To Prune Citrus Trees
7:46 Mistake #3: Thinning Fruit Properly
11:05 Adventures With Dale

If you have any questions about how to grow citrus trees, have questions about growing fruit trees or want to know about the things I grow in my raised bed vegetable garden and edible landscaping food forest, are looking for more gardening tips and tricks and garden hacks, have questions about vegetable gardening and organic gardening in general, or want to share some DIY and "how to" garden tips and gardening hacks of your own, please ask in the Comments below!

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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A

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© The Millennial Gardener

#gardening #garden #gardeningtips #viral #video

[TheMillennialGardener]

If you enjoyed this video, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Common Mistakes Growing Citrus Trees
0:26 Mistake #1: Fertilizing Citrus Incorrectly
3:44 Mistake #2: Pruning Citrus Incorrectly
6:05 When To Prune Citrus Trees
7:46 Mistake #3: Thinning Fruit Properly
11:05 Adventures With Dale

[barco]

I think this is the overall best gardening channel on YouTube. Your knowledge on such a wide variety of topics and plants is pretty much unmatched on here. There are those of us who specialized in tomatoes, giant pumpkins (sorry you have heard this from me about 10 times before), peppers, etc, but you know more about a wide variety of plants and pushing zones than all of us. And thanks for correcting a lot of garden myths as well.

[crankybanshee]

Tip for pruning citrus: only prune when there's no rain forecast for at least 3 days, particularly in humid areas. This helps to ensure that the wounds heal fully and stop diseases entering.

[lagoya]

I have learned so much since I found your channel. My biggest mistake was not fertilizing enough and, after following your advice, I got full-size fruit on my kaffir lime for the first time since I bought it 7 years ago! Even my new Meyer lemon that I started from a cutting last winter is fruiting.

[mikeashby]

You are my teacher of what I find most important. Love it I always use your channel to make my life so easy.

[lotus....]

For people who bring their citrus indoors in the winter: Be sure to keep your trees away from heat vents. Heat vents can dry out the plant and cause them to drop all their leaves. Give plenty of light. You want to keep the room above freezing but not super hot. You are imitating its natural winter of 40-50F. Do not overwater. Overwatering when the citrus are not actively growing can also cause leaf drop and/or root rot. Make sure the pot has exceptional drainage and the tree does not sit in water. During the winter, only water when the top couple of inches of soil are dry to the touch.
Watch for pests. Aphids can be washed off leaves in the shower or squished. Scale can be wiped off with alcohol and a cotton ball. I usually rinse with a little water after usuing alcohol but its not really necessary.

[daranall]

Not only do you share tips and growing guides you also explain the "why's" . You inspire any level gardeners to try stuff, you assist new gardeners to jump in and grow stuff, and you minimize and save us years of trial and error by creating these videos. They educate us with such a personable way that makes it seem doable. Thank you!!! and keep up the hard work of gardening and sharing your world.

[terra]

So many websites recommend not fertilizing citrus after Sep. It just doesn't even make sense and people wonder why their plants look chlorotic and half dead in the spring. Thank you for busting this myth! Evergreen - subtropical trees need to be treated differently for successful production.

[kws]

My only lemon tree I bought had about four leaves and 3 little buds. I got it with 50% price reduction, I repotted him and I see him sprouting more leaves and twigs this is the first time that I grow citrus tree, I’m not so good in gardening, I worked mostly as a computer engineer and informatics teacher. I hope to go in pension this year and God willing I might have some years to do some gardening. Thank you so very much for your advice I will try to follow your way and hopefully I can do something right… May the Lord keep and bless you.

[martyplecki]

Millennial Gardener, I have a lime tree in a container. It is 42 years old. But it is now suffering. I hope you can make some recommendations to help me and this tree.
I live in Wisconsin about 30 miles south of Milwaukee and I bring the tree inside in the winter. It is located in front of south facing patio doors, so it gets good sun light. In March and April and continuing into May, it is loosing a lot of leaves. One whole side is leafless. It has not been repotted in a long time, so I am sure it is root bound. It is planted in regular soil, not potting soil, so the root ball is so thick and hard it is impossible to loosen. When I water it some water flows through to the overflow pan under the pot and the water is colored a bright yellow / orange.
I think the following, but would really appreciate your recommendations: I think the water is indicating that the soil has too much residual fertilizer and needs to be rinsed. I know it needs to be repotted, but I can't break up the root ball. I poked some 1/4 inch holes through the root ball about a month ago to help aerate and get water to the center of the root ball. Perhaps I could cut off the bottom third of the root ball, cut some 2 inch deep vertical slits in the remaining root ball and put it back into the pot with new potting soil in the bottom. I don't want to put it in a bigger pot, because the pot is already heavy and I am not getting younger:-)

[ssitterson]

I love this channel! I'm in the process of reviewing all of the videos here to increase my gardening knowledge and skills. And shockingly to me, these videos don't bore me. I know all others do their best but you go the extra mile. Currently, I'm readying my evergreen trees for winter in Florida and your video for what to do is my go to. Zone 9a can throw some unexpected freezing temperatures for periods longer than the recommended cold hardy temps for tropical fruiting trees. Furthermore, the rainy season can plague gardeners with root rot, blights and other various plant diseases; And don't get me started on the endless pests and insects all wanting to crunch on, to suck or raise their broods inside your tree and/or roots! I tried organic methods and lost a couple thousand dollars worth of fruit trees. Nearly every resident gardener here eventually abandons the organic approach. Finally, after taking gardening advice from sources and experimenting via trials and errors, my fruit trees are the healthiest they've ever been. So, if you can share how you protect your trees from tree borers, citrus psyllids, armoured/soft scales, citrus leaf miners, citrus thrips, glass winged sharp shooter and the host of diseases they transmit to your citrus trees, I'd just love it! Thank you for another great video.👏😍

[katiem]

One of your best most informational videos. (It seems I say that every time you post a video). Really appreciate you taking the time to make these videos, they are all just great.

[xplicitmentality]

My goodness, I was just wondering why my citrus is not looking good. I stopped fertilizing once I brought it indoors for the winter. This video came at the right time.

[NorthernVaCreative]

Great video. By the way, you might want to give the Prague Citsuma a try. It may not need any protection at all in your zone. I know of one growing AND FRUITING! up in Annapolis Maryland, a cold zone 7B. I believe McKenzie Farms sells them. I'm told it's every bit as good as a 'normal' satsuma.

[teehashtag]

Thank you so much for all of your information about gardening!! Got a Meyer lemon tree in October and it’s producing fruit already! I am kinda of surprised since most videos say fruiting typical starts 1-2 yrs. The tree is young, I am in Jersey so I have a grow light and I fertilize with citrus fertilizer. Some of the bottom leaves are turning yellow and falling off, and some are curling. Any suggestions are always welcomed!!

[Daniel-celj]

Thank you for all the information! I am in zone 7B and bring my container citrus trees inside for the winter months. My trees (2 year old grafted trees) seem to struggle for a few months (mainly leaf drop) after they are brought inside. Although they are under a grow light (for 10-12 hours), proper watering, and pest free, I would be curious to see how you transition plants in the winter months to reduce the stress on the plants (leaf drop, etc). By the way, the organic and water soluble approach to fertilizing was a game changer in my garden!

[ScrewballMcAdams]

Really great video. Easy to understand explanation of how trees from cuttings think they’re as old as the tree from which they were cut.

[sanna_]

Stepped into this video by chance, and I should agree, this information is SO USEFUL! More so because of the reasoning you gave behind the tips you suggested, amazing!

[unpopuIaropinion]

Here in Greece we have two citrus trees that haven't been fertilized at least the past 10 years or so, yet they still produce fruit every single year!

[toncatboy]

You are the first that actually showed the outcome after pruning IMO.
Now I realize what happened in the past when my trees didn't do well.