Winter Care of Citrus

Winter Care of Citrus
Winter weather is here. Well-fertilized citrus trees are healthier and more resistant to cold weather damage so you should continue to fertilize through the winter with any of the citrus foods we have with supplemental iron and zinc. Organic fertilizers move slowly, if at all when the temps dip. Maxsea Acid with Iron and Zinc may be a good alternative. As always, you should water the plant before applying fertilizer to the drip line.
Wilt-Stop can also be applied for those really cold nights, or you may wrap your trees with Harvest Guard Row Cover or the burlap totes.

Potential cold damage is a combination of time and temperature factors. Brief dips to the mid 20’s will not damage citrus, prolonged temps in the teens will.
Container plants can be moved next to a wall or cement sidewalk for retained/reflected heat and out of the drying wind. Plants should be watered at the soil line before the temperature dips.

No pruning is necessary now, major pruning is done in the late spring after the weather warms up.

If the tree has fruit, Meyers Lemons and all limes would be best harvested before temperatures drop to 30 to 32 degrees F. Eureka and Lisbon Lemons, have thicker skins and can hang on the trees without damage to 26 to 28 degrees F. Owari Satsuma Mandarins and Dancy Tangerines can also tolerate dips into the upper twenties.


We will have citrus pruning seminars late spring.