Nutrient Management and Fertilizer Needs
Proper nutrition is important to the health of your plant. To ensure your tree is getting the appropriate nutrition, use a fertilizer labelled for citrus and apply according to the label on the bag.
Nutrients from fertilizer are needed to improve tree growth, yield (the number of fruits a tree will produce) and overall health. For home citrus, we highly recommend applying slow release (SRF) or controlled-release fertilizer (CRF). These are coated granules that dissolve over time, releasing fertilizer inside and making nutrients available to plants over a period of 6 to 12 months. For 6–9-month SRF or CRF, we suggest applying twice a year according to the fertilizer label. The best application times are February/March-before bloom and around September/October. This is after the rainy season and at the peak of fruit set. If SRF or CRF is not available, it is encouraged to apply dry soluble fertilizer (DSF). DSFs are misshapen, granular pieces that quickly dissolve and needs to be applied more often. DSF should be applied in February, May, August, and October. All fertilizers SRF, CRF or DSF should be applied within the root zone at about a 1 to 1.5 ft radius from the tree trunk. Follow the instructions on the fertilizer bag.
Different communities have different fertilizer ordinances that need to be observed.
How to Apply Dry Soluble Fertilizer (PDF)
This video will show you how to apply a granular fertilizer for your citrus trees.