Protect those trees and your imminent harvest
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These Washington navel oranges are coloring up quickly, but likely won't be ripe until late December or even later. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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For gardeners, the ripening of the mandarins heralds the beginning of a new season: Citrus Worrying.
Temperatures have dropped, and frost warnings are already part of the conversation.
Ironically, popular mandarins are among the most cold-hardy of citrus varieties, Owari Satsumas especially. The fruit can endure cold down to 28 degrees F. before it is damaged.
Sweet oranges of all varieties also are likely to withstand cold, to 28 degrees, as are kumquats. But limes, lemons, citron and Oroblanco grapefruit are among the least cold-hardy, to just 32 degrees. (For specific varieties' cold tolerance, see this terrific citrus variety info chart from the citrus wholesalers at Four Winds Growers in Winters.)
So you have your frost blankets ready, right? Here are other things to keep in mind about citrus this month and into winter:
-- Citrus ripens only on the tree, so leave it there even if it has changed color. My Washington navel oranges are turning color a tad early this year. But they generally don't ripen until after Christmas, so I will keep on eye on them through December. How to tell when an orange is ripe: The rind starts to soften just a bit. If you're unsure, pick and taste one!
-- Store ripe citrus on the tree, as long as there are no freezes in the forecast. The exception to this is mandarins, which should be picked as soon as they are ripe.
-- If branches loaded with ripe citrus fruit are bending under the weight, prop the branches up so they don't snap off. A few 2-by-4s are useful for this; for my dwarf navel I've even used tall tomato cages in a pinch. (Thinning fruit in summer will prevent this situation, of course, but there's always a cluster of fruit you didn't catch early.)
-- If frost is in the forecast, water the root zone of your citrus tree before temps drop. Wet soil conducts heat better than dry soil and will help those frost blankets protect the tree. (Do make sure the frost blanket or other covering extends to the ground or you're defeating the purpose of the covering.) You might want to rake any mulch away from the dripline so the soil can absorb daytime heat and be a better heat reservoir.
-- Don't water the branches and leaves of the tree, by the way -- the frozen water will just add to the weight of the branches.
-- If you want to use old-fashioned Christmas lights to help protect your tree, put them on early and leave them there. It's no fun trying to string them on the tree on a cold late afternoon just as the sun is going down.
-- Citrus fruit, of course, is less hardy than the plant itself. If you lose fruit to cold, that doesn't mean the tree is dead. It may be months before you can assess how damaged the tree is, so don't prune off anything: Any apparently dead leaves and branches will protect the rest of the tree during the cold season.
-- Young trees are more susceptible to freezing, so be sure to protect them even if the forecasted temps wouldn't threaten a mature tree.
-- Along a fence or the side of the house are the best places to park citrus in containers. The ambient heat from the house will help keep it warm; the fence is a good place to attach the frost covering. I group my potted citrus together, too.
For more on citrus care, check out the Sacramento County master gardeners' website at The Home Orchard , which includes several links to citrus topics. I also recommend the "Growing Citrus in Sacramento" Garden Note #127 .
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Food in My Back Yard Series
SUMMER
July 15: Does this plant need water?
July 8: Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions
July 1: How to grow summer salad greens
June 24: Weird stuff that's perfectly normal
SPRING
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
WINTER
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden checklist for week of July 13
Put off big chores and planting until later in the week when the weather is cooler. In the meantime, remember to stay hydrated – advice for both you and your garden.
* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.
* Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.
* Add some summer color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Plant Halloween pumpkins now.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
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