Bought organic rose food "Espoma Citrus-Tone".
Directions say not to apply within 6" from trunk.
We all know that feeder roots are where food enters tree, but curious why this positive instruction to stay 6" from trunk.
This is an ADORAbleshingto Drwae
Sorry, this keyboard is driving me nuts.
Where were we? Oh, yes -- adorable Washington dwarf barely 3' high, just COVERED with buds!
So, re: -6" proximity to trunk..???
IA
HB
So, what's wrong with 6 inches. I'd expect anything put in the ground and watered to spread at least 6 inches. So you have the 12 inches around the plant well fed. For a rose, I suspect that's the limit of the root length. There should be feeder roots even near the trunk.
Plants are typically fertilzed just inside their drip line... too close to the trunk can cause roots to grow inward and girdle the plant.
OMG, Pls don't send the butterfly net after me!
This was NOT about a ROSE, it was supposed to be about a Dwarf Washington ORANGE tree! (I had fertilizing roses in another part of my so-called mind!)
Brooklyn's reply about not encouraging [feeder] roots to grow too close to the trunk may be the answer. Didn't occur to me.
If any further comment, now that we know it's a DWARF ORANGE TREE, TIA
HB
Is your dwarf orange in the ground or in a container? Mine are in containers except for the tangelo, which is in a raised bed. If I limited feeding to beyond 6 inches, my dwarf citrus would never be fed. I make sure the soil (potting mix) is damp. Then I stir the fertilizer into the top 1/2 inch and lightly water.
I never get enough oranges ('Robertson' navel). In some 8 years, I got only three tangelos; after I planted it, I read they need cross-pollination from tangerines, which I do not have. I get more 'Eureka' lemons and kumquats than anyone could use.
Just make sure your fertilizer contains zinc. For some reason, both citrus and gardenias both require more zinc than most other plants. I feed my gardenia with citrus food.
Any tree, even a dwarf orange, 6 inches doesn't sound right to me. Unless that's where the leaves reach out to.
So, why are you putting rose food on a citrus? (I don't think it can hurt, but seems a bit odd.)
See my above abject apology. Plant is a Dwarf Orange; I mistakenly put Rose in Subject. HB
See your own post. You said rose food. Both in the subject and body. You called the rose food "Citrus-Tone". That could have been our hint.
Your correction addressed the plant, not the type of food.
But I think we all get it now. Citrus food, citrus plant. But citrus food with directions about 6 inches, pretty strange.
Generally the distance out to start citrus fertilizer spread is based on the size of the trunk, but many companies vary their advice so that logic does not always play into it. It is all over the place in suggestion..
I have some citrus food at home that instructs to sprinkle it at the drip line. No info about closer in or farther out. I cannot get to the drip line as my citrus trees are in tubs that summer outside and over winter in my basement, but I get fruit and the trees look great.
Boron
Tree is in the ground.
Formula of new "organic" citrus/avocado fertilizer does not contain zinc. Formula is 5-2-6 with calcium, magnesium, sulfur and 3 kinds of bacillus.
Why do you think zinc is essential? For what kind of soil?
TIA
HB
A lack of zinc causes a blotchy chlorosis of the leaves in citrus, which weakens the tree. With gardenias, a lack of zinc causes flower buds to die and fall off the plant before opening.
In any case, dwarf citrus with desirable fruit is not a natural plant. It is never found growing wild in nature, although it sometimes seems to be growing wild in what is actually an abandoned orchard. Unnatural plants require at least some unnatural care. If you want to use an organic fertilizer that apparently does not contain zinc, you should also apply some zinc sulfate. A 5-pound box or bag will last you many years since you need to apply only a generous pinch or two each time you fertilize.
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