Everything You Need To Know About Pruning, Fertilizing & Caring For Citrus Trees

Let's talk about citrus trees! Here in Southern California, we grow a ton of citrus, so I have our local arborist & good friend Craig from Yard To Table Creations to guide us.
0:38 Pruning
Craig has helped A TON at my fruit tree orchard, so let's start off by talking about some of that.
Trees that go dormant (ex. peach) are easy to know when to prune because they lose all of their leaves. Citrus, on the other hand, is evergreen. When you prune depends a little bit on the tree itself, but we are NOT looking for the same vase shape that we are with stone fruit.
The branches and trunk of a citrus tree need shade from the leaves for protection, so we aren't going to do a hard prune. We're just looking to lighten the load a little bit, so we don't end up with thick layers of branches.
The best time to prune is after the tree has fruited but before the tree flowers. The fruit can stay on the tree for months, so you want to harvest heavily, especially if you are planning to prune. By leaving fruit on the tree going into the spring, your tree is going to be stressed because the natural signals (temperature and sunlight) are telling it to move to the flowering stage.
For a small tree like this, we're considering a few things:
-Can we keep as many branches and leaves on as possible without leading to bug ladders or broken branches?
-Keep an eye on the rootstock to make sure it doesn't take over.
-How do we want this to grow down the road (aiming for the bush shape), and are there branches (especially diseased or dead) we should even remove at this time?
11:46 Treatment
Unlike deciduous trees, you do not need to spray your citrus trees with oil or liquid copper. You should, however, give them a blast with your hose at least once or twice a month to clean it.
12:49 Fertilizing
Mulch and compost are key to building healthy soil which will lead to healthy trees. Neither should be up against the tree, and you want to extend out to the drip line of the tree so all of the roots will be fed & protected.
Other fertilizers can be used as well because citrus trees are such vigorous growers. Always read the label of your fertilizer and measure appropriately! The one we were using called for one cup every 3 months, but you will need to adjust according to your own trees.
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