garden news-transplanting satsuma citrus plant

GARDEN NEWS-TRANSPLANTING SATSUMA CITRUS PLANT

at the country n i tried to grow lemons and limes
there where we lived i tried to grow them in pots so that i could move them into my small greenhouse in the winter
i once put one in the ground and put row cover on it and christmas lights so it wouldnt freeze down
but
that didnt work when we got a deeper freeze that winter

once also during a grasshopper attack the grasshoppers ate all the leaves off the plant and ate a lot of the bark off the limbs and the trunk
the citrus survived but never really did well after that

the deep freeze that hit last winter in that area probably wiped out a lot of citrus that had probably done quite well up to that point

it was always a struggle trying to grow citrus where we lived at the country n

so
when we moved to santa barbara i was excited to be able to grow citrus
here it seems if you just stick it in the ground it will grow 

so i selected the dwarf satsuma citrus
the picture above is one of the first one we harvested in 2018
i like them since they are easily peeled by adults and kids
the fruits are easily separated into small pieces for little ones to eat

my grandkids love to pick them and eat them where they are standing

once this year i had some neighbor kids and neighbors visiting on the side walk below us
i threw down several satsumas for them to eat as we visited

we usually get around 30+ fruits off the plant 
it requires very little care except for some regular organic citrus fertilizer and regular watering
i usually do some once a year pruning if its needed

this year after i harvested the fruit i decided since the plant was getting bigger and heavier that i would go ahead and transplant it to our community garden

a local volunteer group had made us a 3 ft x 3 ft x 2ft raised bed out of old oak church pews
they put gopher wire underneath the bottom of the bedframe
gophers love to eat the roots


i put a layer of cardboard in the bottom
we had someone donate some raised bed potting soil with all the goodies in it
this was added to fill up the bed

the satsuma citrus plant then was transplanted to the new raised bed
a good sprinkling of an organic citrus fertilizer was then add to the soil surface and was lightly worked in
a layer of mulch we ground ourselves was added to help hold in moisture

then
a good soaking with medinas garret juice was done
this has apple cider vinegar + fish emulsion +molasses + seaweed in it

i will also add a regular treatment probably monthly with this solution

i will add a dripper or two to the tree to keep it well watered

hopefully if the transplant went well there will be plenty of satsumas to share this late fall and winter
my grandkids ms b mr hudson mr n and soon to be mr d im sure will enjoy eating them

growing citrus here is so easy to do
our gift to the garden

the organicgreen doctor