Who grows oranges?

[Jaybird]

I have 2 orange trees at my new house. I have never grown oranges before and I am afraid 1 of them is not doing very well. It produced a boatload of oranges but it still doesn't look very good. Have you grown oranges? What should I do to make sure it survives?

Cheers
Jay

 

[BentBrewer]

The basics:
Oranges don't like low temps. Depending on the variety, anything from 36F on down could be affecting them.
If it's a juice orange, like a Valencia, they're really at their best when the top turns green again, which is late in the season. Nice and tart.
Lots of bugs like citrus. Be ready to spray for scale, woolly aphids, and anything else I can't think of at the moment.

Try noodling around the Davis Website, and the Citrus Growers Forum.

 

[hopbrad]

are they in the ground or in planters? how big/old, when you say not looking good, what do you mean? leaves falling off, turning yellow etc?
i dont know about in your climate. cold makes sense and could be under or over watering.
I would suggest once a week if they are in ground.
Citrus trees seem to be pretty hearty. our area has a dry season for 5-6 months where it wont rain at all and they don't die and still produce alot.
I have some lime trees in my backyard, we attach a long hose to our plate chiller and that goes to trees and we brew about once a week. they seem to do well

 

[Zuljin]

Paramount Citrus grows a lot of oranges.

We had a navel orange tree in south Louisiana. All we did was let it grow, and then pick fruit.

 

[Jaybird]

I thought my SWMBO was over watering but we had a SERIOUSLY hot and dry summer. Yeah they are turning yellow and yes the leaves are falling off. Loads of fruit on them but the one I am concerned about just looks unhealthy. I'll get a picture of it maybe tomorrow and post it up.

Cheers
Jay

 

[BentBrewer]

Possibly chlorosis.

 

[cswalker]

I started my first orange trees. Sadly it will be a while before I reap the benefits.

View attachment 1454151161829.jpg

 

[Jaybird]

Thanks for the links guys I will check some of that stuff out.

Cheers
Jay

 

[MaddBaggins]

We had 2 full grown, large orange trees at our house when we moved in, 14 years ago. They have huge trunks and I'm sure, deep roots. We do almost nothing to them other than a yearly trim. Every year we get a ton of large, sweet, juicy oranges but not until January, sometime after the first freeze.
I know everyone has always said "don't let them freeze". I'm sure thats very true of the small trees. But we don't even get decent oranges until after the first freeze or two.
That's my experience with orange trees. Otherwise, in general, I believe that yellow falling leaves can be a sign of too much water. My trees are on the east side of the house, morning sun and then just sun on the tops the rest of the day. I know it doesn't help you much.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

No oranges around here but compost tea seems to be good for everything. I remember seeing an episode atoh that had a citrus bug problem. He shows his fertilizing techniques to help the tree out

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/tv/ask-toh/video/0,,20857590,00.html

 

[rmarshall100]

There is a disease called "Greening" that is attacking the citrus trees here in Florida. It has negatively impacted all of my trees.

 

[lewandowski46]

We grown citrus here in Phoenix. Mine tend to lose some leaves in winter, no big deal. Another thing is make sure you are fertilizing enough and for your region. I typically fertilize every 2-3 months and that helps keep them nice and green. If you've never fertilized, it might be something to look into with a citrus specific fertilizer.

 

[Zekk]

We had 2 full grown, large orange trees at our house when we moved in, 14 years ago. They have huge trunks and I'm sure, deep roots. We do almost nothing to them other than a yearly trim. Every year we get a ton of large, sweet, juicy oranges but not until January, sometime after the first freeze.
I know everyone has always said "don't let them freeze". I'm sure thats very true of the small trees. But we don't even get decent oranges until after the first freeze or two.
That's my experience with orange trees. Otherwise, in general, I believe that yellow falling leaves can be a sign of too much water. My trees are on the east side of the house, morning sun and then just sun on the tops the rest of the day. I know it doesn't help you much.

It has to get pretty low to damage the fruit, ~26*. I have seen freeze kill young trees though.

OP, if its just some leaves then it might be disease. Considering farmers use water to keep the fruit from freezing I don't think over watering would be a problem. You're in CA right? North or South?

 

[Jaybird]

It has to get pretty low to damage the fruit, ~26*. I have seen freeze kill young trees though.

OP, if its just some leaves then it might be disease. Considering farmers use water to keep the fruit from freezing I don't think over watering would be a problem. You're in CA right? North or South?

North, I am up in Redding.

Cheers
Jay