How to Care For an Orange Plant
- 1). Create a watering ring around the base of the newly planted orange tree. Make a 2-foot high and equally wide ring of soil around the tree. When watering the tree, fill the ring with water and allow it to soak. Water the newly planted tree after every four days for the first few weeks. After that, reduce watering to once every seven to 10 days for three months or until the ring melts in the surrounding soil.
- 2). Feed the young orange tree one-third cup ammonium sulfate (21-0-0) fertilizer in February. Repeat application in May and September of the first growing year. Spread the fertilizer over the base of the plant and irrigate as normal so it reaches the roots below. Increase the fertilization rate to two cups during the second year and three for the third year. Feed older trees one cup of ammonium sulfate every year.
- 3). Remove weeds and vegetation within a radius of 3 feet around the trunk of the young orange tree. Although mulching is not necessary, space a 3- to 4-inch-thick layer of organic mulch 12 to 15 inches from the trunk of the tree.
- 4). Spreading a tarp over the young tree tied with garden rope protects it from winter damage. Remove the tarp when soil the temperature warms up.
- 5). Prune the plant to maintain shape and size. Snip dead and dying branches along with wayward and low-lying ones. Remove branches that hang lower than 12 inches from the ground. Remove suckers or water sprouts, limbs that shoot up from the ground and use the tree's moisture and nutrients. Use clean pruning shears and make straight cuts.
- 6). Inspect the tree for pests such as orange dog caterpillars, citrus whiteflies and aphids. Treat the infected area with neem oil or a registered insecticide. Examine the tree for symptoms of diseases such including black leaves that indicate sooty mold, tan patches on the trunk that indicate root rot and yellow patches on leaves that are symptoms of citrus canker. Treat the particular disease with an appropriate fungicide.
