Good‘s new gardening expert Zoe Carafice is ready and waiting to solve your dilemmas! Each question published on Zoe’s blog or in Good receives a fab prize from Tui Garden. This week: why your mandarin tree might not be fruiting.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
Q: I have a mandarin tree which was planted three years ago with my daughter’s placenta underneath it. It has a lovely smell to it, is about a metre high and has good foliage. My problem is that I still have no fruit. The lemon tree that was planted at the same time has now become lush with lemons but I am worried that I need to being doing something other than an occasional general fertiliser and prune. Could you tell me how to get some lovely mandarins please? –Kim
A: Believe it or not, it is possible to be too kind to citrus trees. A common mistake is to over-feed citrus with nitrogen-rich fertiliser such as blood and bone, resulting in a lush, green, healthy-looking tree, but no fruit.
Your mandarin tree could be craving potassium which encourages flowering and fruiting. Wood ash is a good natural source of potassium. It’s best to add ash to your compost rather than directly into the garden.
In your case, I recommend using potash. Potash is the common name for potassium in a water-soluble form. Organic gardeners use a form called sulphate of potash – you can just sprinkle this under the tree and you should find it starts to blossom this spring. Hopefully you’ll be enjoying homegrown mandarins next winter.
–Zoe Carafice (with thanks to Joan at Kwan Citrus Nursery)
Kim has won a bottle of Seasol from Tui Garden Products! Seasol is a seaweed-based plant tonic that has been used by Australian and New Zealand commercial growers and home gardeners for over 30 years.
The naturally occurring growth stimulants in Seasol promote strong root growth, reduce transplant shock, improve germination rates and increase flowering and fruiting capacity.
Meet Good’s new gardening expert
Zoe Carafice is a landscape designer and photographer. She won gold at the Ellerslie Flower Show in 2007 and has a keen interest in sustainable design and organic gardening.
Email your gardening questions to [email protected] and every question answered in Good or on Zoe’s blog will receive a fab prize from Tui Garden Products!
One question will be featured in each magazine and in each Good Fortnightly e-newsletter. Don’t receive our newsletter? Sign up to get it here!
