Citrus Growers Forum

lifespeed · Posted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 2:14 am

I am contemplating putting in a drip irrigation system, and possibly a fertilizer injector as well. I have 4 young citrus trees planted in the park strip between the sidewalk and the curb. It is 6 feet wide.

I made the mistake of letting them dry out a bit, although they seem to have survived. However, I am starting to realize that citrus are not very fast growing compared to my other stone and pomme fruit trees. And I suspect they could benefit from a bit more intensive cultivation.

Right now I water them once a week in hot weather. I think they might do a little better, and possibly grow faster, if I drip irrigate with some fertilizer. What do you think? Is it worth the trouble and cost? Manual watering, which I suspect could go on for quite a few years given their slow growth rate, is somewhat inconvenient.

The trees have redwood bark mulch spread around them, a 2 foot deep pipe for deep watering, and they were (granular) fertilized at the start of the growing season.

I am in San Jose, CA, zone 9B.

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Lifespeed

Millet · Posted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 3:08 am

I have 5 acres of underground drip irrigation, placed 8 inches below the ground surface. The lines are spaced 30 inches apart. Besides being attached to the water supply (well) the drip lines are also attached to a 10 horse power paddle type air compressor for aerating the root zone. Works simply fantastic. The system was installed by Grow Air Inc.- Millet (947-)

mrtexas · Posted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 2:39 pm

The cost is very low. You can probably buy the 1/2inch lines and a few emitters for less than $10. Not much to lose if you don't like it. I have 1,000 feet of drip myself.

lifespeed · Posted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 3:23 pm

mrtexas wrote:

The cost is very low. You can probably buy the 1/2inch lines and a few emitters for less than $10. Not much to lose if you don't like it. I have 1,000 feet of drip myself.

Yes, the cost for the plastic line is not much. But the automatic valve, filter, pressure regulator, backflow preventer, and running the pipe from the house under the sidewalk is a bit more. Probably about $800 to do it right.

I already have a drip system on my raspberries (with all the above mentioned components) and it works really well. I get much better crops since I installed it. Would it have a similar effect for the citrus trees, ie would lighter, more frequent, waterings be an improvement over my weekend-only deep soakings. And then there is the potential for liquid fertilizer dripped in.

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Lifespeed

C4F · Posted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 8:53 pm

Quote:

ie would lighter, more frequent, waterings be an improvement over my weekend-only deep soakings.

It's almost always a "No" for citrus. Heavy, deep watering, is always the "textbook" answer. But that doesn't mean drip isn't the way to go, it's still much better as you prevent runoff when using lower flow emitters, but as far as I've always been told, they are still used for infrequent but deep waterings.

I'll be interested in hearing this response from the experts here....