Gardening How often to Water and Fertilize?

[ocarroll]

Hello Mark,
I planted some fruit trees last fall and also some herbs I purchased at a nursery. How often should I fertilize and water in a sub tropical climate? I am in central Florida and we barely get a winter (2 weeks) at most of some cold nights but it gets really hot and humid. I planted a peach tree, a pomegranate, guava, banana, orange, and 2 lemons trees. The peach tree has already given fruit which is ready for harvest next month. But the orange tree seems to just have one orange coming out. I compost my own horse and cow manure. Please advise. Thanks.

 

[Mandy Onderwater]

How often to water really depends on the weather. If it has been raining, obviously you won't need to water. It can also depend on your soil; sandy soil will drain faster than clay. Som trees also have deeper rootsystems than others. Those with shallow roots might need more frequent watering than those with deep roots. What season it is may also affect it. On dry and hot summer days I would water more frequently than on cool winter days, as the heat would evaporate the water much faster.
I would probably water my established trees once or twice a week.

I tend to fertilise when the plant most needs it, like when it's growth season or fruiting season is happening. On average I fertilise my plants 2x a year, some more some less, but as a general rule twice.

 

[JP 1983]

I fertilise when I see my plants putting on new growth. For citrus and banana that can be two or three times per year; pomegranates and peaches probably only need once in spring because they'll go to sleep for winter (even if its not cold there).

 

[ocarroll]

How often to water really depends on the weather. If it has been raining, obviously you won't need to water. It can also depend on your soil; sandy soil will drain faster than clay. Som trees also have deeper rootsystems than others. Those with shallow roots might need more frequent watering than those with deep roots. What season it is may also affect it. On dry and hot summer days I would water more frequently than on cool winter days, as the heat would evaporate the water much faster.
I would probably water my established trees once or twice a week.

I tend to fertilise when the plant most needs it, like when it's growth season or fruiting season is happening. On average I fertilise my plants 2x a year, some more some less, but as a general rule twice.

Yes I don’t water when it rains. Here in central Florida my soil is sandy so yes it drains well. But it gets steamy hot even in January this year and we were in a drought. It has been raining lately but for some reason the spot where my property is located it hardly rains. Some people say to water 2 times a week but I see my lemon tree’s leaves start to wilt if I don’t water it every two days. I normally do the finger test to make sure it really does need watering.

 

[ocarroll]

I fertilise when I see my plants putting on new growth. For citrus and banana that can be two or three times per year; pomegranates and peaches probably only need once in spring because they'll go to sleep for winter (even if its not cold there).

Ok so it’s safe to say I can fertilize them now?

 

[Grandmother Goose]

Ok so it’s safe to say I can fertilize them now?

It's spring over there now right? So yes, now would be the ideal time to fertilize just about everything.

Fertilizing really does depend a bit on the plant. You want to feed it just before or during each big growth spurt: by growth spurt I mean not just getting larger, but also producing lots of new leaves, new flowers, or new fruit. Any time a plant is growing a significant amount of something new, it's using a lot of energy and is going to get hungry. Just like us, plants will perform better if they're well fed and healthy before they have to exert all that energy.

I've got a few little banana plants and they have to be given a little bit of fertilizer once a month because they're nutrient hungry plants, they're always growing either leaves, or fruit, or new pups. Citrus I feed twice a year, early Spring and early Autumn. The rest of my fruit trees get fed in spring as soon as the deciduous trees start sprouting new leaves, and again when each tree starts showing fruit buds. Other perennial plants such as herbs I usually feed once in early spring and once in late summer/early Autumn - depending on the plant though, if it's a flowering thing then it gets fed when the first flower buds appear, if it's a fruiting plant when it flowers and again when it fruits, if it's just a leafy thing, then twice a year in spring and autumn. Annuals, I usually only bother with them once when they've established themselves and are no longer little seedlings, unless they're a fruit bearing plant, then I do it again when they're starting to fruit. The exception to all this is liquid seaweed, I give all my plants a watering with a small amount of that more regularly, about once every one to two months.