Citrus in high water table areas...water or not?

[LaCasaVerde]

I removed a citrus tree the other day and was surprised how deep the roots went-3 feet at the center . Here in Florida often the water table is just 3-7 feet below the surface.  In fact Im hitting moist soil at 2.0-3 feet. Not clumping but definitley moist damp soil.  Supposedly the best citrus in Florida is grown in the Indian River district which also has a high water table.

Over the years Ive been using well water irrigation on my citrus. With such a high water table why would growers even irrigate at all?

Wondering if I should stop entirely.. any one else not watering citrus in these areas?
 

[Tom]

I think most of the feeder roots are barely under the surface and citrus would be badly stressed without irrigation in most circumstances. Maybe not die but crop size and quality would be adversely affected. Tom

[Laaz]

Another problem you'll have if you don't water is fruit split. A heavy rain after a dry period, the tree takes up water faster than the peel can expand & causes the fruit to split. I try & keep my trees well watered, but still have some navels split after a heavy rain.

[LaCasaVerde]

If the roots under the base of the tree go down into the permantly wet soil. Id say  the citrus then would uptake all its water requirements directly from those roots. As Tom said there is a ..Id call it a mat of roots near the surface -say 2-6 inches deep extending from the trees. Normal rainfall would provide for these. Much like roots crowding those citrus  spikes a neighbor uses year after year... (his plants look terrible)..Id think the water requirements could be sustained mostly by ground water.   
 
 Laaz, Ive never had that issue here with citrus but have had my stone fruit (plums) crack  from heavy watering,  usually followed by a bout of gumosis.
 
 Im irrigating  once a week with well water currently durring the summer and once every 2 weeks during the winter.

[Millet]

As a general rule 95 percent of all citrus roots grow and remain in the top 20+- inches of soil.  Only in ground citrus grown from seed produce a tap root system that goes deeper into the earth.   In your tree's case it would not be difficult to find out if the high water table supplies the trees needs, by withholding irrigation and watching for any wilt. 

[Laaz]

The main citrus I have had a problematic issue with splitting are my navel oranges, both the Cara cara & the Washington.

[Millet]

Navels are the variety that have the most problem with fruit splitting.

[LaCasaVerde]

So well irrigated citrus -navels - will uptake less water in rain deluges, makes sense. Perhaps why Ive not had any split not have others in this area. Good chance these trees are pulling from the moisture from the ground then. Ill take Millets advice and stop watering and see.

Laaz , how far down is the water table for you there?

[Laaz]

2-3 feet, there's a reason they call this the low country...

[pineislander]

Most places in the US you can download a county soil survey or go to the NRCS and use their web browser with imagery to find your soil type.
Once you get that, they will list the average water table for places which have water near the surface. For example, my place is called Myakka soil, as is 1.5 million acres in Florida. Myakka is the state soil. In my area, during the rainy season, about June-October, the water table is only 10-12" down, but during winter it might be 40" or deeper. This means that for some trees including citrus, mango, avocado I have to plant on a mound to get up above the water, and roots generally won't go below the saturated soil. However, during the dry season, the water sinks below the area where the trees have significant roots, and then irrigation is necessary. There is also a rather impermeable layer the "B" horizon, which is much darker and tends to be harder. All soils are different, in other words, even across a 100 acre field soil types may change and need to be considered.
Have a look at the soil profile of the Myakka soil of most of Florida:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myakka_(soil)

[LaCasaVerde]

Most places in the US you can download a county soil survey or go to the NRCS and use their web browser with imagery to find your soil type.
Once you get that, they will list the average water table for places which have water near the surface. For example, my place is called Myakka soil, as is 1.5 million acres in Florida. Myakka is the state soil. In my area, during the rainy season, about June-October, the water table is only 10-12" down, but during winter it might be 40" or deeper. This means that for some trees including citrus, mango, avocado I have to plant on a mound to get up above the water, and roots generally won't go below the saturated soil. However, during the dry season, the water sinks below the area where the trees have significant roots, and then irrigation is necessary. There is also a rather impermeable layer the "B" horizon, which is much darker and tends to be harder. All soils are different, in other words, even across a 100 acre field soil types may change and need to be considered.
Have a look at the soil profile of the Myakka soil of most of Florida:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myakka_(soil)

Good site. Ill check it out! Thank you

[pineislander]

This is the link:
https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm

It is not so user friendly (to me, anyway) if you can find the old-school .pdf files when all that info was in hard-copy, there  is climate data (temp/rain/sunshine), etc for your county, estimated yield of various crops, suitability and limitations for construction, etc.
All this was done on the ground across the whole nation by survey crews over many years, a tremendous undertaking when you think about it.