Citrus...Mulch or NO Mulch?

[Mike T]

Soil conditioning and 'health' is a primary motivator for mulching but protecting the roots from the heat of the sun is important in my area. With avos and durian mulching is often done to reduce the threat of phytophthora as breakdown products, friendly fungi and some soil fauna are hostile to this nasty fungus.

[Millet]

Well, the real answer to this whole discussion is ----If one likes mulching with citrus, then do it.  If one does not like mulching, then don't do it. Mulching has benefits, and mulching has drawbacks.  Personally I don't mulch. - Millet

[Mike T]

Millet I think it is worthwhile to chat about how people nurture their trees and the results they get in different plant places. Emulating good practices and avoiding the poorer ones is a good reason for exploring topics on how other people grow trees. The benefits and drawbacks of mulching seem likely to be quite different in a range of climates and circumstances and it is interesting checking sources of information and people's reasoning.

[jcaldeira]

. . . Personally, why would anyone care how another person grows their trees?  . . .

That's how we learn. 

[Millet]

Mike T and Jcaldeira, I agree with you. I didn't mean to stop comments,. Some time back, I decided to try mulching a large Marisol Clementine trees.  After perhaps a month or so, I looked under the mulch to check on the soil. To my surprise, there was an uncountable number of pill bugs (rolly-pollys) living under the mulch.  Literally thousands of them.  I removed the mulch and that ended that.  - Millet

[RVACitrus]

The roly polys were eating fungus growing on the mulch. They're detrivores. They're not really a problem.


I grow my citrus in pretty much solid pine bark. They do great.

[sugar land dave]

I made a 12 inch tall berm of mulch on an 18 inch radius around my trees just before winter.   I put 1 inch over the bare ground to within 2" of the trunk.  My trees gave me no problems through what was a cold winter for my area.  Some of that I will attribute to the mulch bank.  Still, I would not put 3 or 4 inches over the roots on the off chance that it might reduce oxygen to the roots. 

[RyanL]

I have a number of citrus in pots, I mulch all of them with pine bark primarily for water retention. Only issue is at glandular fertilizer time it all has to be removed then reapplied.

[ClayMango]

Durlings Nursery is probably one of the largest wholesale retailers in the Nation...Inventory of Millions of Citrus...probably move those numbers on a annual basis. All of their Citrus tags state to provide a layer of Mulch around your tree when planting... including my Kishu and Gold Nugget tag which came from Durlings.

http://www.marthastewart.com/918494/san-diego-citrus-nursery

[Millet]

Clay,, thanks for the Durlings video.  It was quite interesting. I've seen many grafting videos, but never seen the tactic of binding over the scion and then placing a rubber band around it  to hold it down for the one year time frame.  - Millet

[ClayMango]

Clay,, thanks for the Durlings video.  It was quite interesting. I've seen many grafting videos, but never seen the tactic of binding over the scion and then placing a rubber band around it  to hold it down for the one year time frame.  - Millet

Kind of weird thinking my 2 Mandarin trees started out from this practice....which I guess seems really unorthodox in the grafting scene?

[hoosierquilt]

Mulching is rather a matter of moisture retention, soil improvement, and weed abatement for those who need to mulch.  Most folks who would benefit from mulching are going to live in more arid, hotter climates (parts of California and AZ.)  I mulch for all three reasons.  I live in a low rain area - S. California -, so moisture retention is important, which helps to keep my water bill down to something just this side of terrifying.  Also, I hate to weed, and mulching keeps the weeds way down for me.  And, my soil is mostly DG (decomposed granite), so returning organic matter to the soil improves my soil quality.  After living here for almost 5 years, and having put down 3 to 4" of wood chip mulch twice now, I am finding lots of lovely fat earthworms underneath.  There are fairly recent studies out there conducted in California that have shown that mulching under my particular circumstances is beneficial.  For others who live in rainier areas, the need or benefits of mulching may not really apply.  Also, just a clarification - citrus are not "acid loving plants".  Citrus actually prefer more neutral to slightly acidic soils - 6.0 to 8.0, but do quite well in areas that have slightly alkaline soils (or we'd never be able to grow citrus commercially here in Central and S. California). 

[RyanL]

The worms are also supplying your trees with a great free source of N.

[hoosierquilt]

Clay, I live not too far from Durlings, and their climate (De Luz) is very similar to mine.  We mulch out here for all my above mentioned reasons, but I really think Millet is right.  It is really up to each person to determine whether or not mulching is beneficial for their trees, based on their average rainfall, soil types, etc.  Durling recommends it because we need the moisture retention out here.  When you get an average rainfall amount of about 6 inches a year, water is precious.  Plus, many of us are on DG or sand as well.  Not all - some folks here in S. California are on clay, so mulching will become challenging for those folks.  I think you simply need to look at where you live, your soil, your rainfall, and then see what works best for your trees 

[starling1]

Here's something that doesn't get said enough: Don't ever, ever, ever mulch anything with fine particle mulch. Ever. Use Wood chips, an inch or so, and layer it thick. Fine particle mulch actually repels water after a while, and encourages weed growth because the seeds that arrive in it can germinate in it the way they can in potting mix. This doesn't happen to anywhere near the degree of coarse chip Mulch. This is something that I've learned fairly recently, and now that I know, I'll never go back to fines ever again.

[Viking Guy]

It is all about where you live with weather conditions and the type of tree and soil.

For me, we get floods and very heavy rainfall constantly.  Our battle is keeping the feet of our trees from getting too wet.

We build 6" -12" mounds and use thin to medium cut cypress mulch a foot away from the trunk to about 6 inches or more beyond the drip line, because it is great for drawing out and repelling moisture when conditions are rough.  Not only doesn't mulch provide those many benefits above, such as soil temperatures and moisture with beneficial microorganisms, it also keeps the top soil in place when floods wash everything away.

Then we grow some native fruit trees which grow with the grass, flat to the ground and the only mulch they get is their dropped leaves or the leaves from our magnolias (which is highly nutrient).

Everything else goes in raised beds or pots and still gets mulched.

Also for non fruiting trees, aromatic cedar mulch works well repelling tons of insects.  Use it cautiously around fruiting plants and trees, though, as it can also repel pollinators.

Unless you are growing native local fruit trees, I recommend mulching--but how much and what type depends on your overall conditions.

Mulch a citrus?  Well, I have done both and saw no difference other than when using mulch I had less tree drownings and better survival rates in colder weather, as well as in hot humid weather.  Only benefit I got from not mulching was I saved time, money and effort.  When it comes to my plants, I'm a glutton for punishment.   

[adriano2]

I do not spent much time with my trees in summer and I have to somehow protect my younger trees. That is why i place many stones around the trunk to keep moisture.  I learned that lesson 2 years ago, when i lost 2 trees because of drought. Last season there was no casualties. In winter i mulch because it keeps the ground warm and absorbs the sun rays. btw, like Millet i also find countless pill bugs under the stones, but they seem to be friendly to my trees. we call those bugs here little pigs.

[lotusblos]

I have six citrus trees in my fairly small backyard. None of them are over five years old. I live in the San Joaquin valley in central California. I use wood chips as a mulch, and keep it away from the trunks with plastic bottles that I've cut the bottoms out of and slit down the side. I do it to retain moisture and protect the roots from drying out in the hot dry summer. It doesn't appear to hurt the trees. My only problem is it seems to attract the cats in the area who use it to lighten their loads.

[adriano2]

maybe it is not such bad thing. Urine is good fertilizer.

[frukt]

I was thinking of one thing about citrus trees and there fungi problems. Normally you say that one shouldnt throw citrus peel in the compost. This is because it prevents bacterial and fungus to grow, at least rapidly.

Maybe its natural for the citrus to always have some antibacterial peel on and in the ground. Or something similar....
Because we dont throw our citrus peel in the compost then we through it under the citrus tress.

[noochka1]

I have a persian lime and tangelo here in S florida which I have mulched.  But I am wondering if perhaps I should not have.  I am seeing large numbers of snails around the base of my persian lime, and found a few on the leaves as well.  Haven't seen so many on the tangelo.  Not sure how big a problem snails are to citrus (yes, I AM a newbie), but I'm not really crazy about snails, so they need to go!.  I am not sure, but I am wondering if the snails are causing leaf damage.  There appear to be dry, gray trails on the leaves of the lime - but, oddly, none on the tangelo planted only 5 or 6 feet away from it.  Additionally, the leaves of the lime are curled and distorted.  Not sure what is causing that.  Perhaps it's the mulch?  Any suggestions?

[Tom]

Curled and distorted sounds like citrus leaf miner to me. Can you see any serpentine 'tracks' in the leaves. The leaf miner tunnels between the top and bottom of the leaf. It can be a big problem in small trees. Preventive spray before they start their tunnels is the only way to control the leaf miner beside removing the distorted leaves and burning them or bag them and put into the garbage. Tom

[noochka1]

Thanks so much for the information.  Yes, they are definitely gray (becoming black) serpentine trails on the leaves.  I was afraid it was citrus miners, but was hoping for the snail option.  I finally applied a systemic (Imidacloprid) this past week.  I was really hoping to grow organic, so this was definitely not the solution I was hoping for.  I had used neem oil over a period of several weeks, but it didn't appear to have any real affect.  Do I really need to remove the leaves, even after the application of the systemic?  My poor lime tree will be virtually bald!!!!  And it's too young for that!!  (LOL)

[frukt]

If its very young maybe you should consider to take it away and buy a knew one. There is someone in the thread here that used eucalyptus as mulch. I think that is wise and I also mulched with mostly wooden stuff. Dont give up on organic farming just because of that!!

[noochka1]

I'm very sad.  Against my better judgment I used Imidacloprid on my persian lime and tangelo trees in the hope that it would rid them of leaf miners.  Sadly, it doesn't appear to have had any impact at all.  I have had some new growth on both plants in the last several weeks and now the new leaves are being attacked.   Is there anything I can do, short of tugging the plants up and throwing them away?  I'd really prefer a non-systemic approach if possible.  Bee killer or not, I grew up too close to Love Canal to be comfortable ingesting weird chemicals.  Clearly, the Imidacloprid was a mistake.  Lesson learned.  But I don't want to lose my plants :-(