How do I Grow Lemon Trees in East Texas?
- 1). Test the drainage of your location before planting if there is any doubt about drainage conditions. Dig a hole approximately 3 to 4 feet deep with a posthole digger. Fill the hole with water and allow it to drain. Holes that drain completely within 24 hours have sufficient drainage for growing lemon trees. If it takes longer than 48 hours for the hole to drain completely, mound soil to create a raised bed for planting.
- 2). Mix organic compost and other organic materials into the soil bed before planting.
- 3). Dig a hole the depth of the root ball and 1 ½ times as wide. Set the tree into the hole so that it is planted slightly higher than it originally grew in its pot. Fill in the hole with soil and firm it into place.
- 4). Use the excess soil to build a watering ring around the hole. Mound the soil into a ring approximately 5 to 6 inches high and a little wider. Fill the ring with water.
- 5). Water the newly planted tree by filling the watering ring twice a week during the first month. Gradually taper off watering to once a week for the next five months. Give established trees water whenever the soil dries out to a depth of 1 inch or more.
- 6). Fertilize once new growth appears. The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension recommends scattering 1/4 cup of 21-0-0 fertilizer below the tree three or four times during the first year. Give 1/2 cup for each application during the second year and 3/4 cup each time for older trees. Most east Texas soils contain other desired nutrients. If in doubt about your soil's nutrients, obtain a soil test and follow the recommendations it provides.
- 7). Remove grass and weeds from the area directly around the tree. Maintain the area as a grass- and weed-free zone.
- 8). Protect young trees from the cold winters of east Texas by mounding soil around the trunk and lower branches in late November. Treat the trunk with a fungicide and an insecticide before soil banking. Remove the soil carefully in March or after all danger of frost has past.
- 9). Cover lemon trees with blankets, rugs or tarps whenever freezing weather is expected. If a hard freeze is expected, add lights or another heat source under the cover. Anchor the covering with a brick or soil.
- 10
Remove sprouts that grow from the rootstock and at the base of the tree. Prune away broken, dead and diseased branches completely, cutting back to healthy wood.
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