watering fruit trees?

I need input please. I have a meyers lemon, mexican lime, navel orange, red banana, sumsota mandarin and two don gillogly avocados. We are in the heat in Texas- days are 100 degrees and nights are high 70's. Everything I read tells me not to water my citrus more than once a week or less. My trees are in well drained planting mix and compost with a little sand mixed in with them. My pots are about 18" square and about 16-18" deep. The trees are one year olds. I bought a moisture meter and every evening the plants are showing dry on the meter. I have run the probe in deep and shallow and it still registers a 2 (with 4 being the wettest). I have been watering every day since the plants are in full sun for about 7-8 hours a day. My plants look fine but i worry about the possibly of root rot from to much water. I am new to citrus and would appreciate all replies so that I can draw from your wisdom. Thanks in advance for your help.
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Those watering directions you mentioned probably apply to citrus trees planted in the ground. It is meant as a guide. I've grown citrus trees in large pots for years, both in San Jose, CA and here in central Texas. It was so much easier to keep my trees healthy and fruiting in California. It's been a three year long experiment here in Texas. When I first planted my new citrus three years ago, I placed the pots so they would get afternoon shade from a large live oak tree. It worked well for the root system, keeping it cool and moist without the need to water every day, but the top, although green and healthy looking, wasn't getting enough sunlight. Last year, the plants summered on the south side of the house. Citrus trees require moist soil, but not soggy soil. Allowing it to dry out too much can lead to other problems. Too much water and you get root or trunk rot. Here in Texas, we have another problem: the rootball can get too hot and damage some of the roots. I'm sure the problems I had with them last year were related to having to water almost everyday and the root system getting too hot. This year, I've been looking for a short fence to keep the pot shaded while allowing the top to get sun all day. You didn't mention whether your citrus trees were standards or dwarf. Standard citrus trees are large trees and quickly outgrow their pots. While the Meyer Lemon is naturally smaller, it too will eventually get over 8 feet.

Here are two sites with loads of information.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/citrus/citrus.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/containerstext.html

Thank you so much for the reply- All my fruits are dwarf and i am hoping to keep them outside during the winter by putting a greenhouse over them. It is lightweight and will be easily removeable in the spring. I believe with a small heat source it should be sufficient for our winters. Shading the pots is a great idea- I will look into that. I am new to this sight and to growing citrus so I hope I can "pick your brain" again sometime. I am a long time gardner but this citrus thing has got me nervous (mostly because I read to much and get to much information that tells you to do two different things). I am glad I found this forum- it seems the people on it are very helpful. Look forward to talking to you soon- fred

Sorry I missed this.... but I think bettydee gave you excellent advice! My citrus trees are in pots and need watering every day when it's hot here. Since they are in sun all day long, I used polymer moisture crystals in the potting mix, too, as I do with all of my container plants. I'll look forward to hearing how they fare in your little greenhouse this winter.... been thinking about doing something similar so we're not lugging big pots in & out each year.

You could still apply mulch to the top of the soil even though they are in pots. I noticed some of my potted plants were drying out too quickly so put a layer of cypress mulch on them. That seemed to help. You could also cut out a little circle of landscape fabric and put it on top followed by some white rocks. I would also caution about using dark colored pots. That makes the soil heat up too much causing excessive evaporation. I took some beige spray paint and painted mine the lighter color. It seems to help the roots stay cooler.

This message was edited Jul 4, 2006 7:49 PM

Hey guys, lets have a fruit tree in pots forum just for us! HAHA! I also have fruit trees in pots (hi critterologist) here in so cal and do water mine frequently. However, I have struggled with the heat and the stress it puts on the trees. I was thinking of just mulching with a 3-4 inch layer of compost to help keep roots cool. What do you guys think about that?

Hi there! Fruit trees in pots forum for me too. Have 12 fruit trees: 6 are in pots, 4 will be getting dug up and put into pots to keep them from the savage bambi's, only 2, the flying dragon trifoliates are staying in the ground. Planning to add 4-5 more next yr, into pots too.

My meyer lemon dries out and needs watering too much up here too. Need to transplant into a bigger pot, but got to be careful, my back will go out and it will get left out... ~ Suzi :)

I have several citrus in large terra cotta pot (50+ gallons). I built bases for the pots out of PT 2 X 4s with casters on them so we can move them when a hurricane blows through. I water every 3rd day or so. I know that you are not suppose to mulch citrus in the ground so I assume it would be the same for citrus in pots. I have heard you can mulch with white playground sand if you really want to mulch.

The Meyers Lemon, Lakeland Limequat, Sunquat, Variegated Pink Lemon, Marumi Kumquat, Centennial Kumquat and Ponkan Tangerine are in pots, have fruit on them and most still have blooms on them. These trees seem very happy and have a lot less problems than my citrus in the ground. The citrus in the ground have or had leaf miners, aphids, sooty mold and a few other problems. I had to spray them with safer insecticidal soap or organicide several times a year to treat for the problems. The ones in pot I have to spray with the soap a couple of times a year for aphids.

50+ gal pots... imagine the back problems! My outside to inside is up some steps, except if come through the side porch and in through bedrooms, kitchen, etc.

I plan to some day put in some french doors from driveway to the living room. Want to build an enclosed, outdoor patio there and have a safe place for fruit trees away from the deer! It will let in more light and will be a flat entrance there. Then could use pots with roller thingies underneath.

~ Suzi :)

Thank you for the information. I have put a small amount of pine mulch in the containers and it seems to help but I am still having to water every other day. As the days start to cool off (in about 90 days) maybe it will not be so bad.

The trees are so large I do not know if they will still fit in the garage. If not I will roll them against the house, anchor them and help for the best. Two years ago we had to fill the garage three times and last year only once. When Alberto came through we just brought in small plants and my seed starters only. I hope that is it for the year. The picture is of the Sunquat.

DW