citrus

• • notes

Uses:

  • Eat fresh
  • Preserve
  • Other culinary uses

Propagation & cultivation

  • Cutting – best
  • Seed – somewhat unreliable
  • Loves water but needs good drainage too
  • Hates wind
  • Needs full range of minerals and very useful to dose with epsom salts, iron chelates and trace elements
  • Mulch with Lucerne
  • Plant in ground if possible
  • Stake for first year in ground
  • Need cool nights to colour up fruit

Cold sensitivity

>general idea of most sensitive to most cold hardy – from Palmers Citrus Handbook by Eion Scarrow Bateman books

> citron – lime – lemon – grapefruit – pummelo – tangelo – sweet orange – mandarin – meyer lemon – kumquat
> desert lime can standard huge variation from 45 to -25 but other micro citrus are tropical in origin and need heat in winter. They will drop leaves if too dry and stressed.
> microcitrus have been recently reclassified as citrus according to some sources

The taxonomy is a bit of a mess still due to hybrids etc. so theoretically i’m growing these plus a few more:

  • Citrus aurantifolia
  • Citrus medica
  • Citrus reticulata
  • Citrus aurantifolia
  • Citrus × aurantium
  • Citrus × latifolia
  • Citrus × limon
  • Citrus × limonia
  • Citrus × sinensis
  • Citrus × paradisi
  • ×Citrofortunella mitis syn Citrus microcarpa
  • Fortunella japonica syn Citrus japonica
  • Microcitrus australasica
  • Microcitrus australis
  • Microcitrus inodora
  • Microcitrus garrawayi [garrawayae]
  • Eremocitrus glauca

Citrus species and varities I’m growing in common name form:

  • Citrus – lemon – eureka
  • Citrus – lemon – eureka – lotsa lemons dwarf
  • Citrus – lemon – meyer
  • Citrus – lemon – verna
  • Citrus – lemon – fino
  • Citrus – lemon – lisbon
  • Citrus – lemon – villafranca
  • Citrus – lemon – Bush lemon or Jhambira
  • Citrus – lime – kaffir
  • Citrus – lime – tahitian & persian – key lime
  • Citrus – orange – blood orange & cara cara
  • Citrus – orange – bergamot & seville
  • Citrus – orange – navel & valencia
  • Citrus – grapefruit – Ruby red NZ
  • Citrus – mandarin – Imperial
  • Citrus – kalamansi – calomondin – this has green sweet outside and orange bitter inside.
  • Citrus – medica – buddhas hand
  • Microcitrus australasica – Finger Lime – many colours inside
  • Microcitrus australis – Dooja
  • Microcitrus Inodora – Russell River Lime
  • Microcitrus Garrawayi [Garrawayae] – Mount White Lime
  • Eremocitrus glauca – desert lime – will handle severe conditions

Useful links

http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/our-citrus-trees.html

http://www.daleysfruit.com.au/

http://www.diggers.com.au/

 

Excellent info here: http://www.homecitrusgrowers.co.uk/

Good links can be found here in the CSIRO rainforest database regarding the Australian species: