6 Best Fertilizers For Citrus Trees – A Buying Guide

Proper nutrition is vital for a fruit tree, especially citrus fruits, as they require a lot of energy during their growing period. As a result, I want to recommend the 6 best fertilizer for citrus trees.

In short, here is my best recommendation: the Miracle-Gro Shake ‘N Feed All Purpose Plant Food. This fertilizer has all the nutrients exclusively necessary and can also last for a long time without requiring any troublesome reapplication.

Despite containing lots of nutrients, this fertilizer for orange trees will never burn – a superior feature compared to other products and the proof that it is the best pick on this list.

The Best Fertilizer For Citrus Trees: 6 Recommendations

Jobe’s Organics Fruit Tree Fertilizer Spikes – Best Soil Quality

While it does contain lots of the fast-acting Jobe Biozome, it does not work quickly. Instead, its unique mixture makes it the best citrus tree fertilizer for improving your garden’s soil quality over time.

This fertilizer’s biozome is a combination of Mycorrhizal archaea, fungi, and bacteria. This combination will also improve the tree’s disease-resistance.

Nonetheless, there is still one thing I am not happy with this fruit tree fertilizer. Due to having a distinctive sweet smell, this product is weirdly appealing to the pups.

Luckily, it is not dangerous for your pets, but there is a high chance of the pups destroying your potted citrus trees.

What we like:

• Best for soil quality improvement
• Biodegradable
• Improves trees’ resistance

What can be improved?

• Appealing to pups

Miracle-Gro Shake ‘N Feed All Purpose Plant Food – Best All-Around

Trees having Miracle-Gro Shake ‘N Feed tend to grow much quicker and healthier as there is no shortage of minerals, metals; you name it.

This plant fertilizer’s other advantage is that you do not have to apply it too frequently.

Anyone with experience with garden works knows how much of a pain fertilizer application is. Indeed, they will jump at this citrus tree fertilizer, knowing it only requires reapplication every other week.

The only weakness I can discern from this otherwise perfect product is how little there is for the price. Therefore, you may consider getting this citrus fruit fertilizer in bulk.

What we like:

• Full of necessary nutrients
• Boost quick growth
• No need for regular reapplication

What can be improved?

• Small amount

Jobe’s Fertilizer Spike – Best Quick Action

The Jobe’s Citrus Fertilizer Spike is, without any doubt, the fastest to show results on this list.

These proprietary microorganism archaeans are incredibly powerful, breaking material down rapidly, quickening the process to an unbelievable degree.

Aside from this advantage, the Jobe’s citrus tree fertilizer is also an organic granular fertilizer. Therefore, it is very safe for both you and the environment while remaining easy to use.

However, one drawback is that your dogs can become weirdly obsessed with this fertilizer and sneakily gnawing on the citrus plants. If you have pets, I highly recommend building fences to protect both your green and four-legged friends.

What we like:

• Quick to show results
• Organic, safe for people
• Easy to use

What can be improved?

• Weirdly attractive for dogs

Down To Earth Organic Citrus Fertilizer – Best Nutrient Ratio

Much like many other Down To Earth products, this Organic Citrus Fertilizer has a unique component ratio. It utilizes a 6-3-3 combination of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

Thanks to this mix, it achieves a perfect balance of nutrients, particularly for citrus fruit trees. Therefore, you can expect fragrant blossoms, bountiful fruits, and abundant green foliage after using this citrus fruit tree fertilizer.

Besides, you can safely apply this food plant onto your citrus fruit trees throughout its growing season. In typical cases, doing so would kill the trees, but this mixture minimizes any chance of overfeeding.

However, keep in mind that this fertilizer’s most impressive feature is also its biggest con. Due to how nutritious it is, this citrus tree fertilizer can attract many bugs.

What we like:

• 6-6-3 nutrient ratio
• Brilliant at enhancing trees’ quality
• Can be used throughout the growing season

What can be improved?

• Appealing to bugs

Southern Citrus Nutritional Spray – Best Enhancement

There is a secret ratio of 5 balanced essential nutrients within the Southern Citrus Nutritional Spray’s formula. This water-soluble fertilizer has become a wonderful source of unlimited energy for fruit trees, thanks to this ratio.

Moreover, this liquid fertilizer can easily support microbial life, something incredibly vital if you want to harvest the best citrus fruits eventually.

Specifically, microbial life can improve the natural aroma, flavor, and essential oils of all fruit trees.

You can add this fertilizer to numerous growing mediums like cocoa mixes, aquaponic systems, organic soils, potting soils, etc. There is no medium it cannot mix well with.

However, I am not that happy about how little there is within each fertilizer container. My honest suggestion is to get a bunch of the products each time you shop.

What we like:

• Excellent energy source
• Best at enhancing trees’ quality
• Blends well with many mediums

What can be improved?

• Limited amount in each bottle

EarthPods Premium Citrus Organic Spikes – Best Premium Option

If budget is no concern, nothing is more suitable than the EarthPods Premium Citrus Spikes. There will be no need to measure, no mess to clean afterward, and no smell to worsen your day with this product.

You will get 100 concentrated spikes in each EarthPods tube, which amounts to 4 years of usage. However, this number is sufficient if you only raise one dwarf citrus tree.

Also, this citrus fertilizer is entirely non-toxic and organic. As a result, you will never have to worry about it negatively affecting your health or causing harm to the environment.

As we have mentioned, this fertilizer is the best premium option. Therefore, its main weakness is how much it will cost you.

What we like:

• No need to measure
• No mess
• No smell
• 100% organic
• Non-toxic

What can be improved?

• Pricey

Buying Guide For Best Fertilizer For Citrus Trees

How To Pick The Best Orange Tree Fertilizer By Content

Organic Fertilizers

Organic fertilizers are usually mixtures of organic materials, like composts, manures, and animal or plant by-products. For this reason, these fertilizers are typically rich nutrient sources, but no one knows of the exact ratio.

Most of the time, the percentage you see on these fertilizers’ packages is estimated. For example, if you want a specific N-P-K ratio, organic fertilizers may not be the best choice.

Furthermore, organic fertilizers may take a while to fully show their effects, which impatient gardeners may find time-consuming. Nonetheless, there is a reason for this delayed effect.

Organic fertilizers must first change the nature of the soil, so they naturally work slower. Yet, this lengthy process will bring out substantial long-term advantages since your soil will become much more fertile.

Organic fertilizers are also entirely safe. You can freely use them without worrying about damaging the environment or your health.

Inorganic fertilizers

These are mixtures of specific chemical components containing all the essential nutrients in precise proportions.

Thanks to their exact ratios, these fertilizers can quickly give a boost of the necessary nutrients to your citrus trees. In other words, they perform incredibly in emergency cases.

However, there is a high chance that they can be harmful to both your health and the environment.

N-P-K

NPK means Nitrogen – Phosphorus – Potassium. These are the three most essential nutrients for plants in general and citrus trees in particular.

Nitrogen is indispensable if you want your citrus trees to grow, especially during their lifespan’s middle stages. If you can supply the trees with enough nitrogen, they can grow more extensively with significantly more leaves.

Phosphorus is required for the citrus trees’ continuous growth, strengthening both the stems and the roots. Due to this positive influence, fruiting, seeding, and flowering are noticeably improved.

Potassium is necessary for the photosynthesis process, something vital to the trees as the breathing process to us. Moreover, it can slow down many diseases that can potentially harm the trees.

How To Pick The Best Lemon Tree Fertilizers By Application Method

Spike fertilizers are pre-measured and pre-proportioned; all you need to do is hammering them into the soil. As they slowly release their content, there is no risk of accidentally overfeeding the citrus trees and no chance of being washed away due to the rain.

Liquid fertilizers require some preparation before the actual lemon tree fertilizing, namely blending them with water. Afterward, you pour the mixture onto the citrus trees.

Granular fertilizers look no different from sands due to a protective barrier, making them last much longer. However, they also require some time to break down completely and provide the citrus tree with nutrients.

When To Fertilize Citrus Trees

You need to fertilize the citrus trees while they are actively growing. In other words, you must apply fertilizers regularly during the spring and summer seasons, at least once a month.

You can also fertilize the citrus trees during the months of fall and winter, but be extra careful. The best strategy is to apply the fertilizer every 2 or 3 months during this period.

If you can follow this plan, the trees can receive enough energy to power their growth without suffering from overfeeding. Nevertheless, remember to check the usage instruction on your fertilizer package, as different fertilizers have different treatments.

Naturally, this guide aims at newly-planted trees, with the primary goal of healthily boosting their growth rate.

For this reason, if your citrus trees are older, you will need to change some parts of this plan. Precisely, there will be no need to fertilize the trees during dormant seasons (fall and winter).

Again, I want to stress that overfeeding is even worse than not feeding at all. If you see that the citrus trees have lush leaves with a dark green color, there is no need for fertilization.

How To Fertilize Citrus Trees?

The 2 most popular methods you can employ to fertilize your citrus trees are either through the leaves or the roots as they are the primary sources to absorb water, air, and nutrition.

As mentioned above, there are 3 main types of fertilizers currently on the market: spikes, granules, and sprayed. As you can guess from their name, each of these fertilizers requires a unique application method:

• You must first dilute the sprayed ones with water, then sprinkle them over the tree.
• The granules do not require any mixing: you simply scoop them up and add them into the ground.
• As for the spikes, you must accurately place them into the drip lines so that water can fall on them.

Conclusion

The Miracle-Gro Shake ‘N Feed All Purpose fertilizer is the best due to its never-burning attribute if you are uncertain about your final purchase decision. Of course, it being such an abundant source of nutrients also plays a huge factor.

After reading my guide, I hope you now know which recommendation will be your best fertilizer for citrus trees to bring home.

Last update on 2024-06-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API