Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree & calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice green
color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i used a citrus
winter feed & now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves ,then
can you tell me what feed you use & what water .

Many Thanks Keith

On 05/08/2010 22:32, keith kent wrote:
Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree & calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice
green color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i
used a citrus winter feed & now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves
,then can you tell me what feed you use & what water .

Many Thanks Keith

You may be feeding too often then. Patches of yellow indicate the plant
is struggling to find enough iron or magnesium for chlorophyll.

I feed mine from time to time and always water with rainwater. I use
whichever of orchid feed or citrus I have going at the time and never
bother swapping between winter vs summer citrus feeds. They tend to look
at their most ropey in early spring but rapidly grow new leaves and
flowers as the day lengthen.

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I
do sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:
On 05/08/2010 22:32, keith kent wrote:
Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree & calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice
green color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i
used a citrus winter feed & now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves
,then can you tell me what feed you use & what water .

You may be feeding too often then. Patches of yellow indicate the plant
is struggling to find enough iron or magnesium for chlorophyll.

Or overwatering. Citrus do not like that.

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I
do sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Most citrus aren't really lime-haters, but don't like alkaline soil.
I water mine with tapwater a lot of the time with no trouble, and
most people classify this water as hard. I don't, having lived in
South Wiltshire, but Cambridge water is definitely not soft.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I do
sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Depends where your water supply comes from. Easiest way to tell in a new
area is to wash with your usual amount of soap. If there is no scum, and it
takes umpteen gallons of water to wash the soap off, then you are in a soft
water area... ;-)

Anyway, the basic rule to remember is that a lime-hater takes a much shorter
time to die from drought than it does from chlorosis!

--

Jeff

Nick Maclaren wrote:
I water mine with tapwater a lot of the time with no trouble, and
most people classify this water as hard. I don't, having lived in
South Wiltshire, but Cambridge water is definitely not soft.

Reminds me, completely off topic, of when I used to live in Cambridge (when
I was in last year of junior school) - I hated the tap water, couldn't drink
it at all, and it's probably where I learnt to dehydrate myself terribly
during the day! I remember the lunchtime tables with jugs of really nasty
tasting, slightly warm tap water, and nothing else. :-(
However, in the girls toilets was a water fountain and the water tasted
/totally/ different. Someone tried explaining to me that it was because
that water was pumped up straight from the chalk bedrock (chalkrock? :-) but
I have no idea how feasible this might or might not be. It struck me as
unlikely, but it was /really/ different tasting!

"Nick Maclaren" wrote
Martin Brown wrote:
keith kent wrote:
Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree & calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice
green color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i
used a citrus winter feed & now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves
,then can you tell me what feed you use & what water .

You may be feeding too often then. Patches of yellow indicate the plant
is struggling to find enough iron or magnesium for chlorophyll.

Or overwatering. Citrus do not like that.

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I
do sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Most citrus aren't really lime-haters, but don't like alkaline soil.
I water mine with tapwater a lot of the time with no trouble, and
most people classify this water as hard. I don't, having lived in
South Wiltshire, but Cambridge water is definitely not soft.

I water ours with hard tap water most of the time, can't save enough
rainwater for my orchids, but as I use an ericaceous compost for our Citrus
the two seem to counteract each other.
I also use a good dose of sequestered iron on the plants just after they
come out after their winters incarceration, and seaweed extract too for
those trace elements.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

On 06/08/2010 10:12, Jeff Layman wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I
do sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Depends where your water supply comes from. Easiest way to tell in a new
area is to wash with your usual amount of soap. If there is no scum, and
it takes umpteen gallons of water to wash the soap off, then you are in
a soft water area... ;-)

Anyway, the basic rule to remember is that a lime-hater takes a much
shorter time to die from drought than it does from chlorosis!

I live in North Yorkshire. We used to have fabulous local borehole water
that was a bit hard, barely treated but tasted fantastic.

These days we are on Northumbrian water that seems to have an insane
amount of chlorine added to it along the way (especially at weekends).
It is hard enough that I get caught out with soap whenever I visit a
soft water region. On the plus side we never get drought orders.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown wrote:
amount of chlorine added to it along the way (especially at weekends).

!

On 06/08/2010 09:07, Nick Maclaren wrote:
In ,
Martin wrote:
On 05/08/2010 22:32, keith kent wrote:
Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree& calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice
green color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i
used a citrus winter feed& now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves
,then can you tell me what feed you use& what water .

You may be feeding too often then. Patches of yellow indicate the plant
is struggling to find enough iron or magnesium for chlorophyll.

Or overwatering. Citrus do not like that.

That is the most likely cause - which I had overlooked. I never
overwater anything. I've had citrus wilt on me and shed a few leaves..

The cacti and succulents don't mind so much.

It is a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I
do sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Most citrus aren't really lime-haters, but don't like alkaline soil.
I water mine with tapwater a lot of the time with no trouble, and
most people classify this water as hard. I don't, having lived in
South Wiltshire, but Cambridge water is definitely not soft.

Softer than limestone regions but not by all that much. My water is
fairly hard and lime haters do not do well on it.

Regards,
Martin Brown

In article ,
Martin Brown wrote:

Most citrus aren't really lime-haters, but don't like alkaline soil.
I water mine with tapwater a lot of the time with no trouble, and
most people classify this water as hard. I don't, having lived in
South Wiltshire, but Cambridge water is definitely not soft.

Softer than limestone regions but not by all that much. My water is
fairly hard and lime haters do not do well on it.

Where my aunt lived, the water came out of the tap slightly
opaque, and an ordinary (not electric) kettle furred up beyond
functionality in a couple of months. Yes, that was on the downs,
with the chalk just below the surface.

In Cambridge, I almost never have to defur a kettle.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

wrote in message
...
Martin Brown wrote:
amount of chlorine added to it along the way (especially at weekends).

!


I am not over watering, but may be over doing it with the feed maybe .
I feed once every week or two and give them sequestered iron , are citrus
light feeders ?

Regards

"keith kent" wrote ...
wrote in message
Martin Brown wrote:
amount of chlorine added to it along the way (especially at weekends).

!


I am not over watering, but may be over doing it with the feed maybe .
I feed once every week or two and give them sequestered iron , are citrus
light feeders ?

No, heavy feeders.
But are you flushing the compost through with plain water between feeds?
Otherwise you get a build up of unused salts in the compost.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

On 06/08/2010 17:35, keith kent wrote:


wrote in message
...
Martin Brown wrote:
amount of chlorine added to it along the way (especially at weekends).

!

I am not over watering, but may be over doing it with the feed maybe .
I feed once every week or two and give them sequestered iron , are
citrus light feeders ?

I suspect you might be giving them a bit too much of both. I water when
I think they look too dry. In winter that is a lot less frequent than
weekly.

At this time of year they are having their outdoor summer holiday along
with the orchids and take their chances in the rain. If they get too dry
then I water and feed them. Citrus seem to prefer being allowed to get
quite dry before being watered again and drenched. Like cacti they don't
like wet feet and will sulk if left in standing water.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On 6 Aug, 10:12, "Jeff Layman" wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message

...



It is *a bad idea to use tapwater on any lime hating plant (although I do
sometimes for my blueberries when I run out of rainwater).

Depends where your water supply comes from. *Easiest way to tell in a new
area is to wash with your usual amount of soap. *If there is no scum, and it
takes umpteen gallons of water to wash the soap off, then you are in a soft
water area... ;-)

Anyway, the basic rule to remember is that a lime-hater takes a much shorter
time to die from drought than it does from chlorosis!

--

Jeff

Hard water can be acid. However tap water is never acid. It's treated
(if neccesary) to prevent this as metal pipework would be corroded by
acid water. The treatment causes a degree of hardness.

Rainwater is always acid due to dissolved CO2.

keith kent wrote:
Are acid loving plant feeds designed for use in tap water ?.
I have a lemon tree & calamondin bush which i struggle to get a nice
green color they go a patchy green /light yellow and i feed often ,i
used a citrus winter feed & now a summer feed in rain water .
If you have a Lemon tree and can keep them with lovely green leaves
,then can you tell me what feed you use & what water .

Depends on the tree - some lemon trees have almost yellow leaves, while
others are almost as dark as holly.

Try to avoid tapwater unless you are in a soft-water district.

I use a meneral-pupose fertiliser usually, always with rainwater, and
they seem to like it.

--
Rusty