Q: How likely are seriously neglected mature citrus trees to recover?
Our trees are located in central Tucson and have curling leaves, and we will not be able to water them until after May 20. They probably have not been watered (other than rain of course) since last summer.
A: It’s hard to say for sure without seeing them. Curling leaves is a symptom of drought so watering soon would be good. That said, at least the leaves are still on the tree and that should give you hope. The next thing the trees will do without water is drop the leaves to reduce the amount of water escaping into the atmosphere through the leaves. Make sure that when you have the opportunity to water that you put the trees on drip irrigation arranged in a circular fashion around the drip line of the trees. The timing should be set for once every seven to 10 days now that we are experiencing the hottest and driest part of the year. Also make sure the water gets to a depth of 36 inches in the soil. You can measure this with a simple soil probe.
Peter L. Warren is the urban horticulture agent for the Pima County Cooperative Extension and the University of Arizona. Questions may be emailed to tucsongardensage@gmail.com
