In this month’s column, Cyprus Mail gardener PATRICIA JORDAN on citrus and other trees that need attention at this time of year
FRUIT trees, like hunting and twin cabs, are very ‘macho’ in Cyprus.
We grew fruit trees in other parts of the world and generally speaking, apart from a little judicious pruning here and there, we left them to get on with things themselves. True, we didn’t get abundant crops and sometimes our Victoria plums froze on the trees as the September frosts swept down from the Scottish Highlands but they didn’t cause us too much bother. Here fruit trees are big, big, big and anyone with even a tiny plot of land will spend hours tending his orchard and talking about them.
I say ‘his’ because it always is the men who are the fruit tree experts. I have had to hand over the care of this part of the garden to my husband for I have not yet found a Cypriot man who will talk trees to a woman gardener! In Scotland we grew apples, pears and plums but mainly soft fruits and these I miss, especially raspberries. Here our visitors from Northern Europe love to pick an orange or grapefruit for breakfast or run outside for a lemon for the evening gin and tonic. It’s all so different.
In our mature orchard in Mosfiloti, we have citrus and nuts, peaches and apricots, plums and pomegranates, and mespilia and figs and much deliberation is given to each tree. When we first arrived in Cyprus we had no knowledge of how to look after citrus at all and my husband spent hours just talking to neighbours and friends about them. I used to watch them going around inspecting the leaves for any leaf curl or lack of minerals; checking the watering system; discussing how to deal with Mediterranean fruit fly; counting the embryonic fruits and pointing out which branches and twigs should be pruned in the late winter. He would wander off to look at other orchards round about us and delve into old gardening books of mine and even the Internet for answers to his many questions. Now, suddenly, he seems to be something of a local expert and his friends come to him for advice as to what number of fertiliser to use and when and where to chop – a short step from pupil to master.
However, everyone benefits from all the effort and and we are able to make delicious jams and jellies and my favourite, lemon curd and keep the family going with fresh orange juice and homemade lemonade during the summer.
What I have learned so far is that there seems to be always something to worry about. If you do not pick the fruit when it is ready, then the fruit tree thinks ‘Ah, I won’t give them a lot next year as this year they didn’t pick it all’. Rain can be blamed for lots of things including flower drop and lack of fertilisation. High winds bring the fruit thudding to the ground and the wretched Mediterranean fruit fly can bore holes and lay eggs almost in front of your eyes causing unsightly patches on the skin and maggots inside. The fly affects both oranges and grapefruit while lemons seem to escape. Most citrus trees are grafted onto rootstocks of Seville Oranges and will grow successfully up to 600m. Lemon trees (Citrus limon) are quite unique and are able to support mature fruit, flowers and embryonic fruits all at the same time. Mandarins and Clementines (Citrus reticulata) can be a bit ‘iffy’ and do not produce large crops year after year but when they do, their sweet fruit certainly makes up for any shortfall in previous years. We have also planted pink grapefruit. Our favourite orange (Citrus sinensis) is the ‘Merlin’ while several neighbours grow bitter oranges (Citrus aurantium), ideal for marmalade. The other citrus grown in Cyprus and becoming more popular is the Pomelo, which is a strange looking fruit almost too heavy for the branches of the tree. I first came across Pomelo in Singapore, many years ago.
February is the ideal time for pruning and like most plants and trees, citrus do not like to be congested in the centre. Take out any branches that are crossing or are weak and get some air in there. Remove any low hanging branches to make weeding and working underneath the tree more accessible and keep the tree to a height that maintenance can be done easily, so prune back new growth to a manageable height.
Make sure to keep the cuts clean by using clean tools. Some experts say to paint the cuts but a recent survey I read advised letting the cuts heal naturally because if there is any disease behind the cut then you are sealing it in by painting it.
Correct feeding is something which causes concern – when to feed and how much. My husband advocates feeding in February, May and December. In February he gives the trees a good handful of 21.0.0 – that means lots of nitrogen for leaf growth; in May, again 21.0.0 and in December 20.10.10. Except for May, the fertiliser will not need to be watered in. By keeping your eye on the colour of the leaves you will notice any signs of iron or zinc deficiency. Iron shortage will be revealed by a fine network of veins on a very pale leaf and can be dealt with by digging in iron chelates around the base.
Lack of Zinc gives whitish-yellow blotchy leaves and occurs in young growth, which can persist as the leaves grow. A foliar spray can control this when the new growth is one-third to two thirds developed. Should you need to water later on, keep the hose away from the trunk of the tree and try to ensure the water reaches the roots about 30cm from the trunk
The other big problem is the Mediterranean fruit fly. This really can only be controlled by spraying and when I tell you that it takes only 20 days for an egg to become a mature fertile adult, you will see that it can be a real headache. As soon as the fruits begin to show any signs of colour then begin to spray and that should be at intervals of 1-3 weeks – 10 days is best. Spray leaves and fruit before the fly reaches maturity. A dear old Cypriot friend of ours recalls that in the ‘old days’ in his village, it wasn’t necessary to spray as there was never a problem with fruit fly. In those days, there were plenty of small birds around to eat the flies so perhaps that’s where the answer lies.
Other trees coming into blossom shortly and giving us beautiful flowers, scrumptious fruits and lovely autumn colour are the prunus family. All prunus are known as hermaphrodite, the same as citrus, which means that they have the characteristics of both male and female flowers. The fruit, (except in the case of the almonds), is known as a drupe, a fleshy one-seeded fruit. Prunus are all non-local, having their origins as far apart as China to Asia Minor and will grow in our gardens up to 1,000-1,500 metres. The first of the year are usually the almonds, which flower on the stems before they have any leaves. The others follow on — apricots, peaches and nectarines, and plums and cherries.
Generally the trees only reach heights of between 8 and 10 metres but most people keep them shorter than that for easy maintenance in orchards and gardens. Cherries tend to be grown at higher altitudes away from the coastal areas. Feeding and spraying is much the same as for citrus trees, as apricots and peaches are susceptible to Mediterranean fruit fly as well. We lost some apricot and nectarine trees a couple of years ago to canker, which causes the bark to weep and there is really nothing that can be done about it. Like all diseased plants and trees that you have to get rid of, the best way is to burn them if you are able.
Viburnum tinus, commonly known as laurustinus, should be bursting into bloom now and its sweet perfume filling the air. Although it is described in books as an exotic, in Cyprus it is indeed native to the Mediterranean region and South Eastern Europe. It doesn’t like cold winds and will do well in coastal gardens.
