Autumn Seasonal Care Reminder

Autumn is here and it is a great time to do a few jobs in the garden once the weather cools down, to really make sure your Fruit Salad Trees thrive!

Here are our top tips!

Watering – While the hot weather persists, ensure that your Citrus trees receive plenty of water. It will be having a growth spurt this season!

On the other hand, if you have had high rainfall, your tree may be suffering
from overwatering! Best to treat with an anti-fungal (foliage spray and/or soil
treatment) to avoid root rot. Ensure that your tree is in a well-drained position
and maybe even contemplate mound planting it.
Pruning / Balancing – Citrus are ever-green, so pruning to maintain a wine glass shape can be done now. If your tree is laden with fruit, ensure that the branches can support their weight. Thinning / removing some will avoid weaker branches breaking. After fruiting, cut back just a little and thin out branching for sunlight penetration. Balancing, to ensure the individual grafted fruit varieties are about equal size, is important with our trees. Here is a link to our website’s Tree Care section and the top one is How do I prune my Fruit Salad Tree? which includes a couple of helpful videos.
Spraying – Citrus Leaf Miner, Bronze Orange Bugs (aka Stink bugs) and Aphids continue to damage new growth while the weather is warm.

Regular spraying of Eco or Pest Oil (every 7 days) is recommended to treat Leaf Miner. In late autumn, spraying the Oil under the leaves will help kill the early-stage nymphs of the Bronze Orange Bugs. Manually removing or spraying with Pyrethrum or Confidor are the most effective ways to deal with the adult Bronze Orange Bugs. For more information go to our Citrus Pest & Diseases page.
Fertilizing - Now is a great time to apply a liquid fertiliser to your Citrus Fruit Salad Tree foliage, as it prepares for it's Autumn flush of growth.

Place pelletised fertiliser and/or compost around the rootzone of the tree and be sure to leave at least a 10cm gap from the main trunk. If you live in a frost
prone area, don't fertilise in late Autumn as any new growth may be burnt off
with frost. Wait for Spring instead.
Mulching - Top up every 6 months, to keep the moisture levels consistent, control weeds and promote good microbes in the soil.

You can use Pea Straw, Sugar Cane, Lucerne, or whichever mulch takes your fancy. You can even make it yourself with a mixture of old grass clippings (not fresh), dried leaves and straw. Apply a 3-5cm layer around the tree, it will break-down over time.

Stone Fruit Trees

Watering – Avoid over watering (too much water) and overhead watering
(wetting the foliage!).

Fungal and bacterial infections love wet conditions, and some regions have experienced high rainfall along with high humidity lately. Ensure your tree is in a well-drained position. Remember that your tree will be slowing down, dropping its leaves and going into dormancy, so no need for too much water this season.
Pruning / Balancing – Apart from the continual pruning for balancing and for shape, it is good to do some additional pruning during late May / early June.

A guide for this is to prune 1/3 (young tree) to 1/2 (mature tree) of last seasons growth. You can tell how much the tree grew last season by the different colours of the bark. Cut just above an outward pointing bud, not a bud on the inside of the branch because you don't need growth going in towards the middle of the tree. All growth needs to point away from the centre. Keep the middle fairly clear so sunlight can penetrate through the tree. Cut out any dead wood as well.
Spraying – Leaf Curl is a common fungal disease on Stone fruit trees and
preventative spraying now will help combat it later in the year.

Spraying Lime Sulphur is recommended once all leaves have fallen (by the end of May or by mid June in any Australian climate) and before budswell, which means before the blossoms start to come out. Do it twice, waiting a week in between. Additionally, applying an anti-fungal spray after very wet and humid weather can help protect your tree from root rot and other fungal infections.
Fertilizing – It is important NOT to feed your trees right now. Wait until mid-late Winter.
Mulching – Top up every 6 months, to keep the moisture levels consistent, control weeds and promote good microbes in the soil.

You can use Pea Straw, Sugar Cane, Lucerne, or whichever mulch takes your fancy. You can even make it yourself with a mixture of old grass clippings (not fresh), dried leaves and straw. Apply a 3-5cm layer around the tree, it will break-down over time.

Apple Trees

Watering – Avoid over watering (too much water) and overhead watering (wetting the foliage!). Fungal and bacterial infections love wet conditions, and some regions have experienced high rainfall along with high humidity lately.

Ensure your tree is in a well-drained position.

Remember that your tree will be slowing down, dropping its leaves and going into dormancy, so no need for too much water this season.
Pruning / Balancing – Apart from the continual pruning for balancing and for shape, it is good to do some additional pruning during late May / early June.

A guide for this is to prune 1/3 (young tree) to 1/2 (mature tree) of last season's growth. You can tell how much the tree grew last season by the different colours of the bark. Cut just above an outward pointing bud, not a bud on the inside of the branch because you don't need growth going in towards the middle of the tree. All growth needs to point away from the centre. Keep the middle fairly clear so sunlight can penetrate through the tree. Cut out any dead wood as well.
Spraying – No need to spray this season, unless it has been very wet and humid. In this case, apply an anti-fungal spray to help protect your tree from root rot, powdery mildew etc.

A Copper fungicide application is recommended in winter / early spring at budswell (when the blossom buds are forming). More info in the Winter Care Reminder!
Fertilizing – The best fertilser for Apple trees is mulch!

No need to feed right now. Apply slow-release fertiliser (eg. Osmocote) in early spring.
Mulching – Top up every season, to keep the moisture levels consistent, control weeds and promote good microbes in the soil.

You can use Pea Straw, Sugar Cane, Lucerne, or whichever mulch takes your fancy. You can even make it yourself with a mixture of old grass clippings (not fresh), dried leaves and straw. Apply a 3-5cm layer around the tree, it will break-down over time.

Common Questions at this time of year

Do you know....what rootstock looks like? Hint: Citrus rootstock looks very different from the grafts as it has long sharp thorns and a
small three-pronged leaf.

We hope you have identified the different grafts you have growing from the main central stem of the tree (e.g. using a dab of ‘white out’ paint) so that you can easily identify them and so you don't accidentally cut them off.

Check and remove all other growth (rootstock) emerging from the central stem and
from ground level. This is rootstock growth and it doesn't produce worthwhile fruit.

It is important to remove rootstock growth. All the energy needs to be going into the
grafts, not the rootstock. The only purpose of the rootstock is to nourish the grafts
attached to it.

Do you know...what your garden’s pH is?

Run a soil pH test to check the soil in different sections of your garden.
Ph levels affect how easily plants can take up the nutrients from the soil. Home test
kits are available from local garden centres & hardware stores.
Apple trees prefer between 6.0 and 7.0.
Citrus trees prefer between 6.0 and 7.0.
Stonefruit trees prefer between 6.5 and 7.5.

Do you know....why your tree is losing it’s leaves?

During Autumn your Stone or Apple Fruit Salad Tree leaves may be looking a little tatty.

They may be changing colour or dropping from the tree. This is because they are deciduous, meaning it’s natural for this to be happening. Once they have lost all their leaves they are in dormancy, or a rest period, until late Winter-Mid Spring.
Sometimes your tree will not lose all its’ leaves by the end of Autumn, this is due to
variations in climate. If this is the case, give the tree assistance by running your hand along the branches and they should easily fall off.

Do you know....why your tree is flowering again?

If your tree is flowering out of season during these three months, don't be alarmed, it will probably shed the flowers as it prepares to go dormant. Early flowering may be caused by local temperature variations and / or unusual changes in the climate.

No need to worry, even if little fruit do start to develop, they often fall off as the weather is not warm enough for them to mature properly.

We also highly recommend nipping off small fruit in the first few seasons, to enable
your young tree to grow strong enough to support plenty of fruit later.

Do you know… that now is a great time to re-pot your tree?

Now that it is a bit cooler, your tree won’t be suffer transplant shock. Potting mix
loses it’s viability after 12 – 18 months and needs to be replenished. Re-pot using a
good quality potting mix. Look for the 5 Red Ticks on the bag showing it is Premium Aust Standard. Plenty more information available here.

= Happy Tree!

More information

Our website has plenty more information to help you grow the best Fruit Salad Tree
possible! There are Growing Tips Blogs, Frequently Asked Questions, Tree Care
and a comprehensive Pests & Diseases section

If you are ready to add another Fruit Salad Tree (or two!) to your garden, please
check out our wide range of trees now!

You can grow your Fruit Salad Tree in a pot, which is perfect for fruit lovers in urban areas. Read more about growing different fruit on the same tree in a pot here.

Here at Fruit Salad Trees, we stock a wide range of fruit trees, which all boast different fruit on the same tree. Each fruit variety retains its own flavour, appearance and ripening time. We graft citrus, stone fruit and multi-apple trees.

Shop our wide range of trees now!