N-P-K in a 3-1-3 up to 5-1-3 ratio will work fine. Check for micro ingredients.

If your trees are indoors and not in a green house and not getting supplemental lighting, then they should be getting very little or no fertilizer until next spring because fertilizing now will encourage lanky, unhealthy growth. If you do decide to fertilize now (which I do not recommend), fertilize at 1/4 the rate mentioned in the paragraph below.

Most on this forum use Foliage Pro 9-3-6
(FP) which is a fertilizer that contains all of the nutrients that citrus trees
require. Each time you have to water, add 1 Tsp. of FP /gal of water and
use that instead of pure water. Get a cheap pH testing kit - the kind used to test the pH of swimming pool
or aquarium water. If your tap water is above pH 6.5, add enough vinegar to
adjust it to about pH 6.5. You will only have to add give or take 1 Tb/gal. So,
you will be watering with a mix of vinegar and Foliage Pro every time the tree
needs water.

good choice 25-5-15

6b steve

The only issue with Steve's suggestion is that she would need to buy a 25lb bag like I did. With only two trees she may have it into the next generation ;-). I would get the FP.

Yea but you can use that on more than just citrus and its under $2.00/pound.

6b Steve

I'm a he lol. But are all foliage pros soluble ones? I prefer the granular because you don't have to fertilize it that often compared to the soluble ones right

Hello he..lol If you want to use the granular ones, do so, but you will not be in total control of how much your trees get at every watering nor the salt's that build up from your soils..There are a heck of a lot of advantages to using water soluble and if you are going to use granular, you would have to apply it all the time anyways...By the way, Foliage Pro is a water soluble liquid..

Sorry Heruga! Steve is right about that, but you would still have to dissolve it in water even though it's granular. You dissolve 1 tsp of that Peters fertilizer into 1 gallon of water. Depends on if you think you'll use a 25 lb bag ;-). It is a whole lot cheaper than FP per application.

To you all that use the Peters do you see any notable difference in efficacy and health of your trees between that and FP? I love FP but it is expensive comparatively and I find hard to not spill some every time I open the bottle to feed my trees.

I use Miracle Gro 24-8-16. get 5 pounds for $7.99. It is at Home depot. and I pass by the store 2 time a week. My plants grow as I hope they will. The best thing you can do for your citrus trees is plant them outside in ground in mostly sunny areas.

6b (underglass) Steve Cincinnati,

Sammers, I have not used it long since I got it at the beginning of Fall. I have not noticed any difference at all so far, but can let you know as time passes.

IMO the big value of water soluble is the ability for quicker uptake. In particular, you can do foliar applications to quickly manage deficiencies (even if your soil pH isn't ideal for uptake via roots). That said, I have Osmocote Plus slow release mixed in soil and soluble FP during watering.

Alright well I guess I'm going to try the foliage pro then. Do you all just follow the directions on the label? And for the miracle gro, my citrus are not planted in the ground so I'll stick with the foliage pro.

Btw, how do you guys deal with all the flooding that piles up in the plate on the bottom? I know that indicates good draining soil but I don't want the roots to rot. My sudachi is now indoors so I keep spilling water on the floor..

When indoors, I don't water much and very slowly so that I don't get a lake at the bottom. I bought a tiny watering can from Amazon that has a fine misting spout that works very well. By the way, I also use Oscomote plus in the mix. I figure there are times when I miss fertilizing and that is a backup. I still consider FP or the Peters fertilizer as the main one. I totally agree with FruityPaws about the advantages of the water solubility.

Oh ok I've been using a watering can, I guess I'll be watering it real slowly then. Ok well since my citrus has been doing completely fine for 3 years with absolutely no fertilizer, I don't I need to make too much of a fuss about it so I'm going to try just the foliage pro. No other types.

This may not apply to you, but I just thought I would mention it because I learned my lesson the hard way just yesterday. I have 2 new citrus in pots and 6 new ones in open bottom raised beds, along with several new roses. I'm a pretty experienced gardener and I usually don't feed (like you), have always just provided good soil, water, mulch and TLC. My plants are usually very happy, but since I have a mass entrance of new plants I thought I would try feeding (also I should mention I have known to be a little impatient). :)

I'm into organics and didn't want to risk burning the new roots on my newest plants, so I thought I would try alfalfa instead of chemical fertilizer. I got the right kind, put a little top dressing on, watered it in and covered it with mulch. My dogs were sniffing all around me, but I figured they were just interested in what I was doing. Boy was I was WRONG! Turned my back for 1 second and they jumped into my pots and raised beds, lapped up all the alfalfa around 1 rose and 1 lemon tree and were digging for more before I could shoo them away! They almost knocked the pots over by mauling them! My weirdo dogs love alfalfa! The rest of the night they continued to lurk and sniff the air all around it. I am going to have to keep hawk eyes on them!

Alfalfa is feed for all sorts of animals after all... so I should have thought of this. LOL. My impatience just made it so I didn't think it through! I can only imagine what would have happened if I used bone meal or fish emulsion or something else they found irresistible!

So... if you end up deciding to do anything organic keep in mind that pets will most likely love the smell and taste of it (and that will go for rodents, birds, and other outdoor creatures too if you keep your trees outdoors). Shouldn't apply to nonorganic chemical fertilizers, but maybe just test it first and keep an eye on pets anyways. Even if liquid, if they like the smell and taste they may eat the dirt and mulch that has the liquid on it.

If it's organic it probably won't hurt them, but they will wreak havoc on pots and beds.

Here's one of mine right after he burped alfalfa at me:

Here's two of them lurking and sniffing the air, waiting for the chance to dig up my plants and eat more alfalfa:

My other one listened a little better and felt shame, refusing to look at me:

Oh wow that is something nice to know. I also have a dog that likes to dig in things whatever he is curious on. But fortunately we don't have a fence in our backyard so we can't keep him loose. But anyway, organic fertilizers can be a risk huh, will keep that in mind. Thanks!

By the way guys.. one gallon of water is heck of a lot water.. if I use all that at once my whole room will be flooded. And do potted citrus really need as much as one gallon per watering? Will the sprinkler watering can really prevent the flooding?

Heruga, the unit of measure is 1 tsp/gallon. You can reduce accordingly...for example...if you are only using a quart of water, use 1/4 tsp of FP.

Ok well then I guess I have to use FP along with every watering once a week since 1/4 is like nothing. Even if my tree is indoors right now, once a week watering+fertilizer should be ok?

Hey can someone tell me if mixing foliage pro and mosquito bits together and watering my citrus is ok or not? I am fertilizing them for the first time tomorrow but I also want to mosquito bit it for gnats. Can I mix those 2 together?