boy i'm going to be the odd one out here hey, maybe i just let this one slip by? your soil looks pretty miserable to me, at the very least it needs lots more organic material added. have you ever had a PH test done? maybe get an opinion from the local plant/garden centre on what they think the soil is missing. most do free PH tests so take a good sample along the sample should be from around 6"s down. to me (and we've planted a lot of citrus in alot of gardens with total success) the citrus looks less than as healthy as it should be, the green is yellowish incipid, could mean wrong PH as well as lack of nutrient level around the plant. as for never using amendments when preparing a planting position for citrus, that is a new one to me and goes against our successes. for one when planting citrus in a poorly drained heavy clay spot (common problem here), we generally dig a whole about twice the size of the pot of the potted plant then we back fill tamping down to minimise settlement to create a planting mound, to create drainage for the feeder roots. all our 6 or 7 citrus in this poorly drained garden are about 4 years old from the pot and all are producing full crops of fruit (have done for 3 years now)on acontinuing basis. we mulch heavily around them we don't feed them, and do very little pruning (probably slack on my part), there is no bug attacks. our ammendment was mushroom compost from the farm, around 3 to 4 bags per planting position. now they are all established we don't water, they get rain water only around 1100mm per year av'. so if that citrus was mine i'd dig it up, dig a larger hole ammend the hole, just in case you get lots of water that is slow to drain i would plant it in a raised position, and mulch heavily. buy yourself a PH test kit if the PH is too acid say then use dolomite at the prescribed rate to amend the hole and the planting area. we are gypsum fans so all plantings here get at least a good dose of it, works in our area for us. that's how we do it i guess. len Here is a link that might be useful: lens garden page

Yup. Your tree is thirsty :-) Leaf cupping is a sign of a dehydrated tree. This is actually what our commercial citrus growers in California use to determine watering requirements for their citrus trees. And yes, you want to plant your tree so that the well or ring for the water is lower than the trunk. Here's the idea - you want the water to run AWAY from the trunk, and not pool at the trunk. You want your watering well to be at the drip line (edge of the leaf canopy) or a little beyond because that's where the feeder roots are. Now, don't mound up around the trunk - you don't want to bury the tree, better to have the root flare exposed a bit. Make the well lower. Mulch under the tree well. Here in California we lose a lot water due to evaporation with our hot, dry summers. Just keep the mulch away from the trunk so the trunk doesn't stay damp. That can cause foot rot. You want to water at least once a week, or more often if it gets really hot. Test your soil to make sure it's damp about 18" down or so. You want to water fairly deep, but not excessively so. We're now finding out that our "deep watering for citrus" philosophy was a bit off. Since citrus as shallow rooted trees, as long as you have watered and soaked the soil down to about 18", you're watering in well. Forget misting your tree, but an occasional washing off, especially in the hot, dry summer is always nice for the tree. It removes dust as well as red spider mites, which we can get here in California during our warm, dry summers. Forget trying to measure your water, just fill your well and then check after a few hours to make sure the water is soaking down at least 18". If your soil becomes dry 6 to 12" below the surface, it's time to water again. Fertilize every 2 to 3 months with a fertilizer formulated for citrus, which will be higher in Nitrogen, and will also have all the micronutrients included. Several good choices out there, GreenAll as Tim has mentioned, GroPower Citrus & Avocado Food which I prefer due to its very high humic acid content, and even Vigoro Citrus Fertilizers are all good choices. Patty S.

We need to know more about your orange tree to be able to tell you what is up. And, perhaps some better photos? Maybe a little further away so we can see the whole tree? We need to know where you live (California is a big place), what kind of soil you have, how you're watering your tree, when it was planted, sun exposure, fertilizing. More info will help us to help you. Patty S.

"Mulching is not the SOLUTION". AS everyone is pointing out, until you get the watering needs of that tree correctly, mulch will kill your tree. If you don't water deeply, the surface roots will only grab moisture from the top layer of mulch making your roots even more shallower, and you will still be depriving the lower roots of water since now you will have to add even more water until it goes through the mulch into the lower roots...Water deeply..If you put an inch of mulch, even more deeply and so on. A good way to prevent having to stand there for hours until the water reaches the soil under the mulch, is by using a soaker hose placed directly under the mulch.If I were you, until you have access to something you could use to help you, or the ability to know how deep you need to water is to make your trees thrive, I would not use a heavy layer of mulch, but I thin one to help the top from drying out and that will allow you to water deeply more rapidly. I was a landscaper for years and take care of many trees, and even here, unless you water your trees deeply, through the mulch, your tree will die of thirst.