Gardening: Whanganui s climate is great for growing good citrus
16 Apr, 2021 05:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Citrus trees can be grown successfully in small gardens as well as in larger spaces. Photo / File
Citrus trees can be grown successfully in small gardens as well as in larger spaces. Photo / File
Autumn is a great time of year to be planting citrus fruit. The new plants from the nurseries are lush and full because of good summer growth. Garden soil is moist from autumn rains and, with winter approaching, there are high prospects of further moisture to aid root establishment.
Citrus are one of the favourite fruit plants in Whanganui for small and large gardens as well as container production, with eventual tree size being controlled by the use of dwarfing rootstocks.
Spanish oranges formed the basis of the offers
The basis of the supply was formed by Spanish blond oranges and, above all, Lane Late and Navelate. From Egypt came mainly Valencia Late, which were purchased primarily for juice production. Turkish Washington Navel disappeared from the stores selectively. Italian products, Moro and Tarocco, predominated in blood oranges. Spanish fruits had a complementary character, especially Sanguinelli could be accessed. Even if the total number of deliveries was limited, the demand could be satisfied without any problems.
Demand was not particularly strong; spring-like temperatures as well as the shifted customer focus on seasonal fruit reduced the accommodation possibilities. However, as availability was also limited in parallel, quotations often remained at previous levels. In Cologne, they went up for the entire range.