The Benefits Of Spraying Your Citrus Trees With Seaweed Extract
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The intoxicating scent of lemon or orange blossoms is reason enough to add citrus trees to your indoor or outdoor garden. Knowing that the flowers can lead to your own harvest is definitely a bonus. However, coaxing your trees to produce mature fruits can be frustrating or even futile. Luckily, there is a sustainable organic fertilizer that improves citrus tree production, quality, and overall health. Seaweed extract is eco-friendly, versatile, and packs a big punch of vitamins, minerals, and living organisms into one product. You can purchase it as liquid or powder with conventional or organic formulas.
Seaweed extract is a new form of fertilizer on the garden scene that's practically a panacea for plants. Researchers have collected plenty of data over many years that back up this wonder product. Benefits include healthier roots, better cold tolerance, and more abundant healthy fruit, making this inexpensive elixir worth a try for amateur and professional growers alike. Seaweed extract is a great addition to your climate-conscious gardening routine.
Why should you use seaweed extract on your citrus trees?
Citrus trees need a nutrient boost between the time they bloom and set fruit. Fruit trees pump all the energy and resources they have into morphing their flowers into an edible reward. Seaweed extract is a great way to up your chances of seeing lemons, oranges, and limes on your future table. This naturally-derived fertilizer is made from Ascophyllum nodosum, a type of kelp that grows in northern seas. This type of kelp has also become an invasive species in areas much farther south, so using it also provides a market for this unwanted sea plant.
Researchers have built up an impressive body of evidence to support the use of seaweed on your citrus tree. When citrus trees lack nutrients, you're likely to have trouble seeing fruits grow to maturity. Data indicates that regular use of seaweed extract on citrus tree leaves can lead to reduced fruit drop and higher yield. It has also been shown to perk up growth in strawberries, mango trees, and grape vines.
How to use seaweed extract
Experts recommend using seaweed spray on your trees once a month throughout the year. It's a foliar treatment, meaning that you will spay it on the leaves of the tree. An easy and inexpensive option is Organic Marina Mist foliar kelp spray, available at Amazon. Despite all the purported benefits of seaweed extract, you may want to supplement your fertilization plan with a product that contains nitrogen.
You can get much more bang for your buck by trying a powdered or concentrated product that is easier on the environment. By avoiding products that are mainly water, you reduce not only the amount of potential packaging waste but also the ecological harms from shipping something that you can get from your tap. Pass on the thick plastic bottles that could end up in a landfill in favor of Arbico Organics' Maxicrop seaweed powder or BIOXTREME liquid seaweed concentrate. A 10-ounce bag of powdered seaweed extract makes up to 65 gallons of liquid mix. Not only does this save you from a hefty pile of recycling, it also keeps nearly two thousand dollars in your pocket compared to the pre-mixed options. With the staggering volume of spray this powder creates, there's nothing stopping you from using it on other plants. It is touted to benefit many plants, from shrubs to root crops.