Calamansi is a popular citrus fruit grown in the Philippines. It has rich medicinal properties and can be used to treat several health problems. It’s important to choose the best fertilizers for calamansi trees so that they grow well and yield more fruits throughout their lifetime. If you want to learn more about fertilizing your calamansi plants, keep reading.
About Calamansi Tree
Calamansi is a fruit that is also called calamondin and kalamansi. It is a plant native to Southeast Asia, and it has been used for hundreds of years as the Philippines’ national fruit. Calamansi trees are easy to grow in containers, and they can also be planted in your garden. If you have decided to grow calamansi trees in your backyard, then you should know what fertilizer to use on them.
This citrus tree has dwarf, semi-dwarf, and standard rootstock varieties ranging from 6 1/2 to 25 feet tall with a strong taproot as an anchoring point. If each calamansi rootstock type is well cared for properly. Calamansi tree, two years after it is planted is when it starts producing abundant fruits that resemble lime among its 3-inch long leaves. Although the dense foliage provides ample shade during the summer, paying attention to location, soils and daily care encourages the calamansi plant to produce fruits.
Calamansi trees need plenty of nutrients to thrive—especially nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). Nitrogen promotes leaf growth, phosphorus helps build strong roots, and potassium improves fruit production. The best fertilizer for calamansi trees contains all three of these elements in equal amounts: 10-10-10 or 5-10-5 or 8-8-8 are good choices for this purpose. However, if you want to use organic fertilizers like compost or manure instead then that’s fine too.
Recommended Fertilizer Rate For Calamansi Plant
To produce high-quality calamansi, you need to apply proper fertilizers. Fertilizers help trees absorb nutrients from the soil and improve their growth. In fact, fertilizer plays an important role in the fruit yield of calamansi trees because it helps them grow larger and bear more fruit. It also increases their production capacity by providing essential nutrients that are lacking in the soil such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (N-P-K).
Nitrogenous fertilizers like urea should be applied at the rate of 50-100 g per tree starting 1 month after planting and every other 6 months. In the second year, the rate is increased to 200-300g per tree. As soon as the tree starts bearing fruits commercially, 350-400 g of complete fertilizer is applied. As the tree becomes bigger the rate is increased.
The fertilizers can be distributed into 6-8 holes around the tree and timed with the onset and end of the rainy season or just before the start of flowering. The incorporation of organic fertilizers in the fertilization plan will also benefit the plant by providing micronutrients.
Sometimes farmers add organic or synthetic fertilizers to increase their yield per hectare. However, before choosing a type of fertilizer for your shrubbery, you should consider a few things like its composition so you can use it effectively without damaging your plants’ health or the environment around them.
Recommended Fertilizers For Calamansi Plant
The best fertilizer for calamansi trees will ensure that you have healthy and vigorous trees producing more fruits than usual. Below are the recommended fertilizers for good growth and yield of the Calamansi Plant
Miracle-Gro Fruit & Citrus Plant Food Spikes
Price : $11.48 ($0.24 / Ounce)
Features :
- Promotes more fruit and lush foliage (vs unfed)
- Contains natural ingredients
- Feed once per season in Spring and Fall
- Also great for use on palm trees
- Easy-to-use spikes release nutrients directly into the root zone to help promote strong fruit, citrus, and palm trees
Jobe’s Organics 09226NA Granular Plant Food Fruit & Citrus, 4lbs, Brown
Price : $9.99 ($0.16 / Ounce)
Features :
- Organic granular fertilizer; Fast acting fertilizer for fruit and citrus trees; Established and new trees
- OMRI listed for organic gardening by USDA; Certified organic means no synthetic chemicals
- Contains Jobe Biozome; Extremely aggressive proprietary microorganism archaea that aggressively breaks down material for faster results
- Jobe’s Biozome improves soil conditions and drought during the growing season
- Easy pour bag; Fertilizer analysis: (3-5-5) 1.5 pound resealable bag, (3-5-5) 4 pound bag, (3-5-5) 16 pound bag
Down to Earth Organic Citrus Fertilizer Mix 6-3-3, 5 lb
Price : $19.31 ($0.24 / Ounce)
Features :
- Down To Earth Citrus Mix is a five pound box of fertilizer with 6-3-3 formula and is listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production
- Formulated with primary and secondary plant nutrients like calcium, sulfur, zinc and iron, plus selected micronutrients
- It supplies the proper ration of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium that helps promote lush new growth, abundant green foliage, fragrant blossoms and bountiful fruit
- An option for citrus trees of all kinds and may also be used to feed other fruit trees, vines and ornamentals for equally enjoyable results
- Ingredients: feather meal, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal, greensand, langbeinite, basalt, sulfate of potash, zinc sulfate and kelp meal
Espoma Organic Citrus-tone 5-2-6 Natural & Organic Fertilizer and Plant Food for all Citrus, Fruit, Nut & Avocado Trees; 4 lb. Bag. Promotes Vigorous Growth & Abundant Fruit Visit the Espoma Store
Price : $17.50 ($0.27 / Ounce)
Features :
- FOR USE ON: Use Citrus-tone organic fertilizer for all citrus trees, including lemon, lime, orange, Meyer Lemon Trees as well as for avocado & nut trees
- CONTAINS: Citrus-tone is a rich blend of the finest natural & organic ingredients enhanced with our exclusive Bio-tone formula; 5-2-6 Fertilizer analysis with 5% Calcium. Citrus-tone is environmentally Safe – No sludges or toxic ingredients
- WHEN / HOW TO USE: Best to use Citrus-tone fertilizer late winter pre-bloom, spring post bloom and Fall. Apply to the soil around the drip line of the tree and then water thoroughly. Citrus-tone is ready to use and requires no mixing
- FOR ORGANIC GARDENING: Citrus-tone is approved for organic gardening; It is a registered Organic Input Material meaning it meets all requirements for organic production
- MADE IN THE USA: Product of the Espoma Company. The leader in natural organics since 1929
Jobe’s, 04226 Fertilizer Spikes, Fruit and Citrus, 6 Count, Slow Release, Apple, Orange, Lemon, Trees
Price : $9.99 ($1.66 / Count)
Features :
- Efficient delivery system for organics
- Ideal for fruit and citrus trees
- Available in a 6 pack re-sealable pouch
J R Peters Inc 52524 Jacks Classic No.1.5 20-10-20 Citrus Food Fertilizer
Price : $16.40 ($0.68 / Ounce)
Features :
- Citrus FeED 20-10-20 is designed to provide the optimum combination of nutrients needed by plants in the citrus group.
- This formula with enhanced micronutrient levels will produce vibrant green leaves, strong branches and more fruit.
- Advanced formulation uses the highest quality nutrients available, delivering professional results to your home garden.
- When used as directed, Jack’s Citrus FeED will allow your plants to uptake the nutrients through both its roots and leaves.
- For use on: Tropical fruiting plants like Meyer lemons and dwarf varieties, other lemons & limes, oranges, grapefruits, mangos, kumquats
How To Apply Fertilizer For Calamansi tree
Calamansi trees should be fertilized every month during their growing season (from February-May). The best time to fertilize a calamansi tree is during spring or early summer when the plant’s roots are actively taking up nutrients from the soil and transferring them into its leaves and fruit. You can also fertilize before new growth starts in late winter or early spring if you want to encourage flower or fruit production.
During this time period, it’s also important to keep your tree’s soil moist but not soggy—so make sure that there is some drainage in your planting area. The amount of fertilizer needed depends on the size of your tree and how much soil there is in its container.
Fertilizers can be applied either by hand or by using a spreader. To apply Calamansi tree fertilizer, follow this simple procedure:
The first thing you need to do is to choose the type of fertilizer that is best suited for your tree. Calamansi trees are tropical plants and they require a lot of nutrients in their soil, so it is important that you choose a fertilizer that contains nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus in order to help them grow well.
When applying the fertilizer, make sure that you use a slow-release formula so that it doesn’t burn the roots or leaves of your tree. You should also be aware that some fertilizers will only work if they come into contact with water, so make sure that you sprinkle them over moist soil instead of dry soil.
Finally, apply the fertilizer according to the instructions on the package. Do this in the early morning or late evening—when it’s cooler outside and less likely that the sun will burn your plant’s leaves or dry them out too much.
How To Care For Calamansi Plant
Evaluate the tree’s location by ensuring that it is in a south-facing position. Any nearby trees that shade the calamansi should be removed.. Even partial shade hinders citrus fruit production.
The topsoil surrounding the calamansi should be watered with a garden hose. By watching the moisture move into the ground, ensure that the tree’s soil absorbs water. In general, 1 inch of water should penetrate the ground completely after one hour.
The soil should be tilled with a garden hoe if the soil does not absorb the water well. The topsoil should be amended with compost and perlite, using the garden hoe to create a nutrient-rich but well-drained soil structure.
Nitrogen-rich citrus fertilizer should be applied to calamansi three times during the growing season. Hand-spread the fertilizer out to, and slightly beyond, the drip line before and after the tree flowers, as well as after harvesting.
Using drip irrigation, calamansi plant should be watered until the soil is moist down to 3 feet deep every one to two weeks. A moisture meter can be used to ascertain the moisture depth. An essential key to consistent fruiting is water. Be sure not to over-water the plant, as soggy roots cause die-back from suffocation within the ground.
Organic mulch should be hand spread around the calamansi. 12 inches of space needs to be maintained between the mulch and tree trunk. Mulching covers exposed roots and prevents fungal diseases that hinder fruiting.
Final thoughts
Calamansi is a citrus fruit that can be grown in your backyard, and if you want the best results, you need to know what fertilizer to use. Calamansis are related to oranges and lemons, so they can be fertilized with a citrus fertilizer. But that’s not all—calamansis also like nitrogen, so you should also add some blood meal or fish fertilizer to your garden when growing calamansis. Calamansi trees don’t need a lot of water, but they do need plenty of sunshine. If you keep them in the shade too much, they won’t grow well at all.