Potting Mix, and a large 40-50cm diameter pot to give them enough room to grow.
Blueberries will benefit from regular applications of a complete plant food during spring. Yates Thrive Strawberry & Berry Fruit Liquid Plant Food is ideal for blueberries as it’s fortified with extra potassium to encourage lots of flowers and delicious berries.
SPECIAL MANDARINS
As the main mandarin season draws to a close, one of the last varieties bearing fruit during early spring is ‘Richard special’ mandarins. They have large sweet juicy fruit that are easy to peel, as well as being packed with vitamin C goodness.
‘Richard special’ mandarin trees have lovely bright green foliage and grow to around 3m tall. They prefer growing in a warm spot (although they will tolerate light frosts) and need a sunny location with well-drained
soil. You can also try growing a ‘Richard special’ in a large container (a 500mm pot is ideal) filled with good quality potting mix such as Yates Premium Potting Mix.
Early spring is an ideal time to plant a new mandarin tree, along with all the other fantastic types of citrus.
When planting a new citrus tree into the ground, mix some Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone in the bottom of the planting hole.
Natural Blood & Bone improves the quality of the soil and supplies the newly planted mandarin with gentle, organic nutrients as it establishes. It’s also boosted with root- promoting New Zealand seaweed.
Keep the new tree well watered, particularly during its first summer. Applying a layer of mulch, such as bark chips, around the root zone will help keep the soil moist and protect the top soil and shallow root system.
Keep the mulch around 5cm away from the trunk, so that the trunk itself doesn’t stay moist.
Mandarins, like other citrus, are heavy feeders and require lots of nutrients to support all the foliage, flowers and developing fruit. From spring until the mandarins are harvested, feed every 1-2 weeks with Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food. Dilute 2 capfuls into 9 litres of water and apply around the root zone.
HOME-GROWN BANANAS
New Zealanders love their bananas and per capita we are one of the world’s largest consumers.
It’s one of Mother Nature’s best pre-packaged lunch box fillers, great for muffins, cakes, smoothies and fruit salads, and they’re packed with vitamins and fibre. Spring is a good time to grow your own.
Growing up to 4m tall, banana plants are lush, leafy and can add a tropical feel to a home garden.
Here are some backyard banana growing tips:
Find a warm, frost free wind protected spot with well-drained soil that preferably receives at least 6 hours of sunshine a day. For cooler areas, look for varieties like Misi Luki. Mulch well around the banana plants and it’s important to keep the soil consistently moist.Banana plants are nutrient hungry. To help promote flowering and fruiting apply a rich source of potassium, like Yates Thrive Natural Sulfate of Potash, around the root zone during early spring and gently mix into the soil.Mature banana plants will produce a long flower stalk along which hands of bananas will develop.The entire fruiting stem of bananas can be covered with a large open-ended bag once the fruit moves from being downward to upward facing. The bag will help deter birds from eating the fruit. You can harvest individual hands of bananas before they’re ripe and ripen them indoors. This will help to spread out the harvest season.Once a banana plant has fruited, it will die. However, there should be multiple suckers to take its place. Remove all but three of the strongest suckers.To help keep the plant looking tidy, cut off any dead or damaged foliage.
SPRING REFRESH FOR FRUIT
As many fruit trees, bushes and vines emerge from their winter break, we can help them on
their way to producing a great crop. Here are four simple steps to get the most out of
your fruiting plants:
Sprinkle some Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food around the root zone and gently tickle the pellets into the soil with a garden fork. The rich organic matter in Dynamic Lifter will provide food for hardworking earthworms and beneficial soil micro organisms and help improve the quality of the soil, including increasing moisture and nutrient retention.Control grasses and weeds around the base of fruiting plants with easy spot sprays of Yates Nature’s Way Organic Weed Gun. Weeds steal water and nutrients from the garden as well as harbouring pests and diseases, so they need to be controlled.Take care not to contact the stem, trunk or foliage of the plants you want to keep.
Apply (or top up) mulch around fruiting trees and plants. Keep the mulch a few centimetres away from the trunk or stem to allow for good airflow, which helps minimise diseases. Mulch will help retain soil moisture.Feed fruiting plants each week with a fast acting complete plant food like Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food, which is rich in nitrogen to encourage healthy leaf growth and boosted with extra potassium to promote lots of flowers and fruit.Courtesy of Yates
