Care of Satsuma Orange Trees

Overview

Satsuma orange trees are a type of tangerine, but they produce seedless fruits. Hardy down to 25 degrees F, Satsuma oranges are best grown in warmer climates that experience few freezing temperatures or frosts. These fruit trees grow smaller than other citrus varieties, usually only to about 10 feet tall and wide. You should plant your Satsuma orange trees where they will receive partial sunlight and are protected from high winds and cold, such as beside a south-facing wall.

Step 1

Water your newly-planted Satsuma deeply once every three days during the first three to four weeks after planting to help the roots become established. Gradually decrease the frequency of watering to once every week to 10 days during the rest of the first growing season.

Step 2

Water your Satsuma orange tree once every one or two weeks to supplement rainfall during the growing seasons thereafter. When you water the Satsuma, ensure that the water soaks down to the root zone of the tree and the soil is evenly moistened.

Step 3

Feed the Satsuma orange tree only after new growth begins in the first year. Feed the tree 1 cup of ammonium sulfate, or a 21-0-0 NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium) fertilizer, divided into three evenly-spaced applications during the growing season. Spread the ammonium sulfate on the ground around your Satsuma tree, and then water the fertilizer into the soil.

Step 4

Feed the Satsuma tree 1 cup of ammonium sulfate thereafter for each year of tree age, up to 6 cups, applying the fertilizer divided into three applications, once in the late winter or early spring, once in early summer and again in August or September.

Step 5

Stop fertilizing your Satsuma orange tree by September to prepare it for winter. Gradually decrease watering the tree and stop watering altogether by October.

Step 6

Protect your Satsuma orange tree in the winter by covering it with a blanket when freezing weather or frosts threaten. You can also mound up soil or mulch around the trunk of the tree to cover the graft in the tree during freezing weather.