How to Revive a Calamansi Tree

Improve soil quality with nutrients and fertilizer.

The calamansi tree is one of the most popular trees grown in the Philippines, partly because of the citrus fruit it bears. Filipino cooks use calamansis to marinate fish and to make syrup and jam. This robust tree thrives in a variety of climates, but calamansi trees can suffer from disease and other ailments that can eventually kill them. Revive your calamansi tree with techniques that infuse nutrients, remove pests and produce a more hospitable environment in which they can grow.

Things You'll Need

• Fertilizer
• Compost
• Measuring tape
• Organic pesticides
• Copper fungicide solution

Instructions

1. Inspect the soil for too much water. Calamansi trees react poorly to overwatering. Stop watering or turn off the sprinklers to allow the soil to dry out. The tree should revive within days if the problem stems from overwatering.

2. Add fertilizer and compost to build nutrients in the soil. Calamansi trees grow best in nutrient-rich soil, and fertilizer and nutrients can stave off nutrient deficiency problems. Look for dark sap oozing from the tree. This indicates gummosis disease, a common problem resulting from a lack of nutrients.

3. Measure the distance between your calamansi trees, if you have more than one. To thrive, calamansi trees need at least 16 feet of space so the root systems do not compete with each other for nutrients. Move or remove one of the trees if they stand too close together. Allowing this situation to continue may kill both trees.

4. Spray organic pesticides on the tree and around the soil to kill harmful insects. Exterminating harmful insects immediately stops the advancement of tree damage and allows the tree to heal properly.

5. Spray your tree with copper fungicide solution if it suffers from citrus scab, a common fungal ailment of citrus plants. Spray directly on and around affected areas to stop the fungal infection.

References

• Agripinoy: Growing Calamansi (aka Calamondin)