Oranges Over High Ground Water
Categories:
Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation
Does California experience show that citrus trees can be grown upon land
successfully where the water-level is 6 feet from the surface; that is,
where water is found at that level at all seasons and does not appear to
rise higher during the rainy season?
We do not know of citrus trees in California with ground-water
permanently at six feet below the surface. If the soil should be a free
loam and the capil
arity therefore somewhat reduced, orange trees would
probably be permanently productive. If the soil were very heavy,
capillary rise might be too energetic and saturate the soil for some
distance above the water-level. In a free soil without this danger the
roots could approach the water as they find it desirable and be
permanently supplied. Orange trees are largely dependent upon a shallow
root system, the chief roots generally occupying the first four feet
below the surface. From this fact we conclude that deep rooting is not
necessary to the orange, although unquestionably deep rooting and deep
penetration for water are desirable as allowing the tree to draw upon a
much greater soil mass and therefore be less dependent upon frequent
irrigations and fertilizations.