Spring Fruit Tree Tips for Redlands, CA

As spring arrives in Redlands, California, fruit trees begin to awaken from their winter dormancy. This transition period is crucial for their health and vitality throughout the year. This post will highlight some of the things you can do as a homeowner to ensure your fruit trees will make your friends and family green with envy or happy with the shared fruits of your labor in 2025!

Growing Fruit Trees in Redlands

While Redlands has a suitable climate for most fruit trees, there are several challenges that its residents are up against. This article will highlight the challenges followed by the solutions you can take to ensure optimal crop yields for your backyard fruit trees this year.

Hot/Dry summers soaring over 100°F ! 🔥🥵🔥

This can create less desirable fruit that gets sunburned, leading to scorched leaves and overall water loss of the tree (dehydration). Similar to the human body, trees have an epidermis on their leaves which can get sunburned. Sunburned leaves exhibit symptoms as yellowing, browning, or even dry spots. Scorched leaves will not recover however the tree may still be able to produce new leaves in their place. This is particularly common with citrus and avocado trees in the summer time in Redlands which are subtropical trees in their native environment, not accustomed to the hot dry winds and open exposure of most backyards.

Soil Type 👨‍🌾💩

While historically Redlands has been known for its rich clay soils high in iron content and rocky in structure, many areas in the city have been depleted of this high iron content by lack of replenishment to the soils farmed over time. Additionally, Redlands is dominated by alluvial or sandy loam soils which are the major soil type in the city. These soil types don’t hold water long and lack nutrient retention properties of other soil types. Next week’s blog post will be all about soil types in Redlands and how they impact your tree’s growth characteristics.

Santa Ana Winds 🌬️💨🍃

Santa Ana winds are perhaps one of the most brutal factors our trees in Redlands face on a yearly basis. These winds can cause fruit drop, break branches, and desiccate foliage.

Low Rainfall & Drought 💧. . . 🚫

Southern California’s limited rainfall means fruit trees rely on irrigation. This is especially prominent during dry periods when water restrictions begin taking effect. Water is one of the most important components of fruit development as trees require a much larger amount of water as they increase their fruit size.

Fear Not! 🌴😎🤙🪂🌴

At Cambium Tree Experts, we’re all about solutions! Below are some effective measures you can take to thwart any challenges mentioned above that your fruit trees may face during their growing season.

Nutrients & Fertilizers! 🧪🥼🔬🧬

Potassium (K) is one of the most important nutrients for water uptake and overall tree health during drought stress, it also aids in photosynthesis, enzyme activation, stomata opening, fruit size, improved sugar content, flavor, and color of your fruits! Woah, that’s a lot of activity for one nutrient but it’s not the only one you need to supplement for your trees in Spring.

Nitrogen (N) is the primary nutrient responsible for leaf growth. This nutrient is mobile in the tree meaning it can move from older leaves and travel to areas where new growth is needed. However, when the tree’s tap runs dry with this nutrient, major health defects can occur rapidly slowing down growth and leading to poor fruit quality. More Leaves = More Photosynthesis ☀️🌿= More Energy 🪫🔋🔋🔋💪

Phosphorus (P) plays a crucial role in photosynthesis and energy transport within the tree, ATP relies heavily on that last letter (P). Phosphorus also promotes root growth, fruit quality, sugar accumulation, and ripening.

A common Mnemonic to memorize all of the plant nutrients is below:

C. Hopkins Cafe is managed by mine nice couzin Mo. / CHOPKiNS CaFe Mg B Mn Ni Cl Co / uZn Mo

Carbon (C) / Hydrogen (H) / Oxygen (O) / Phosphorus (P) / Potassium (K) / Nitrogen (N) / Sulfur (S) / Calcium (Ca) / Iron (Fe) Magnesium (Mg) / Boron (B) / Manganese (Mn) / Nickle (Ni) / Chlorine (Cl) / Cobalt (Co) / Zinc (Zn) / Molybdenum (Mo)

Calcium (Ca) / Magnesium (Mg) / Sulfur (S)

These 3 nutrients play a major role in cell wall structure and thickness, contributing to better fruit texture and less susceptibility to diseases like blossom end rot and internal fruit decay. They also play a role in protein synthesis, chlorophyll production, nutrient uptake, and enzyme activity.

Micronutrients

Micronutrients do a wide range of activities in fruit trees but we’ll keep it simple and just say for now that they are involved in various metabolic processes.

Irrigation / Mulching / Organic Amendments 💦💧💧💧🚿

It is often discussed that trees need slow steady irrigation over a longer watering interval. While this is typically true, it also depends on your soil type, because Redlands has a range of soil types, sandier soils might require more frequent waterings every 1 to 3 days while heavy clay soils might only need to be watered once every 7 to 10 days. This depends on various factors: are your fruit trees in a shady area under a canopy of other taller trees? Is your soil exposed to direct sunlight? It is best to have an arborist do a site inspection for what your specific tree’s watering requirements might be. To top it off, different types of trees have different water requirements, subtropical fruit trees like citrus and avocados prefer consistent moist soil near field capacity, while more drought tolerant fruit trees like jujubes might do better allowing the soil to dry out between watering cycles.

Mulching aids in both microbial activity promoting nutrient production in the top layers of the soil while aiding in moisture retention. As easy as mulching sounds, it can be both over and underdone, a layer of mulch 2 to 3 inches thick is ideal for most fruit trees. To speed up nutrient transport and biological activity, Cambium Tree Experts recommends adding organic matter to your mulch rather than relying solely on woodchips alone. Chicken manure is high in nitrogen content but some of this nitrogen is bound to the high carbon content of the mulch and reduces the immediate availability to the tree. Another good soil amendment option is steer manure which adds billions of microbes to the soil activity.

Be careful not to apply mulch directly to the trunk of the tree, we typically recommend leaving several inches of space between the trunk and the mulch ring. Leaving space between the trunk and the mulch also makes it easier to apply other fertilizers like and organic fish and kelp fertilizer that can be applied monthly in Spring to rapidly accelerate tree growth. Organic fertilizers are both easier to use and better for the environment. These fertilizers not only boost health and resilience of the soil microbiome but are less likely to cause nutrient burn and offer a longer release of nutrients over time.

Staking Trees & Fruit Thinning 🌿🌳🍎🍐🍋🍊

Staking fruit trees that have young or thin branches allows the tree to focus more on fruit production and less on strengthening branches to compensate for the weight of the fruits. We’ve all had that heavy branch loaded with fruit only to watch it split off in the first summer rainstorm and lose all that precious fruit. Propping heavy branches and reducing branch length by 25-35% through proper pruning eliminates most branch failures on fruit trees as they bear the weight of their crops.

Thinning fruits may seem counter intuitive but results in significantly improved flavor, sugar content, and fruit quality for most if not all fruit trees. Most fruit trees have been selectively bred and hybridized to bear a crop that would not do well in the wild without human influence, with breeding shooting for maximum amount of fruit per tree and maximum amount of flavor.

Thinning fruits is best done in Spring right after fruit set when fruits are smaller than the size of a marble. Typically the easiest trees to practice fruit thinning on are stone fruits, apple trees, and pomegranates. Pinching off up to 70% of the small developing fruits on your tree is acceptable, and lets be honest, most of our fruit trees have a large portion go to waste every year. The focus should be on quality not quantity. If you haven’t practiced fruit thinning in the past, try it out this year, you may be thoroughly impressed with the fruit quality that far surpasses the selection available in the grocery store.

Have questions about your trees?🌳 Let’s keep Redlands green and thriving—reach out to a local tree care specialist today!

(909) 556-2662

#cambium