Growing and Using Citrus

Learn what citrus to grow and how to grow it.

Citrus may be grown for its:

• Food and Nutritional value
• Aesthetic value
• Medicinal value

They are evergreen trees with unique leaves, fragrant flowers, and vibrant citrus colours that offer an exotic touch to any garden, terrace, deck, or balcony. 

This course is a complete guide for growing successful citrus plants and for learning the various ways to use them.

Lesson Structure

There are 5 lessons in this course:

1. INTRODUCTION: SCOPE, NATURE, BOTANY AND TAXONOMY
   • Citrus today
   • Harvesting
   • A brief history
   • Botany of citrus
   • Appearance
   • Reproduction and variability
   • Flowering and pollination
   • Fruit development
   • Number and classification of species
   • Species of citrus
   • Close relatives
   • Microcitrus
   • Eremocitrus
   • Fortunella
   • Poncirus
   • Lesson 1 additional reading
   • Review what you have been learning
2. CITRUS CULTIVATION
   • Planting citrus trees
   • What affects success?
   • Temperature
   • Frosts and cold winds
   • Choose the right type
   • Shade
   • Tree size
   • Root damage
   • Container growing
   • Soil
   • Colloids
   • Preparing the soil for planting
   • Does your soil need gypsum?
   • Planting technique
   • Feeding
   • Fertiliser applications
   • Drainage
   • Irrigation
   • Measuring water availability to plants
   • Irrigation
   • Scheduling irrigation
   • Important elements
   • Period of watering
   • Cyclic watering
   • Pulse watering
   • Water extraction by roots
   • Types of irrigation
   • Common citrus fruit problems
   • Nutrient deficiencies
   • Pests of citrus
   • Diseases and viruses of citrus
   • Planting lemon trees
   • Planting technique
   • Caring for lemon trees
   • Pruning citrus
   • Pruning a standard shape
   • Renovating an old tree
   • Pruning to improve fruit quality
   • Pruning to improve tree health
   • Review what you have been learning
3. CITRUS PROPAGATION
   • Propagation options
   • Grafting (budding)
   • Budding techniques
   • Dwarf trees and double grafts
   • Growing from cuttings
   • Growing from seed
   • Review what you have been learning
4. CITRUS CULTIVARS
   • Deciding what to grow
   • Lemon tree selection
   • Cumquats
   • Unusual citrus
   • Citrus fruit ripening chart
   • Review what you have been learning
5. USING CITRUS
   • Nutritional value of citrus
   • How to extract citrus oils
   • Freezing citrus
   • Drying citrus
   • Making use of excess lemons
   • Making fresh lemonade
   • Recipes
   • Making jams/marmalade
   • Marmalade
   • Beetroot and orange chutney
   • Citrus syrup cake
   • Classic orange fennel and onion salad
   • Easy salad dressing
   • Easy pasta side dish
   • Fruit butter/ fruit curd
   • Lemon tart
   • Lemon dipping sauce - Asian style
   • Lettuce cups with chicken and citrus
   • Lime chutney
   • Marinade for chicken
   • Marinade for steak
   • Orange salad
   • Orange couscous
   • Salsa topping for salmon or trout
   • Review what you have been learning
   • Final assessment

Who is this course for?

This course can be professional development for:

• Home gardeners
• Hobby Farmers
• Farmers who wish to value add to their produce 
• Produce processors
• Commercial fruit farmers or their employees
• Start-up entrepreneurs producing food products on a small scale