Fertilizer guide · Bangladesh

Lemon (Lebu): how much fertilizer per tree?

Urea, TSP and MOP for each age of the tree, from BARC's Fertilizer Recommendation Guide 2024.

Short answer

BARC's Fertilizer Recommendation Guide 2024 gives a young Lemon (Lebu) tree (0–1 years) about 272 g of urea, 374 g of TSP and 151 g of MOP (potash) a year. A fully grown one (over 10 years) needs about 761 g of urea, 996 g of TSP and 643 g of MOP a year. Put the yearly dose on in 3 equal turns: February, May, and September.

Dose for each age

Find the age of your tree in the first column, counted in years since planting. The figures are grams per tree for one year; the first row is the planting pit. For an orchard, multiply by the number of trees and divide by 1,000 to get kilograms, or let the calculator below do it.

Yield goal about 20 kg of fruit per tree (for a tree over 5 years old)

Varieties in this group: BARI Lebu-4, BARI Lebu-5, BARI Lebu-6.

grams per tree
Age of tree (years)	Urea (g)	TSP (g)	MOP (g)	Organic manure (kg)	S, Zn, B (g)
Before planting (in the pit)	0	249	100	15	–
0–1 years old	272	374	151	10	20 · 5 · 2
2–4 years old	326	448	402	15	30 · 5 · 2
5–7 years old	543	598	502	20	50 · 8 · 5
8–10 years old	652	797	562	25	80 · 10 · 6
Over 10 years old	761	996	643	30	80 · 10 · 8

On very acid soil the guide also adds 250 g of dolomite per tree every 3–4 years.

Source: BARC, Fertilizer Recommendation Guide 2024, page 122.

When to apply

Mix it into the planting pit 10–20 days before planting the sapling, then water it in.

Put the yearly dose on in 3 equal turns: February, May, and September.

Put it around the tree under the spread of its branches, leaving some space from the trunk, mix it into the soil and water it in. Young trees get the same turns with smaller amounts.

Using DAP instead of TSP

DAP has the same 46% phosphate as TSP, so use the TSP figure as the DAP figure. DAP also carries 18% nitrogen (about 0.4 kg of urea saved per kg of DAP). The guide does not subtract it and neither do these tables, but you can take it off the urea if you want to.

How these numbers are worked out

BARC's guide gives grams of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) per tree for each age. We convert P to P₂O₅ (× 2.29) and K to K₂O (× 1.21), then divide by what is in the bag: urea 46% N, TSP 46% P₂O₅, MOP 60% K₂O. The guide's amounts are for the whole year; split them as shown under “When to apply”.

These are the guide's general doses for a healthy, well-managed tree, not a prescription for your orchard. Soil, variety, rainfall and crop load change what a tree needs. Check with your local Department of Agricultural Extension or horticulture officer.

Calculate for your orchard

Choose the crop, the age of your trees and how many you have, and get the kilograms and bags of fertilizer to buy, with a PDF to share.

Open the fertilizer calculator

Fertilizer calculator questions

How much urea does a Lemon (Lebu) tree need?

According to BARC's Fertilizer Recommendation Guide 2024, about 272 g a year for a young tree (0–1 years), rising to about 761 g for a fully grown tree (over 10 years). The dose goes up with the age of the tree.

How much TSP and MOP does a Lemon (Lebu) tree need?

About 374 g of TSP and 151 g of MOP a year for a young tree (0–1 years), and about 996 g of TSP and 643 g of MOP for a fully grown tree (over 10 years), according to BARC's Fertilizer Recommendation Guide 2024.

When should I put fertilizer on Lemon (Lebu)?

Put the yearly dose on in 3 equal turns: February, May, and September. Put it around the tree under the spread of the branches, mix it into the soil and water it in.