How to protect my newly-planted citrus from heavy rain?

[tessaspeller]

I bought and planted a lemon tree and mandarin tree in large resin pots at the weekend.  We are experiencing heavy rainfall and am concerned the volume of rain may cause damage to the roots.  what should I do please I covered the soil in the pots with plastic from the potting mix bags but else can I do please? Should I remove the bags? With thanks 

[EricL]

Hello @tessaspeller

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you for joining us and sharing your question about your lemon tree getting too much rain.

You did the right thing by covering the soil with plastic bags. Overwatering is one sure way to damage a plant's health. Keep the bag on if you still continue to get heavy rains. Use bricks to keep the plastic bag in place. Keeping the bag over the main root area should be enough to protect it from too much water. If you wish to cover a larger area add more plastic bags near the base of the tree. I would not transfer the plant back into the resin pot as it might be too stressful for the plant and cause even more damage. 

Once the rains have stopped you can then make an assessment if the soil has been waterlogged. We can then proceed to determine what solutions we can apply to the waterlogged soil. 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric