W. Murcott with fruits removed
2 22 06

OMG, on 5/22/06 there were 3,822 views recorded now on 5/24/06 it is now 3,922 views- 100 views in 2 days!!!! that's amazing!!!!
Thanks guys for visiting.
Benny

Ha Ha Benny -- the one of "Joe's calamondin in center" is PERFECT size.
This last one..I might need binoculars to see. I'll try clicking on it though

That's because everytime someone posts, everyone who posted on here gets email of new response.

I am looking for some ways how I can download citrus pix bigger again.
So here we go:

Washington Navel fruit 5 22 06


So I think I am going to stay with photobucket.

Pics taken on 5 30 06
Joe’s clemenule


New leaves forming on Page Mandarin and behind it was the Fuji apple that had a broken branch just as big as shown on top left.


EZ’s oros grafted on melogold



newly grafted EZ’s oros on chandler pomelo



newly acquired Lisbon lemon and newly t-bud pixie mandarin on top of canopy

A couple of questions for you my friend !!

1) Page...if I see your pictures, and you've stated...new leaves are forming...was your Page late in puttin on new growth this spring ? The reason I ask, is my Page is not doing all that great..Alot of flowers, but virtualy no nre growth yet this spring...It was in a bit of shade and roots may be too wet, so I moved it (it is still in 15 gallon from Menlo). I'm planning to plant out this weekend, and just wondering how your's is doing...

2) Nice pictures of the Oro Blanco grafted around....in fact, not many things did I successfully graft to Chandler (none in fact)...So, you gave me a great idea to put Oroblanco AND Melogold onto Chandler...

3) Are those Washington fruit left over from last season, or NEW from this spring ? They are big and yellow, so I'm assuming they were last years fruit...Surprised that you still have some left on the tree.

4) How is it going with your adventure into Cherimoya...let me know if you need any seedlings !!

EZ:
The picture of my Page is current so is my Washington Navel Orange.
No, my page is not late when Spring came last month, that's when a lot of new growth came out. I think the secret was I took a lot of still green fruits of different sizes on the tree before the weather warmed up and I think also I gave it a stress when I transferred it to the ground before the weather warmed up. I cut a few branches on the sides top and bottom.
As you can see my Washington pic was taken on 5 22 06 so it was current. I have more fruits on the tree but it does not show on the picture and one of them is so big but hiding behind the leaves. It seems to me I harvest fruits 3 times a year. As you can see some of the flowers but I have lots more flowers blooming but do not include in the picture. Still not in the picture are the golf ball size fruits. And not too long ago I harvested about 4 oranges as Mr. Childers said not to leave your ripe fruits on the tree no more than necessary for a ripe fruit gives out hormones that inhibits replication of cells for the plant to grow new buds. There were no leftover fruits from last year. I harvested the last one a long, long time ago. You see this WN seems to continue blooming all year round. I don't know what it is but it is.
BTW that is the same tree as the logo tree on top of this page.
As for my Page mandarin had I not taken out those green fruits on the tree they should have been orange color by now.
The only drawback is they did not taste as sweet as I want them to be only good for juice that's why I remove the fruits thinking that in the 4rth year they will taste better and also I want the tree to grow vegetatively.
Take care,
Benny

PS: All of the pictures shown above are all current otherwise I would have said"my past harvested fruits "or something like that.
Had I not removed a bunch of Satsuma, W. Murcott, Melogold, clemenule, Dancy, Cara-cara, Midknight, oroblanco, Shasta gold fruits of different sizes, they would all be turning orange by now.
Joe just said that he grafted 20 different cultivars on his lisbon lemon so I bought me one and I already started grafting on it.
My cherimoya is still gasping for breath. I may have to ask you for help soon.
What kind of soil are you using?

EZ:
Here's the picture of the same fruit as above. Picture was taken on March 16 2006.
The single orange one on the right had been harvested since then but the green ones are the ones that are orange right now.
Soon I will be harvesting them but others will follow. This morning when I inspected it I have seen a bunch of pellet size fruits and a lot of blooming flowers.

Benny,

My dark orange colored mandarinquat reverted back to greenish color. When I harvested it, the flesh remained dark orange, slightly sweeter but the green skin is more on the astringent side and still sweet.

Some of my summer valencias are becoming greener instead of darker orange, and my second batch of washington navels have greenish tint on their skins.

These are normal for citruses given the weird weater we're having at the moment.

Joe

Joe:
Have you tried to taste your Washington navel with their tint of green in them though?
I always wait till they are very orange in color before I taste them.
Granted that we have a crazy weather, I still don't or ever think of harvesting my WN with still greens on them. I maybe wrong though.
I tried that with my Satsuma but it was a little sweet but tangy so I did not eat it.
With my Dancy however, I removed the fruit while they were green still and let it sit outside for 2 weeks. Then I tasted them and I was able to eat them because they were good and some sweet.
Also I removed all the fruits of my meyer lemon also and after 2 weeks they turned yellowish and I was able to make a pitcher of lemonade with them. Let me remind you guys that the reason why I remove the fruits while they were green was because I want them to grow vegetatively.
I have given up the idea however. It was too much work and besides I changed my mind. I want them to have fruits. Never mind if they become smaller tree later.

EZ:
Your oros is the easiest one to graft. I was successful grafting them to my Eureka lemon, midknight, melogold, another oroblanco, W murcott and trovita. Not counting chandler pomello. But I was not succesful with my calamondin.

Benny

Benny- thanks for the information....I will graft alot of Oro's to my Chandler.....btw. I'm amazed that you still have Washington, or got 2nd crop...I only get one crop, and usually done by Feb / March.....I have a few trees stuck in cotainer for 2-3 years, not doing so well this spring...2 I planted out, and the others will do this next week or so...They are very slow to show new growth...they produced and still have many flowers, but no new leaf or shoot gorwth...did you ever see that ?

btw...I just use same soil mixture for my cherimoya as I do for my citrus...acid planting mix, sand, and some vermiculite..

btw..how well does you Melogold graft ? also, did you taste any fruit of Melogold yet ?

EZ

Oh, yeah! Did I!
It was my Mayer lemon. That meyer really tested my patience.
For two years all it did was flowers and bear fruit. Not a single bud or new growth came out. And the leaves turned to pale green and turned yellow. It turned out that I had a high or very low pH I don't remember. Probably high pH because if it is a low pH like what happened to my satsuma, there would be no growth, very green leaves and no activity, no growth etc....
Don't be afraid to bud your oros anywhere because they are very easy to take except in calamondin. My calamondin (Joes') won't accept any new graft I tried mandarins and oranges but they won't take. But those were experiments only. I bud them to the tiniest limbs and to the bottom of the tree where there were no sunshine.
Thanks for the info on cherimoya. Maybe I got a jinx of a cherimoya. But no harms done. It was just a seed that I threw in a pot after eating the fruit. I am even surprise it germinated. Even mangos, papaya seeds and Thai peppers, they grew without my knowledge.
My melogold took your oro very beautifully and both are flowering like crazy. It also took a Sarawak pomello but it is still very new. The buds is still green but no growth.
Personally from my experience, growing citrus would be a simple thing if you just watch your pH. As long as your pH stays on the optimum, 99% of your problems would be solved, rather you won't have a problem 99% of the time. The other 1% would be to guard them from bugs and temperature.
Benny

Benny,

Calamondins (the same nursery source as the one I gave you) can take Bergamot, Sour Orange, Tangor, all types of Kumquats and their hybrids, and I managed to successfully graft Willowleaf and Gold Nugget Mandarins and they took.

Joe.