Hey guys, Myself and 2 other citruholics went on an all day tour yesterday checking on all the local citrus and other things. Our tour included a stop at Rahns Plant Connection in Port Royal, SC, Parris Island Marine Corps Station ( for a first hand look at the Parris Island Orange tree) and then it was on to the Bamboo Farm in Savannah. They have some citrus there that is poorly tended but the Banana collection is worth a 4 hour drive! The University of Georgia is conducting a banana trial there at the Farm and there are some 15 ft plus trees there and many of them loaded with strings of bananas. Ned Rahn took some digital pictures that he may post here for your viewing pleasure!
After leaving Neds place that afternoon at 6:30, we made a Bee line for the tour of the newly planted grove. Ive asked Laaz to post a picture the new grove that was planted in March of this year. Its unbelieveable the growth that has taken place since March. The trees are beautiful dark green with not a sign of a citrus leaf miner in site... some with fruit and they all have nice full crowns of foliage. Its a site to make a citruholic weep! This guy has done his homework, he went to North Florida where they are replanting the satsuma groves and are using the micro jet sprinkler heads to protect from freezing. All in all, his operation is state of the art and he told me he has plans to enlarge as soon as these come into production. The owner also told me that all the neighbors and local farmers are snickering behind his back but I think this guy will have the last laugh! The 3 three amigos had a great day and enjoyed seeing some great citrus and banana plantings. I wanted to show you guys that SC is back in the commercial citrus business after a lapse of over 100 years!

Stan, what exactly is the actual variety of Satsuma that the SC planter planted, and in what town is the grove located? I want to keep a log of the winter temperatures that the grove location experiences this winter. I can track the groves high and low temperatures through the internet. - Millet

are those new trees being planted on the east side of the grove?? Looks like it will be beautiful!! Heck.. already looking great!!
I'm sure it will be an awesome sight in a couple of years..
Thanks for sharing!! Are you going to go back every so often and take pictures to keep us updated on its growth?

Gina *BabyBlue*

Hey Bob, He planted two rows of owari, one row of Browns Select and two rows of Early St Ann. They are all on FD rootstock. The nearest town with any size to it, so that you can track winter temperatures is ironically named Orangeburg, SC I will try and keep you posted on the groves progress. Are you still planning on making this years Expo in Virginia Beach?

Gina, those trees on the left of that picture are waiting to be planted. This photo was taken in March so it has changed quite a bit in the months since then. I was astounded with the rate of growth and the vigour of the trees when I saw them Saturday. We got there around 8 pm and a thunderstorm had just passed over so the lighting was very poor and pictures with my camera were impossible. I plan on going back in October once the fruit starts to ripen and take some more photos. This guy also manages a nice dairy herd and Im wondering if his secret ingredient is the cow poo! One last thing, I feel almost like a proud grand parent on this one. I ran an ad in our local SC Market Bulletin some 4 or 5 years ago, advertizing my cold hardy citrus trees. This guy came over to my place and bought some satsumas and since then, hes been converted into a "citruholic" Not only does he have the grove but he has citrus planted all around his house and dairy barn! Im pretty sure if any of you are interested, you can do a search engine and read the SC Market Bulletin on line.. It has lots of interesting things in it for sale.. Plants, animals, machinery even real estate.. Some of you colder climate guys might want to buy acreage here in SC and give this guy some competition!