Well, I mentioned it a while back, but I finally moved to Scottsdale, AZ. As everyone but me seemed to know on this board, I could not bring any of my citrus in AZ because of the quarantine measures. I even went so far as to call the AZ board of agriculture to see if I could leave my citrus with them, place them under quarantine and when they checked out clean, come and pick them up. But, that is not allowed. I highly doubt that there is any citrus greening in VA, but, rules are rules.

So, now I am at the point where I need to replenish my citrus trees. I know there are some board members on here that run nurseries and I would like to stop by, meet you, check out your selection. Also, any recommdations on nurseries that carry unusual citrus varieties and any other unusual fruit tree or shrub or perennial variety would be appreciated.

Right now I am living in an apartment, so, any plants I buy need to be small. But, I do have a large porch and I need something to keep me going until I buy a house. Thanks for any help!!!

Andrew

Local Costcos have received the fall stock of citrus trees. Locally, Costco typically has a large shipment in early spring and a smaller one in the fall from California, Willets & Newcomb. They are the same trees you'll see at many of the local nurseries for quite a bit more money. Yesterday I bought a Finger lime in a 5 gallon for $20 - same price for all the varieties Costco has. I've been wanting a finger lime for several years but couldn't pay the $80 that Mesquite Valley growers wants for the same size tree from the same source. If Costco has what you want, they are the cheapest source and the trees they get usually look very good. They sell out reasonably fast though, so you have to get there during the couple weeks they have stock. The list of stuff they stock isn't big, but they get most of the popular stuff - Moro blood, Trovita, Washington, Pixie, Tango, Gold Nugget, Kishu, Meyer, "Italian", Lisbon, Eureka, Bears, Palestine and Australian Finger lime. Although I prefer different rootstock than what California producers use, @ $20 the Costco trees are cheaper and a lot less hassle than buying budwood from CCPP for a California non-resident.

As far as nurseries with extensive stock lists, Bakers in Phoenix and Mesquite Valley in Tucson are it. For trees besides citrus, pomegranates grow here like weeds as long as they get water. They love our soil and sun, unlike about every other edible plant, LoL. Angel Red and Parfianka are two varieties I can vouch for as being very easy, productive and delicious.

As far as truly local, call RSI growers. RSI produces trees locally on better rootstocks for the area. Turtleman (the owner) was a very, very helpful guy the one time I stopped in. The stuff he has definitely looks better than the generic, shipped in California stuff. It's 100 miles from here in Tucson or I'd probably buy everything from him for the varieties he stocks. I don't know of anyone else producing trees in the Phoenix or Tucson area. Everything else I've seen at local nurseries was California produced trees.

Welcome to Arizona.

Drop by sometime. This last season I budded allot more types than I have listed on the web site.. I'm in the process of building a new site so I've let the current one kind of drop off some with up dating it.
The one thing your going to want to keep in mind is CA grown trees are fine trees,, and grown by good Nursery,, they just grow on C-32 or C-35 understock.. Both of these understocks have been proven by the UofA Ag Station to be poor performers in AZ soils

Current Live Site
Http://www.rsigrowers.com

New Site
http://67.227.195.100/~rsigrowh/

Do you have smaller sized plants? Right now they can only go on my patio. I plan on owning within a year and planting. Going to buy a house with no HOA so I can plant as many fruit trees as I want. By the way, what is your name so I can ask for you, or do you go by turtleman there as well?

99% of our inventory is seedling stock,, I grow in a Stuewe Tall Pot, thats 4" square and 14.5" tall,, just right for putting into a 7 gallon tall container or a 15 gallon container... There all $10.00... Just ask for Reid, I live on the Nursery also so I'm around most of the time, just call before you make the drive to make sure someone will be here to help you.

Although RSI (turtleman) is probably your best bet for your specific situation, there is also Greenfield Citrus Nursery in Mesa: http://www.greenfieldcitrus.com/index.htm

No direct experience here, but I did receive a prompt, helpful reply to a general inquiry I sent their way. They seem to grow primarily on Seville Sour Orange rootstock, and sell trees in "ball and burlap (B&B)" vs. the black plastic buckets. (side rant - Not sure how black become the default color, too much temp variation with heat-absorbing black - beige would have been all around best IMO, now we are stuck with industry standard black).

They are on my short list, along with RSI and Tropica Mango, next time the wind blows me up the 10 to Phoenix metro area.

@Turtleman - what are your rootstocks of choice?

BC

I saw their website and was very impressed. I have not been out that area as of yet, but, they are on my short list to visit along with RSI. I have been impressed with variety of plants to plant out here, but, besides the Afghan pine, which I think looks nice, I wish there were more pine choices for the valley. But, you cannot have everything!