Citrus Growers Forum

Mark · Posted: Mon 12 Sep, 2011 10:32 am

I have the following grafted on Flying Dragon rootstock ready to go into a Nexus Zephr greenhouse that has a 18' roof height: Owari satsuma, Meyer lemon, Key lime, Rio Red Grapefruit, Moro blood orange. I plan to space them about 5' apart in boxes at least 4 s.f. each and probably about one or two feet tall backfilled with fine sandy loam and compost. The native soil that the roots will eventually reach is a clay loam. Well water pH is neutral but very hard at a TDS of 639 ppm. So far the budwood is fine with that even though it is on Flying Dragon which likes an acidic pH. The older plants in 10 gal. pots are producing very well.

Any thoughts about my plans are welcome. Also, for pollination I hope my one 4'X36' guillotine wall vent (windward) and leeward 3'X36' atrium vent will be enough for ingress/egress. I've heard that bees rely on UV light to pollinate and my PC is UV treated.

Thanks

Millet · Posted: Mon 12 Sep, 2011 11:51 am

5 feet across is quite close. Your trees will grow together at that distance. - Millet (490-)

Mark · Posted: Mon 12 Sep, 2011 1:08 pm

Millet wrote:

5 feet across is quite close. Your trees will grow together at that distance. - Millet (490-)

Perhaps, depends on my training. They are on dwarfing rootstock which should be helpful. My bearing Key lime is about 4' tall but only 18" in diameter. Biggest will be my grapefruit, which at my old home outdoors on standard sour orange rootstock only grew 8' wide, and the trunk was huge.

Any thoughts on my plans to plant such that I get the benefit of raised beds or amended soil but unrestricted root growth into native soil? You grow a lot of citrus, are they in pots?

Any problem with pollination or do you un-cover spring thru fall and let pollinators do the rest.

I'm also wrestling with whether or not to put the Satsuma in the greenhouse. It's either have it not get any colder than say.....34F or put it outside and have to protect when we get in the teens which is usually every year.

Thanks

Millet · Posted: Mon 12 Sep, 2011 6:14 pm

All of my trees are grown in the greenhouse. I have 7 trees planted in the ground, 6 citrus, and 1 pomegranate, and 40 or 50 citrus varieties in containers. All of my in ground citrus trees are growing on Flying Dragon dwarfing rootstock. The Cara Cara is currently 8 feet wide and 10 feet tall (4 yrs old), the Marisol Mandarin is also about 8 feet wide and 9 feet tall (5 yrs.. old??)l. I planted a Myer lemon in the ground two years ago and it is already 6 feet wide and 6 feet tall. The other citrus trees have not been in the ground long enough to grow to size. An in ground greenhouse citrus tree, will grow larger than the tree would outside. This is because the tree does not have to battle wind and all the other outdoor stresses. I did plant a Page mandarin tree in the greenhouse into an open bottom raised bed. I first dug a 4-foot square, and 4 feet deep hole. I filled it with a four part mix. 1 part each of dirt, peat moss, CHC, and sand. The tree is doing fine, but actually it is not growing any faster than the other citrus trees that I just dug a hole about the same size as the tree's root ball and planted. - Millet (490-)

Mark · Posted: Tue 13 Sep, 2011 9:23 am

Millet wrote:

All of my trees are grown in the greenhouse. I have 7 trees planted in the ground, 6 citrus, and 1 pomegranate, and 40 or 50 citrus varieties in containers.

Thanks for the details. You made your point, I'm going to give them more space by planting the satsuma outdoors.

Any problem with pollination/fruit production? How do your pollinators gain access most times of the year? My Key lime wants to put off its biggest flush of blossoms late in the year. After losing all its leaves to an unexpected 25F freeze last year, it is flush with leaves and loaded with blossoms and small fruit.

Mark

Millet · Posted: Tue 13 Sep, 2011 12:00 pm

Almost all citrus varieties are self pollinating, and do not require pollinators to set fruit. My greenhouse is screened off, to keep out harmful insects, grasshoppers, birds and etc. The 50 or so citrus varieties in the greenhouse have no problems at all with fruit set. That stated, I do have three varieties of Clementines. Clementines do require pollinators to set a good crop. So for these three trees, I just spray them with Gibberellic acid (GA3) at full bloom. GA3, "pollinates" them, sets a large crop, and it insures that the resulting fruit are completely seedless. - Millet (489-)

Mark · Posted: Tue 13 Sep, 2011 2:30 pm

Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Here's hoping I can get blossom set on my avocados, that is if I don't succeed in killing them first. Bought 4 of the finest gourmet, am down to 2 seedlings. That has got to be one of the fussiest tropicals I've ever grown in a temperate climate, mainly because I can't buy the cultivars I want on West Indies rootstock which will withstand the salts in my well water. Avocado trees (on Mexican rootstock) hate salts and they hate this unrelenting heat and drought.

Appreciate ya.....

Millet · Posted: Tue 13 Sep, 2011 5:52 pm

I've been to Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg is a unique city. I really like the stone buildings, and the evident German heritage of the city. Went to the Pacific War museum. I know that you guys have not been getting rain, but when your weather returns back to it natural state, you should to collect the rain water into barrels. You could either use the rain water straight or blend it with you municipal water to lower the salt content. I have fifteen 55-gal. plastic drums against the back of the barn. They collect a LOT of water. Rain water is great to use when rooting cuttings. - Millet (490-)

Mark · Posted: Wed 14 Sep, 2011 12:11 pm

Millet wrote:

I've been to Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg is a unique city. I really like the stone buildings, and the evident German heritage of the city. Went to the Pacific War museum. I know that you guys have not been getting rain, but when your weather returns back to it natural state, you should to collect the rain water into barrels. You could either use the rain water straight or blend it with you municipal water to lower the salt content. I have fifteen 55-gal. plastic drums against the back of the barn. They collect a LOT of water. Rain water is great to use when rooting cuttings. - Millet (490-)

Yep, neat heritage but also getting a bit carnie. 2nd highest wine tourism in the nation, second to Napa area. That's what happens when you have development. If you're ever down this way again we have to meet up. There are many gems you no doubt missed. BTW, the Nat. Pacific War museum underwent a major renovation with a new building, tens of thousands of new artifacts. Say it takes at least 4 hours to see it all.

I'm going to harvest rainwater as I have a guttered greenhouse. I'll use a very large storage tank, probably at least 2,500 gal. Rainwater collection is quite popular around here. Literally finished construction last week now it's time to wire and run water. I'm thinking about misting for cooling but have no clue how to go about it. Using well water is out of the question as it is ultra hard. Two days running and I'll have white plants!

Later....