Location:
Florida Panhandle.
Zone: Border of 9a/8b
Very coastal 300yds from the beach:
I have in my collection:
Hamlin Orange on Swingle:
Meyer Lemon on Swingle:
Minneola Tangelo on Swingle:
Washington Navel on Trifoliate:
A suffering Cara Cara on Trifoliate:
Owari Satsuma on Kuharske:
What Ive learned in 2012:
- Trifoliate is not my friend salt tolerance of the rootstock is not adequate for my property.
- Do not to replace native sand with black dirt or compost it holds the salt.
- I have to water very, very slowly my soil drains fast!
- I have to fertilize more often with smaller amounts as leaching occurs quickly! Supplement Granular with weak liquid and incorporate foilar.
Cold protection:
Constructed wooden frames around the larger trees and used an upside down tomato cage for the smaller. Purchased 12 king sized bedspreads from various thrift stores. Sandwich two king sized quilts over the frames or wrap a single king sized quilt around the cages. Hardly a need from them so far this year as the temperature has yet to dip under 37 degrees. Also purchased multiple strings of c-7 and c-9 lights in case they were needed.
Mulched with river rock to retains the days heat. I water the day prior to a forecasted freeze and then flood the wells the day of.
Irrigation:
Dual zone drip system 3 tress per main run. Garden hose splitter as a manifold. Two runs of ½ poly come off of the manifold. Ts of ½ poly terminate at the base of each tree via end cap. Concentric circles of ¼ inch drip line off of the ½ inch poly. In-line emitters are 12inces apart, each produce ½ gallon per hour @ 25psi. I have two pressure regulators/reducers 10psi and 25psi. Two 180* 10gal/hr spray emitters sit forward of a shutoff valve coupling, providing the ability to irrigate selectively via drip, spray, or flood. Ive also incorporated a fertilizer injector (http://fertilizerdispensers.com/services/pdf/ADDIT-brochure.pdf) - it holds a pint of solution @ 25psi, 35 gallons will empty it @ 280:1 water to solution ratio.
Manifold/Injector:
Drip/Irrigation Pattern:
* Highly recommend dripdepot.com super helpful and good pricing.
Fertilization:
- Sunniland granulated 6-4-6 Citrus fertilizer (http://www.briteleaf.com/images/products/citrusavocadoandmango-back.jpg )
Application: Monthly (February thru September)at a rate of 1lb per inch of tree trunk radius.
- DynaGro Foliage Pro 9-3-6 v (http://www.dyna-gro.com/ )
Application: Bi-monthly via injector at a rate of 4oz per 35 gallons
- KeyPlex Citrus HG (http://keyplexdirect.3dcartstores.com/KeyPlex-Citrus-HG--32oz-_p_91.html#C3)
Application: 4oz per gallon foliar spray every 5 weeks
Pest control:
- Macho 2.0 (http://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/labels/Macho_2.0FL.pdf)
Application: 1/8oz/10oz water, applied to base of tree every 7 weeks.
- Kocide 3000 (http://msds.dupont.com/msds/pdfs/EN/PEN_09004a35804ce82d.pdf)
Application: pre bloom, post bloom, & each flush @ the following rate:
5gal 3gal 1gal
(tbsp) (tsp) (tsp)
6 9 3
- Greenlight Spinosad (http://www.amazon.com/Green-Light-Organic-Control-Spinosad/dp/B000BO8XZO)
Application: 2oz/Gallon as foliar spray every 7 to 14 days.
Hopefully by next year my citrus will be doing as well as my winter garden:
Problems:
- Knowing when to call it quits with regards to my cara cara. I love this tree. It has great form and a single variegated leaf. Ultimately Im afraid that it will fail b/c its on trifoliate.
- This winter has been particularly mild so far today will be 75 degrees and sunny. As of 1/13/13, all of my citrus trees are starting to push their first flush and pinhead sized blooms. My plan is to wait until mid-February to fertilize but I am very tempted to commit and feed my trees - they look like they need it!
I'd appreciate any feedback that I can get to shorten my learning curve.
Love this citrus!
Best,
Skinn30a
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