The Tropical Fruit Forum

I read that somewhere on the rootmaker web site. I don't think it's the tap root. Maybe the pecan roots don't like air pruning. It's something like that. I will try to find it but I bet Millet will read this soon and be all over it. Tom

Sounds great. Thanks. Tom

eyeckr, where are you located ? manfromyard is probably from Atlanta or close by. The problem wasn't 2" of snow. The problem was bad icy conditions. Snow isn't too bad. Ice is bad. B'ham , Alabama got slammed too. Manfromyard could be somewhere between the Alabama line and Atlanta, Georgia. Tom

All great ideas. John your idea sounds excellent. Thanks ! Tom

Brian, I agree with you completely. I must note that I think you will still be disappointed some years anyway. I guess it like grapes. Some years are just better than others. Too many variables. Tom

I have a good sized Meyer in the ground. Two years ago I had 130 fruit and I was afraid I wouldn't have a crop this past year. I saw a few but not many. When I started picking I picked 70 this year. I had told several friends that I had about 20-25. My estimate was way off. This year I have had less than five blooms at any one time and I don't see any fruit. As you probably know the thorns are vicious. I could have five fruit hidden in there somewhere but I am still waiting for a flush of leaves or blooms. There is a little dead wood but over all the Meyer came through our winter real well with plenty of leaves. Our weather has been very erratic. We seemed to have gone from winter to summer with a very quick spring. Really almost no spring. Plenty of rain but plenty of cool temps too. I need to fertilize again. Tom

I have three Satsumas and one Meyer in ground at my farm. They had a tough winter but my protection held up and they did not defoliate. They are finally trying to have a flush of new leaves but very few blooms. I have less than five blooms on any of these trees. I have other trees in other places doing much better. The trees not doing anything are the biggest and oldest I have. Probably 8 years old and on dwarfing rootstock. The Meyer had 70 fruit last year and 130 the year before. Never much fruit on the Sats and I thought this might be a big year. Other Sats in other places are doing better. Not many insects on these trees either. The ones at home had lots of blooms and now lots of tiny fruit. The white flies exploded and I had to spray oil. Killed almost all white flies but these trees are loaded with fruit. Any ideas about why the older trees are doing so poorly? A friend has a tree we moved at his house three years ago for more sun. It looks great but no fruit or blooms either. Thanks. Tom in zone 8 on 5/5/14

RVACitrus, I couldn't agree more with what you said. It's definitely a weak link. Different soil types and other things we probably don't even know about cause erroneous answers, often unintentional. Magic like Dumbo's feather usually don't work. However I do believe in the placebo affect ! That's where the confusion comes into the equation.

Old proverb from somewhere : 'the best fertilizer is the master's footprint'.  When I was farming I read an article about farming by looking out your windshield. That doesn't work and gives a false sense of security. You must get out and look at what's going on. A quick ride by isn't going to get the job done.

Daddy said long ago, ' if you could take out the economics of real estate development, given enough time, the best farmers would end up with the best land every time everywhere '. The older I get the more I think there is no doubt about it.

Tom

I've tried the methods listed above and they all work a little from time to time. We try to go dollar for dollar but she usually beats me with her jewelry. ' It's an investment '. It's not an investment if you won't sell it ! Tom

Georgia Extension could help with ID and they will use a microscope. Tom

I agree with you about oranges vs mandarins. The honey mandarin could be a Murcott. Murcotts are late and full of seeds. People have loved Murcott for along time. A Honey Mandarin could be a variety on its own but a lot of Murcotts are called Honey Mandarins. Very confusing to me. I think some Golden Nuggets get sold as Cuties. Some Cuties are fantastic. Some not as good. I think they will be better in a few years and if you grow them yourself. Tom

Yes. We had eating and robust social interaction. We went to church , ate great, and had an Easter egg hunt. We put $200 in plastic eggs and you should have seen our adult children looking for eggs. A very competitive group ! Nobody got hurt this year. I've seen small children get run over just a little bit, but not this year. Everybody is more mature. Ha !

Home made margaritas the night before and they wanted to know why I didn't have any home grown limes at Easter. Grocery store is better than nothing !

Millet, I'm guessing a Pumelo left to hang as you suggest will taste much better than what I bought and did not like from a grocery store ? Tom