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Messages - Tom

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51
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Anatomie of a flower ??'s
« on: November 27, 2017, 09:16:48 AM »
Thanks for the excellent explanation of incomplete flowers. I wonder if it has anything to do with the enormous number of blooms that smell so good ? I think the tremendous bloom Meyer shows and the wonderful smell is what pushed me over the edge with my addiction to trying to grow citrus !!! Tom

52
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Bergamot is a worth to try tree?
« on: November 25, 2017, 08:55:43 PM »
I’m taking rosuvastatin for cholesterol. I’m glad to know it’s ok with grapefruit. It’s generic for Crestor and it’s the smallest pill I’ve ever seen ! Tom

53
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Lights????
« on: November 24, 2017, 07:33:21 PM »
I agree with Millet. I don’t know the definition of gentle winds or violent winds and everything in betweeen but I think I know some wind is necessary for strength. I have never seen a scientific explanation of no wind vs gentle wind vs more than gentle wind. It has long been thought that a gentle breeze helps strengthen very young seedlings. I have seen seedlings that jumped up too fast and they fell over or were trying to fall over. I also believe that a sometimes crying screaming baby helps develope their lungs but anything can be taken to extremes and be counterproductive ! I must add that my father loved to tell me that average didn’t mean a thing to him. He said you could have one foot in a fire and one foot in a bucket of ice but average didn’t mean a thing. I always laughed, every single time ! He died 12-31-87 but I still think about him a lot. Tom

54
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Arctic Frost / Orange Frost Satsuma?
« on: November 17, 2017, 10:54:49 PM »
So far I agree completely but I also plan to give it more time. Cold hardness is not all I’m looking for ! Tom

55
Citrus General Discussion / Re: new greenhouse planning
« on: November 03, 2017, 10:32:06 PM »
That looks fantastic ! You have done a great job !

56
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Arctic Frost / Orange Frost Satsuma?
« on: October 24, 2017, 08:30:17 AM »
Isaac-1, is a hoop house a possibility during the worse parts of the winter ? I have a similar situation but I don’t have room in my yard at home. Really I don’t have permission from my boss. She rules the home and does a great job but she does not share my weakness for citrus ! You can heat and cool a temporary hoop house during the winter months for a somewhat reasonable amount of money I think. I know people that do and they love their hobby. The hoop house can get very hot on pretty days in winter. You have to be able to open doors on the ends and raise the sides too on bright sunshine days.

Citrus expert Dr. Arlie Powell told me it was possible to have about 50 Meyer lemons on a container grown mature Meyer. He was talking about 1/2 whiskey barrel and a grafted dwarf Meyer several years old. A 25 gallon container can be managed with careful planning and it would be possible to move to a protected place on short notice for brief periods of time.

Good luck !

Tom

57
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Upgraded cold frames for growing trees.
« on: October 17, 2017, 01:14:29 PM »
SoCal2warm, I’m worried about it getting too hot in your cold frame. The clear plastic can get over 100’F on a bright day. Don’t forget to water more than probably usual because the soil will dry out quickly. The more you can vent on hot days the better. How cold can you expect in this location at night ? Southern California is one thing but zones 8 and 10 confuses me.

I’ve had terrible luck painting plastic black. Dyeing your water black might be easier. I’m also worried about your yellow leaves. I’m afraid they are all getting ready to shed and then you will have a problem....

Tom

58
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Lights in winter temps and humidity??
« on: October 17, 2017, 01:00:06 PM »
From what I can see your citrus looks fantastic. You might need exhaust fans to help ease your humidity. If you get blooms it will smell great inside ! I see citrus that you will need to pick this winter ! On a nice day with decent temps you might need to take everything back outside to spray horticultural oil for pest control. You seem to have a greenhouse in your home. From the pictures it looks like you know what you have been doing. What have you done in other years ? Again from what I can see it all looks awesome ! Tom

59
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Upgraded cold frames for growing trees.
« on: October 10, 2017, 11:02:03 PM »
Looks great. Nice job !

60
Suzanne42, that’s not what I get when I click on the link for that motel. Now I get quoted senior $65 pay now non refundable or pay $69 at check in and free cancellation. AARP or over 60 is quoted at $70. I think it’s changing a little but I wrote down what it was quoting. Maybe my computer thinks I’m a member of this hotel chain or something. I still have not been quoted a dollar amount for those dates as high as the discounted Citrus Expo rates. It might be my error or a computer thing but they list a lower price every way you figure for what I am seeing. Tom

61
The link posted says $52 per night. ???

62
Citrus General Discussion / Re: new greenhouse planning
« on: September 24, 2017, 10:49:36 AM »
50 pineapples ! That's like the holy grail to me. How do your pineapples compare to fresh pineapple in Hawaii ? I got to go to Hawaii about 20 years ago and one of my best memories is how sweet the fresh pineapple tasted while we were there. I sent some to my closest friends by airmail, maybe over night (?). One of my friends is still talking about it. Unbelievable how much better fresh is ! I'm guessing your pineapple are better than anything you can buy in the grocery store at any time of year ? That's awesome Millet !!! Could you paste a link here if you have written about your experiences growing pineapples in your green house. Like do you grow them in your Rootmaker pots, how large, how long etc. ? Tom

63
Is it $52 per night if you don't tell them you're there for the citrus expo ? Web site link says $52 per night.

64
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Favorite citrus options...
« on: August 11, 2017, 08:56:59 PM »
Chris1, somewhere I recently read that it estimated that every mature orange tree in Florida is infected with Greening Disease. You can google Citrus Greening disease and read about it here and other places for days. I don't have any experience way with it up here in central alabama. It has been found in Alabama too but has not spread to the center part of the state yet. Lots of people and many dollars are being spent in various areas of research.

What is a good citrus for me doesn't mean it will be good for you in central Florida. You are in what I think of as the heart of citrus country. If you keep listening and reading you will know the answer down there because that's where I think all the research is going on. Your local extension service would be able to suggest what to do and best varieties for your situation.

All of us here on this site love citrus but most of us see a terrible storm coming and you are unfortunately right in the middle of it right now.

Sugar Belle is a fairly new variety and from what I've heard it's highly touted for your area. I don't have any experience with it. It's much colder up here far from mouse land !

I hope this helps but you are opening a huge box of worms. Again I'd turn to your local extension people. They are charged with the responsibility of education of the public. They are an excellent resource. Use them. They are an arm of the University of Florida. The University of Florida is working diligently on this problem 24 hours a day. We are all hoping somebody can come up with some answers for Greening.

The name is even misleading. To most people green means good. This thing is not good. It's horrible.

Tom

65
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Favorite citrus options...
« on: August 11, 2017, 01:04:17 PM »
Chris, I think your questions for citrus in Brevard county Florida need to start with how to keep your new trees from catching the devastating citrus disease called citrus greening. There are a few varieties thought to be resistant right now. Sugar Belle comes to mind but there may be others. Millet is correct about the two varieties he mentioned. With them you'd have oranges theoretically 12 months a year but you'd need to keep them in a controlled environment like a green house and greening could still get to you I'm afraid. It's not easy where you are. Greening has changed about everything where you are I'm sorry to say. Good luck ! Tom

66
Citrus General Discussion / Re: new greenhouse planning
« on: July 24, 2017, 08:42:31 PM »
brian, your greenhouse looks awesome. It's going to be great. Congrats on the wife and new baby/boss ! Tom

67
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Growing lemons from seed?
« on: July 12, 2017, 12:52:06 PM »
Some what on topic, Meyer Lemon is the most grown citrus and the majority of them are not grafted. Granted most are grown from cuttings to save time and Meyer is fairly easy to propagate with cuttings but you could grow them from seed too as well as other methods like air layering. Seed would take a long time and if in a cold setting like zone 8 or colder, length of time for cold protection each year could be laborious. I've had better luck with potted citrus ,including Meyer lemon, staying outside as much as possible. Mine usually don't do well when subjected to long periods of time indoors. My biggest inground Meyer has had more than 300 enormous fruit each year for the last three years. I'm afraid it will have an off year this year but it's so large I might be surprised. It's difficult to count when the fruit are small and the same color as the leaves to say nothing of the wicked thorns that tear me up ! Best wishes to all. Tom

68
Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Prison Cold Hardy Citrus Grove
« on: June 08, 2017, 09:58:59 AM »
Great post. Dr. Wayne Hanna's work is very exciting. Great job University of Georgia ! Thanks Millet. I have no idea where you find all these 'gems'. Tom

69
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Ponderosa Lemon vs NZL
« on: April 21, 2017, 11:35:56 PM »
The ponderosa fruit is huge. It makes a great conservation piece with friends or if you need to give a talk on citrus to a club or similar. Not really a pretty tree to me and not a very useful fruit for juice. Tom

70
Citrus General Discussion / Re: In-ground Fertilizer
« on: April 12, 2017, 02:51:11 PM »
Some bags and some recommendations on line list trunk diameter or years of age as guide lines. You might be more comfortable using a trunk diameter guide.

71
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Surplus home citrus?
« on: April 12, 2017, 02:47:37 PM »
I think the weather immediately preceding your cold event had more to do with the problem than the actual low temps. Where I live we can have an 80* day at Christmas and then a cold snap with temps not getting above freezing for 24 hours. With a new flush of tender growth [or no visible change] you have the recipe for a catastrophe. 

72
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Thanks To US Customs Office
« on: March 31, 2017, 10:20:42 AM »
The dog sense of smell is incredible and well documented other places. Their smell ability compared to human abilities has been said to be like ultra high definition 3 d compared to black and white tv. When one of those dogs sit down in the presence of a suspect that usually means they have locked in on what they have been trained to smell for. Often there is no agitation or other obnoxious signs. Usually the handler will ask simple questions and the 'quarry' has a lot to answer for. Of course different dogs are trained for differently for different situations. They are amazing ! Tom

73
Citrus General Discussion / Re: A lot of blooms, then dropping leaves
« on: March 26, 2017, 11:01:44 PM »
Sounds good and your roots look wonderful. Not much room for dirt. Magnesium sulfate , Epsom salt would help top.

74
Citrus General Discussion / Re: So what is a Tangerine?
« on: March 25, 2017, 10:39:26 PM »
The name Tangerine has evolved from the citrus fruit that was exported through Tangiers. It was often seeded. Juanita is know as a tangerine in USA I believe and it ,famously to some, grew from a seed of a tangerine purchased from a grocery store. I've heard some say things like a manderin can be a tangerine but all tangerines are not mandarins. I think others substitute the name satsuma where they wish. I have to say when you say citrus reticulata you've said it all, seedless or not !

And of course seedless does not mean completely seedless. It can be very confusing. All I want to know is what is the common name and how does it taste. And then of course the same citrus retculata does not taste the same depending on where it was grown and what root stock it was grown on. Quality and taste vary a lot !

And not to sound like a smart ___, I've tasted fruit off my own tree from different limbs that both tasted very good but very different. And that was on the same side of the tree the same day. Different sides can taste different too. The best I've ever had was fresh off someone else's tree and a year or two later that tree had very ordinary to not very good fruit.

Tom

75
Great article. Thank you !!

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