Author Topic: Try to save or throw in the towel?  (Read 1432 times)

Isaac-1

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Try to save or throw in the towel?
« on: July 05, 2018, 06:15:04 PM »
One of my 3 mature in ground Satsuma trees is not doing so well (I also have  6 more younger 1-3 year  in ground citrus trees, mostly  Satsuma varieties) on th3e 8b/9a line in Louisiana.  This particular tree was planted about 20 years ago and is located about 200  feet from the nearest other citrus, in a more exposed wetter part of the yard.      It has never done as well as its contemporary aged Satsumas, reaching only about 8 ft in height and maybe 10 ft in width. This tree was hit hard with freeze damage 3 years ago and lost the northern third of the tree as well as some limb damage all around, then was hit again with freeze damage this last January even though it was covered and had a heat lamp during our 40 year low with 13F  two nights in a row, this time with only minimal additional dieback but it did loose about 80% of its leaves. In general this tree is looking scraggly, it has leaves and fruit on it, but the foliage is not as dense as it should be, with only about 70% of the leaf density of my other large Satsumas, and maybe 1/3 of the fruit set.

Which brings us to the big question, what should I do, leave it as is, cut it down, prune it back considerably, etc?

TooFarNorth

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Re: Try to save or throw in the towel?
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2018, 12:02:55 PM »
I am by no means an expert, but I would ask the questions of whether this is an exceptional cultivar, is it an outstanding producer, and is it worth the extra effort to try to cover in winter. You say you have others in better locations doing much better, maybe you could take a cutting and graft onto one of the other trees, or even try it on its own roots, but plant it high. I personally would probably let go of it and plant one of the newer cultivars in a better place, if you have room. Any excuse for a new tree. Lol

TFN

SoCal2warm

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Re: Try to save or throw in the towel?
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2018, 04:55:18 PM »
Satsuma does tend to be a fairly resilient variety.

And keep in mind, the flavor of the fruit only tend to improve with age.

LaCasaVerde

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Re: Try to save or throw in the towel?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2018, 08:26:30 PM »
If the tree produces sweet fruit as it should after twenty years I would  keep it and change the controlable variables ie more  frequent 1.5 month intervals on fertilizer during spring -mid summer. Foliar nitrogen spray 2 times a year. 20 year old satsumas are not quickly replaceable unless you have a lot of time to wait. I have a high water table - 2 feet to water and have found more frequent fertilizing drastically helped me as the ferts are leached away a lot faster in damper soil. Pruning away dead growth or course and clearing away undergrowth so that the sun can dry out the top layers of soil. Hope this helps in your decision. Faster growing citrus like my lemons love heavy pruning after the winter and explode with new growth- satsumas not so much as they are slower growing as you know