The Tropical Fruit Forum

LaCasaVerde, I do have a well, but there is no way I could fill 50 ibc containers every two days.  I don't understand the need of emptying and refilling them.  They absorb heat during the day rain or shine and release it at night.  I use 55 gal. barrels of water for thermal mass. In your zone with ocean influence, I am surprised you need that much thermal mass.  I did not loose a single tree over the last two years, and some only had a couple of gallons of water under the cover.  We reached 14 degrees f. at least twice both years.  The biggest problem is long warm ups and then sudden deep cold. That is what hurt some of my trees the most.  It also wiped out almost all of my temperate fruit and blooms the last two years.  I have gotten more fruit from my citrus trees than my temperate fruit trees and I have almost equal number of each type.


TFN

I empty mine because I ran a 2 inch main out there and can fill 6 in about 20-30 min. These are the full size trees I want to keep after I weened myself off of all the others and culled them.   Ive found the ibc  at 68 degress when the temp is 20 outside- will retain  adequate usable heat for 2 days.. after that the water will be too cold to reheat back to 68 degress for me unless I have a week or more of sun and higher ambient temps..  A 275 gallon Ibc container will not heat up as fast as a 55 gallon drum due to the huge mass of water.  In a greenhouse envirornment i would  not drain mine either but these ibc are exposed to the elements until the individual trees are covered. This way I can acurately regulate temps with constant control over water tamp for individual specimins. This will be inportant to you when you want to save just a few trees and dont have a greenhouse for each..

Also-A full size tree 15hx10 wide will not be warm enough with a 55 gallon barrel.  Actually the 55 gallon barrel will regulate temps for a 22 sq foot area usually already permanatly or semi permanatly enclosed for the winter...say 4x5.5 foot area.   If your full size trees are eventually housed in a greenhouse as others of mine are-- I would not drain the IBC containers or barrels then either. 

I lost a lot of my citrus the winter of 2014 which ill never forget and im south of you... these were big trees.. satsumas, included- no proximity to the ocean could same me.... You are  farther north of me and much cooler. Its good to have a contingency plant for your trees when they get fully mature..

It obviously doesnt freeze there...haha. enjoyed the processor...

Honestly I eat the leaves as spinach substitute, my family  has grown up with the seasonal moringa salad  so I dont persuade them as I have to with others that visit. The beans I dont care for as much .

I am growing this plant but in 8b/9a. ...mine are in the ground. Here is how to get them to bloom and fruit 1 season. I cut mine to 1.5 feet at end of growing season before first freeze.  Chicken wire cage rolled around the sides. Fill with pine straw/lawn clippings. Cover with plastic to the ground . Spring- uncover and they will sprout higher and faster from the cut I made lat year. Now I get crop of beans before the freeze....As long as the ground around the roots stays above 32 degrees they will flurish each year.

I had similar issues a few years ago with Citrus psyllid of some sort infesting all the new growth causing severe distortion of the leaves. Malathion contact pesticide sprayed onto the leaves and undersides- and in your case over the whole plant and undersides to kill them them, then systemic Imidacloprid soil drench .  With close inspection with a loop I was able to see them- yellow  specs in my case .. you should be able to see them as they are small and infest undersides of young leaves heavily.. In your situation they should be readily noticable.. nothing to loose at this point..unless you have other citrus close by.  Check out psyllid Trioza erytreae damage pics -  you can see what a heavily infested psyllid tree looks like.   

The dekopon can carry two crops simultaneously if the first bloom is a light fruit set.  I have found so far  that if the Dekopon blooms early in Feb with few blossoms it will set fruit again in June or July. This is referenced in South Korean literature of which I was skeptical at first. I have one now though that set fruit in Feb and now has flowered and set fruit again. The second crop will not suffer in quality as other citrus can and  provided the tree does not abort the new fruit.. the second crop will be ready April May... 

Ive moved to canopy fittings and  1 3/8 pipe primarily on cold frames. The Canopy fittings for high roof pitch can be used over and over each winter. This design will shed water, snow off the roof during winter and is strong. The tree pictured is a blood orange tree over 10 feet tall. Easy to attatch poly to with pvc snap clamps. One side of the rood is designed to roll open during warmer weather to allow heat to escape. Thid way the enclose stays covered the entire season except for the roof section. Reduces cover uncover time drastically.  This design can be enlarged to cover full size trees.

The trick to this for me is to oversize the frame so I can get 2-3 seasons each time. I burned myself out a few years ago trying to redo all the cold frames each Sept/October-

Here are the ones that do well for me in 8b/9a

Citrus
Satsuma Mandarin, Xie shan, Owari, myers lemon, cara cara, dekopon (protected), navel, HAMLIN prolific, blood (moro)

Red lady papaya, barbadoes cherry- protected

Olives- mission, arbequina

plums- catalina, santa rosa, methley, burbank

berries- arapahoe and navajo- navajo the sweetest

blue berries- vernon, titan and sunshine blue-which is dwarf and ph tolerant

pears- floridahome, warren and kieffer

Morenga has been prolific here-

Bananas- orianco, viente cohol, cali gold all producing if pup kept inside in pot over winter and planted in spring...

Growing mission and arbequina here. Outside unprotected. No issues disease wise, though recommend planting on a mound or higher area as ive lost both mission and arbequina  to damp soil conditions. Definitley do not do well in low wet areas.  My largest arbequina is now  6x6 but yet to produce. 3 years old now..

Great job on your cold frame!   

On the tag of the plant wrapped around the trunk usually will give you the soil drench date. The fact that there are as many droppings suggest that the initial drench from the store was...non existant  or expired...as it would have killed they nymphs once they began feeding imo.

The denser the dekopon becomes it seems more new offshoots appear from the main . Ive removed these offshoots to keep growth focused on major limbs. Doing so also has eliminated leaf fungus..looks like greasy spo... for me  as the tree gets more airflow/sun. Had the same issue with peaches..

Ive gone through a similar situation with a persian lime. Transplanted into 5 1 1 mix and saw a rather rapid decline in the health of the pant.  I repotted again after finding a fast draining soil,  referenced by Millet some time back - miracle grow - after reading about it on an earlier thread here. The result was immediate. Within a month the plant -which had no leaves at all- flushed out and now itis  in better health than ever. When I retransplanted it was obvious the soil was soggy about 3-4 inches below the surface.

Transplant shock can also cause this as it has for me with a dekopon that is now finally growing.

Finally there is a possibility that transplanting in the winter threw the plant off as all its energy went into preflower development  as its root system was established and now is trying to abort due to shock and is experiencing nutrient deficiency/ leaf loss as a result.

Weed wack flush to ground. Get some thick professional landscape fabric- not the stuff you buy at the big box stores. I use this:
Dewitt P5 5 x 250 Pro-5 Weed-Barrier Landscape Fabric

Stake it to the ground leaving a few inches room around the trunk. ..I use these:
Weed Barrier Fabric 6-Inch Garden Landscape Staples Stakes Pins

It lasts me 4 years exposed to the sun..  and nothing will grow around your trees. Everything else is a waste of time except for  .. round up... which has worked for me as well but needs to be reapplied often. Never killed any of my citrus - I like the one and done method myself.