The Tropical Fruit Forum

Technically net metering would accomplish this if your solar kwhs produced exceeded your daily kwhs consumed. I have a 6.25kw solar array producing around 36 kwh per day. My home uses less than this so the extra would power a small heater though the night with no cost to me after investment.  Yes it is possible as Im doing it now. Depends on what you want to spend initially. or you can use this method in which I am also using which works just as well using solar in a different way.
 I converted my home completely to solar hot water using in parrallel solar hot water heating panels. I have seven that fill a 40 gallon hot water heater with 160 degree water in 4 hours.  My greenhouse will be suplementaly heated the same way using solar hot water panels which are 2x2 in size each heating a ibc water tote of 275 gallons. This will become a thermal battery and radiant  space heater at the same time for my plants.
Granted Im not sleeping beside the tote as Im assuming your runing a heater to keep you warm...

I checked out your leaves again as I remembered something Ive seen here a lot. Leaves on my citrus after heavy rains or prolonged condensate have developed those spots in pic one and particularily two-which are different than the following pics. These spots are random through out new and old growth for me ( youll find top to bottom) Are your plants outdoors or in a greenhouse where the leaves have been damp for a prolonged period? Ive sprayed  citrus fungicide on mine to stop bacterial outbreak.  Here it starts as a circle yellow discoloration followed by a definite browning discoloration in the center.  Nutrient deficencies for me never have developed to that extent in a week or less. It usually occurs over a longer time frame then at some point I notice it. In cooler rainy weather though Ive had spots develop quickly. Ive sprayed with citrus copper based fungicide it always went away. I usually only spray once in early spring and sometimes in late fall to the leaves when spots develop. The other pics definitly look like deficency as their leave symptoms are not as random  and more patterned in appearence..  You mentioned other plants also exhibited the same issues in this same week time frame.. If citrus also consider spraying as well- Im not saying for sure it is- just that the remedy is something I do as a precaution and stops it for me.

Loved reading this post so far.
side note:
I read earlier in the post about heating requirements/costs
Ive used this calculator for my heating needs and expense calculations for my greenhouse. May  come in handy:
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/heat-calc.shtml

Millet, thank you. Your good  reputation preceeds you as Ive followed you for years. 



Samu, after further review Id like to say that my plants are in the ground. Potted plants I would not suggest Avid as the medium toxicity  from runoff can take longer to dissipate as the plants enviornment can be easily manipulated-ie taking the plant inside for winter, shading the potted plant, and so on.  My advice I suppose would then have to be limited to inground juvenile  plants.



Samu,

Your battle with these pests will never end unfortunatly. Once the leaf miner population is established they will return like clockwork every year.  I too had limited success with leaf miner control initially until I understood how these pests operate. Anyway here is the mix ratio for Macho that Ive used. It is much more cost effective than Bayer and a far superior product for leaf miner control from what Ive experienced.

My Flowering is completed usually by Mid March. Some years though into April first. I adjust the below later to correspond with the end of flowering and bee foraging.
I use 1 tsp per 10 oz for soil drench inground plants.  Pour around base of tree. Water lightly in. I apply March 15. By doing so the plants are already protected when the first leaf miners cycle begins April 1-15 here. The idea that leaf miners like the second flush while accurate is misleading as some of my Citrus break dormancy earlier and those later to wake up to first flushes being attacked by miners. Then like clockwork with bearing trees reapply every 35 days as the second and subsequent doses take 2-3 weeks to be drawn back up through the plant.  I wont go indepth into  Imidachlropid as it would take days and there is enough info out there already. But I will say this - the plants root system will only absorb so much of the compound wether .23 or 21.4% Imidachlropid- both which in ratio proportion to water are lethal to leaf miners. From my observations in my garden Macho leaches out of the soil slower due to the higher concentration allowing the plant to perhaps attain a longer period of root uptake. I say this because my Myers lemon tree flushes very fast and can actually outgrow the chemical coverage at the new flush leaf tips. Bayer did not work-Macho did. Then after reading the label for Macho you can decide how close to harvest you want to use the product. My advice is what I use to stop them.
Bayer for me works in my potted plants but not so much for inground trees.

I would suggest reading the label first.
use http://hortipm.tamu.edu/ipmguide/ento/chapters/dilution.html to understand dillution ratios as boring as it is- it has helped me put my mind around  the idea of mix ratios.

The following info is what I use for NON BEARING CITRUS-youngsters- those 1 or more years out from first fruit as in my opinion they are non bearing ornamentals  . It is what Ive found to stop completely miners and is a spray pattern I use only after understanding compound half life, residual and toxicity.

First Macho 2.0 in April or so. Foliar spray Avid -Avid at 4ml per gallon to new flush growth. The miticide wipes out leaf miners at it pools inside the leave itself (translaminor) for 28 days. It also counters mite outbreaks I have noticed after Bayer or Macho. Ive used both in tandem and never had a citrus leafminer problem period.

Currently Im using Macho 2.0 with suffacant-spreader sticker- to new flush only on my larger trees in trandem with MACHO 2.0 soil drench.





Notice the Ponkan neck is very similar to the Dekopon. My ponkan has not started to turn color yet both shares the fruit shape and pebbly skin. Come to think of it the Ponkan as well did not suffer from rust mites this season. All my other tress did . Neem oil 1 table spoon to quarter gallon water sprayed in the eve after the heat of the sun stopped the russet mites for me on the fruit anyway.
Dekopon first then Ponkan:





Has anyone ever had russet mites on their the Dekopon or Ponkan?

Here is how this set up evolved. The following few pics show different styles. Ive mixed wood, pvc and pipe together to come up with many different designs for cold frames.  If anyone is interested Ill post several more designs. Anyway, the idea here was to find a set up that could be used over and over again with the least amount if time consumed.  The below pictures show designs Im scraping due to time but still are great frames! . The cut off 4x4 posts are left in the ground year around and then the frames added in the fall. Make sure to oversize the spacing of the posts to the tree so that 3 or four years can go by before you have to reset the posts . I wish I knew this earlier as it would have saved me a huge amount of time. Use snap clamps to adhear the poly to the frame.

Anyway these frames take too long for me to set up. Thus the sleeve cold frame foundation shown in earlier post. The top of the frame would be the same design of the these other ones but without the wood posts in the ground making the set up and dismantel very fast.

Twine was used for limb support. By tying large loop knot,  the limbs move freely and there is no damage after 5 months.  My satsumas pull limbs all the way to the ground.. By placing the cable several feet above the center of the plant I was able to tie off all sides of the Dekopon. The use cable for this main support as it will not break.. I know as an Owari I used a simillar set up on did.  Here is a way Ive found very successfull for this on other plants in the garden if you dont have a greenhouse:

Take 1 10foot 1 5/8 fence rail and cut into 2 foot sections with a recip saw. Then hammer these into the ground. Then slide a 1 3/8 fence rail post into this sleeve at desired height suspend cable across this  over plant.  This also works very well with 1 inch pvc pipe cold frames for large citrus trees Just use a smaller size pipe diameter- 1 3/8 I believe..  Just insert you PVC pipe into the sleeve
Ill include cold frame pics for others desiring cold frame ideas  as well for the heck of it.

Hi all.  After reading Millets postings and scant others on the net it became apparent to me the need for more actual information on growing this particular  citrus. Id like to preface this log by saying that Im not a pro citrus grower. Im a backyard citrus student of 15 years. Many of those years spent trolling the net looking for information when I got into a bind.  Hopefully this log will give someone else some new ideas.  Please feel free to add to, correct or nullify any information on this log for the benefit of others.

This post starts recording information on Shiranui/Dekopon performance for others  in North Florida or those in similar grow zones.  There are  2 test plants : First planted last year  in November 2015 to test conventional wisdom and the second in June of this year. Both are in ground. I am  currently building a greenhouse around them and several other citrus trees which will share the space.

Background Information:
Pensacola Florida zone 8b/9a (depending where you live. I happen to be in on 9a by five miles). Water table 3 feet. Sandy soil. Full sun at 8 or more per day. Well water irrigation- ph 5.5 steady.  Climate- hot humid hot then 3 months of winter which have included 8 sub 32 events lowest at 27 degrees. Up two three weeks of constant 38-50  degrees  night lows. Mild winter last year.
The first Dekopon was planted in November  15 at 3 feet tall and was covered in agribon frost cloth  and  one string of Christmas lights when freezing temps were present . Spring brought flower and 39 set fruit. No fruit drop through summer and very little if any leaf drop.  Unusual for fruit set  considering time between transplant and fruit set. Interesting note adjacent Navel orange and blood orange trees suffered rust mite  outbreaks on all fruit which has been controlled but no evidence of mites or  russeting on any Dekopon fruit.  Citrus red mite  outbreak immediatly after application of Mach 2.0 mid summer. Citrus leaf miner damage  through summer to new flushes. Following a photo out of Japan I supported each limb with twine which has been very succesfull now that the fruit are starting to turn color and size up. Current size 5 feet with 4 foot spread.
The second dekopon was transplanted out of pot at 3 feet and has languished. Slight yellowing of leaves, no new growth. Evidencing transplant shock.  Neither growing or dying.

Fertilized Deko1 March May July- 1 cup citrus ferts. No fertilizer on Deko2  other than 1/4 strength fish emulsion foliar to leaves and 1/2 stength fish emulsion to base in August to counter what I initially thought was inadequate nitrogen.

Tomorrow Im going to post pictures of the plants and methods I used to limb support Deko1. See you tomorrow!