The Tropical Fruit Forum

Been in about 4 years, on trifoliata rootstock.  This year the flavor is rich and the color is darker with each fruit that I pick about every 3 days or so just to have something for breakfast.  Warm winter had also sped up the prime time about a month.  "Precious" rind, zest, smells richly of cinnamon and the color is dark orange.

About 4 days ago.


2 weeks ago.

When you say it has speed up the process by a month are you meaning the coloration or the ripeness- or both? That would place you first week or so in March for your usual Moro harvest?

Im asking because by Feb 15 Ive   picked all mine. Three trees( 4 years old ) second year crops-- not too tasty at all.  Perhaps I should be waiting into March? I pulled 60 or so yesterday and they were all meally and dry with little sweetness. Perhaps Im harvesting to early. No growers around this area to compare notes with so thank you for the info.

aCasaVerde and nullzero - I can certainly put lights in the plan.  Is there a way to know how much better they'll do with additional light?  I'm not sure how to evaluate if it's worth the cost for the lights and the electricity.  I'll have enough juice at the greenhouse that I can add them later, I guess...

Your building a large greenhouse. A failry expensive undertaking.  Id look at removing any sun obsticales (trees and such) or locate to an area that receives more sun.  5 hours -- really 4 hours of full sun is not optimal but doable.  You need the heat from the sun to offset heating costs. With the second half of the day cooling- suplemental heating has to replace this loss. Lighting then would also take over. I have access to a  seperate 100 amp service with mine (which is way more than enough for me), Id probably recommend you add this to your plans. Then when you go to lighting your greenhouse your not caught with insufficient juice so to speak and can pick out the lights you actually need.
 

 ...lastly for those wondering why leaf miners are dangerous in tandem with this disease:

Leafminer Interaction: The Asian leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella) can infest leaves, stems, and fruit and greatly increase the number of individual lesions which quickly coalesce and form large irregular shaped lesions that follow the outlines of the feeding galleries (Figure 11). Leafminers feed on the epidermis just below the leaf cuticle. Numerous cracks occur in the cuticle covering leafminer galleries providing means for bacteria to penetrate directly into the palisade parenchyma and spongy mesophyll which are highly susceptible to infection. Citrus foliar wounds normally callus within 1-2 days, however, the extensive wounds composed of the entire leafminer feeding galleries do not callus for 10-12 days, greatly extending the period of susceptibility of galleries to infection. Leafminer infestations can be very prevalent and severe producing hundreds if not thousands of potential infection courts on individual trees. When bacterial dispersal events occur in the presence of the leafminer, not only is inoculum production greatly exacerbated, but so is the potential for infection over the entire dispersal range.

" leafminer galleries are the most common avenue of infection. Preventive bactericides common for citrus are copper products. Look for neutralized copper sulfate or copper hydroxide products. Each must be labeled for citrus."

mrtexas how large of a collection do you have- outdoors?  Being so close Id have  a set protocol in place to minimize transmission to your citrus.

 

If it is Harris Citrus Nursery here in Florida, they have been spot on for me. Ive ordered citrus from them before. Honest people. Id call them and explain the situation. I see they have Shiranui now @ 36 dollars for the larger size as well as the starter at 25. Definitely worth the call.

 Im harvesting Shiranui now and it is by far the best Ive tasted. I ate 3 yesterday that were  really sweet- sweeter than my navels.

 Second Hamlin and navel oranges best chance for your zone.

 Going to 27 f/-3c in a couple of days from now. The hamlin will be unprotected. I have one that has survived -7c.

Navel orange. Has an open navel at the bottom from what I can see. Is it seedless?

Most orange trees are grafted onto rootstock. Orange trees grown from seed are not as common. Not because it cant be done obviously but rather due to the many negative issues that can be introduced and the fact that folks are not patient as oranges from seed take 8 years to produce . Orange trees will vary in vigour but none are really considered really fast growing.  I am still waiting for a store bought seed i planted out of an orange to produce from 10 years ago. It has frozen to the ground twice.   It has grown at  the same pace as my navels, hamlins, and bloods. Sorry for the vague answer but thats what I see anyway.

Market driven. Any new novelty citrus pulls interest and more importantly drives sales. On the flip side, Im always looking for the next interesting citrus and am willing to pay for it so its a good relationship. Over the years nurseries trim down to what sells usually keeping tried and true types while dropping other less appealing citrus.

 

Linda sorry to hear this news. To me looks like a bacterial/fungal leaf disease coupled with nutrient difficiency.  Here is what I recommend. Begin removing all the factors that could create/contribute to your leaf issues-

 If heavily mulched as you say -pull it away from the base of the trees by at least 12 inches or so. Mulch holds water- yes and keeps moisture- yes but also provides a great humid  area to breed fungus/bacterial diseases as it is constantly  moist. I have had the exact issues I see in you pics in the past.  It appears   bacterial or fungal spot/disease had set in on leaves. You sprayed   with copper  will  should arrest the progression but the damage to the leaves themselves will not go away.   Leaf drop is the plants way of getting rid of the problem and is normal.  Make sure to remove the leaf litter from under the tree as it will overwinter in the damp mulch  and return again in the spring. 

The pics with the leaves showing green veigns is not symptoms of Citrus Greening but nutrient dificiency. What is the ph of your water/soil there? Something your doing- or the soil that is around the plants roots - is limiting proper nutrient uptake causing the leaf chlorisis.  Citrus likes 5.5-6.0 . Citrus greening crosses the veigns and is blotchy and non symetric on the leaves. Black splotches or burned leaf tips are not typical symptoms.

What are you foliar feeding with this time of year? Id stop foliar feeding  for a while.  It is really easy to cause leaf damage if the follir mix you are using is too strong. Mix that with high temps and it becomes even easier to damage the leaves.  To rule this out I would just rely on fertilizer you have already applied until spring. No need to add more this time of year anyway. Wait until bloom to start your fert program again. 

Leaf curl can be caused by several diseases  as well as nutrient deficiencies- usually of the minor elements. Ill leave that to someone else to diag that. That said, the leaf curl - nutrient deficincy in my opinion

Smaller fruit- heavy fruit set most likley- thin to have larger fruit

Warmer weather- slower to yellow  fruit
 

The idea is to limit contributing factors to your leaf concerns. Any and all of the above can work in tandem and further stress your plant. Begin to treat this plant by being patient- as often ,discovering what the cause is,  is harder than actually treating the plant.

Check the leave pattern...trifoliate rootstock... three leaves coming from one node...

https://www.google.com/search?q=trifoliate+citrus+leaf&rlz=1C1GGGE_enUS698US698&espv=2&biw=1370&bih=507&tbm=isch&imgil=0D3kHaAC02xGTM%253A%253BAb0nGEGndl4QXM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.rnr.lsu.edu%25252Fplantid%25252Fspecies%25252Ftriorange%25252Ftriorange.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=0D3kHaAC02xGTM%253A%252CAb0nGEGndl4QXM%252C_&usg=__8JIBcocXjxFKLJP4ngSk75eR4F4%3D&ved=0ahUKEwiL6of0kpzRAhXE4iYKHc7xBnwQyjcILg&ei=1nFmWIunCcTFmwHO45vgBw#imgrc=JtP_IUrrHgiMEM%3A

Never had a citrus that didnt flower..  Grafted tree I assume.  Break a leaf open- if it doesnt smell like the rest of your citrus its probably not.  Could be immature rootstock. Thorny? in full shade?

Here is a good article on the subject. To be safe it is wise to determine first what type of almond you have. huertasurbanas said his were not bitter but tasted good thus my first post. 
 

http://www.livestrong.com/article/494578-can-almonds-cause-cyanide-poisoning/