The Tropical Fruit Forum

Actually, the special bloom feeding to enhance a good flowering and retention should have been given 1 months before the expected bloom date.   That feeding would have been a foliar spray of low-biuret urea.  A citrus tree sets many times more flowers and small fruitlets, then the tree can possibly retain until maturity, and will drop the excess.  This is called the Early Drop Period, If the tree held onto all of the fruitlets that were originally set, as those fruit grew the tree would be crushed under its own weight.  After all the blooms have set fruit, and then dropped the excess small fruitlets a foliar  spray application of low-biuret urea, is need to give the tree the energy to grow the remaining  fruitlets into nice large size fruit. You can start the regular ground fertilizing at this time.  The number of fertilizer applications throughout the season depends on the age of the tree. If you tell us how old the tree is we can tell you what the fertilizer schedule should be.  Also while the tree is in flower BE SURE the tree is well watered.

Yes, horticultural oils can do some leaf damage if applied at temperatures at or above 85-F.   However, a citrus tree should NEVER  be sprayed during the heat of the day with anything whatsoever, I would certainly not call today's HO a heavy oil. Spray early in the morning, later in the evening, or on cloudy days. A good brand of HO is Ultra Pure HO which is used at 80-grams per two gallons.  Works great.

Azadirachtin is made from neem seeds. A good chemical for insect control on citrus is a  good quality horticultural oil (HO)  HO kills aphids, white fly, scale, mites and mealy bug -- the big five insects attacking citrus..  HO is authorized to use in organic growing practices.  100 percent harmless to humans and animals.

Orange: Orange peels are a great option to get rid of pimples, blackheads, dead cells, blemishes and dark circles. It also helps dry skin stay hydrated and adds glow to your face. You can mix water and orange peel (dried and grounded) to your scalp as it helps get rid of dandruff. It is also good for reducing digestion problems

I do only bud grafts.

David Krause owner of Wonderful Citrus farms 58,000 acres of citrus, making them the largest citrus farmer in North America, if not the world.  Halos is their number 1 one citrus brand, but they also offer limes, lemons, blood oranges as well as grapefruit.

Tree health and yield will suffer if the soil becomes to dry. To provide adequate water for flowering, fruit set and vegetation growth the soil water depletion (container grown trees included) should not exceed 25 to 33 percent of available water from February until the beginning of the rainy season or the winter months. (Citrus Industry)

Kunembo might be used in breeding, but other wise it is not much of a fruit----15-20 seed/fruit, no acid content, and the fruit is not juicy.

Spoon-feeding nutrients through root systems and protecting new leaf flushes are among ways Jude Grosser believes growers can maintain tree health in the face of HLB. Grosser, a University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences professor, is best known as a citrus breeder.

Grosser said he started working with nutrition because “like any grower, I don’t like to see my babies crash and get sick and die.” So he led a greenhouse study in which “we learned that the micronutrient deficiencies are about double in roots what they are in the leaves … So we started figuring out ways to spoon-feed these nutrients through the root systems” with controlled-release fertilizer. Some growers are following up on his findings and developing good nutrition programs utilizing spoon-feeding, he says. “When you do this, you can restore tree health, and now growers have taken it to another level with fertigation and liquid nutrition, so there’s been a real revolution in the industry. So I think focusing on root health is really the key to restoring an adequate level of health and productivity to existing trees in the grove.”

Grosser also thinks growers need to focus on protecting new leaf flushes. “If you allow psyllids or leaf miners … to do severe damage to that flush, the plant’s already compromised and wasting a lot of its energy to produce leaves it’s never going to use, and it’s a real negative for the plant,” he said.  Citrus Industry News)

The USDA has developed several root stocks using Nin Kat crosses

Fruit picked from the south side of the tree will have the highest brix count.  Fruit growing on the external portions of the tree have higher brix then fruit growing in the internal areas of the tree.  I have an in ground Dekopon but don't have the equipment to test for brix.  There is a link on the Internet showing a Japanese grower storing his Dekopon fruit in crates inside a shed.  I don't remember the length of time the fruit are stores to lower the acid content.  Also the Japanese wrap the fruit in white tissue paper while storing, further some growers wrap their fruit while still on the tree.

I've seen and touched the exact Desert Lime tree shown in your picture at UCR' Variety Collection.  Sorry I don't know where you can purchase a tree.  Contact the CCPP and or the Variety Collection and ask for bud wood or seed.

My trees are about 70 percent through the bloom, and are now in the stage where the majority of the blooms have turned into small 1-mm fruitlets, In a week or so the tree will finish deciding  how many of the fruitlets it is capable of retaining and bring to maturity, then dropping the rest, which is the called Early Drop period.  After that it is time to make the second foliar spray application of low-biuret urea, which will increase both the fruit size and fruit quality.