Author Topic: in-ground in-greenhouse  (Read 3868 times)

brian

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in-ground in-greenhouse
« on: July 10, 2018, 08:27:29 PM »
Today I planted my first tree directly into the dirt floor of my greenhouse.  This is a variegated minneola tangelo from Harris Citrus.  I chose this one because I have two of them the same size, and I believe they are grafted onto flying dragon rootstock.   Previously it was in a small rootmaker-roll pot.   I sprayed the roots with a hose to get off most of the container soil and after planting backfilled with only the same soil I dug from the hole, no amendments.  If this tree does well I will plant most of my trees into the dirt.



TooFarNorth

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2018, 08:59:17 PM »
Hey, Brian , I put two Meyer lemon trees, a Bearss lime and a Clementine tree in my greenhouse. They got bigger than I thought. Only the clementine is on FD. The Meyers have over a hundred lemons each right now and have only been in the ground a little over 3 years.

TFN

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2018, 09:07:18 PM »
An excellent problem to have!  I just got some popsicle maker molds.  I'm going to try making popsicles from excess citrus juice

Millet

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2018, 10:30:34 PM »
I have an in ground Cara Cara grafted on Flying Dragon growing inside my greenhouse.  I don't 100 percent remember, but I think I purchased it from Mr. Texas. It been growing in the greenhouse 10 years..  It is now 11-feet tall and 11-ft wide. It has not touched the roof yet, but is within inches. It has done exceptional.

TooFarNorth

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2018, 10:36:02 PM »
Brian, that sounds like an excellent idea. I just froze juice in ice trays and dumped them in ziplock bags and stored in freezer. I like your idea better. Lemonade popsicle in the summertime..YUM.

TFN

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2018, 01:28:10 PM »
So far the tree still looks perfectly healthy.  I'm going to put a bunch more in the ground.

Millet

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2018, 09:25:22 PM »
Bryan, now that the tree is planted in the ground, know that the tree's fertilizing schedule will be MUCH different than when it was a container plant.

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2018, 11:16:03 AM »
Any suggestions?  I currently have Osmocote Plus and a big bag of Jacks HPF.  I don't have a simple way of mixing low concentrate liquid fert in with my waterings yet.  I could occasionally apply a stronger dose of liquid fert, or look for a pelletized fertilizer. 

spaugh

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2018, 09:00:51 PM »
Brian, you can use a scoop or 2 of osmocote and occasional watering with mild jacks solution.  Just dont get carried away with the jacks, that stuff is pretty potent.  This is basically what I do for my in ground trees.  A bit of slow release and an occasional additional fert (including jacks hpf).  I have hundreds of trees on this diet that do great.

You might consider building a berm up to hold water around the tree.  And top dressing with compost or mulch.  Your soil looks pretty saturated.  Not sure if its from your watering or mother nature.  You will not want to always keep it that wet.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2018, 09:03:00 PM by spaugh »
Brad Spaugh

Millet

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #9 on: July 29, 2018, 09:25:15 PM »
Brain, Looking at the variegated Minneola tangelo  that you planted in the greenhouse soil, I would equate its size to a 2 year old tree that has been growing in the ground from its beginning. .  The University of Florida's fertilizer recommendations for an in ground tree of that size and age is that it should be fertilized 5 times per year.  When I first planted citrus in my greenhouse's ground, I fertilized frequently as I did when the tree was growing in a container.  The outcome was weak spindly growth.  Now I fertilize using Jacks 25-5-15 five times a year for new trees, 4 times a year on 3 year old tree, and 3 times a year on all trees 4 years and older.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2018, 09:27:45 PM by Millet »

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2018, 02:35:34 PM »
Thanks.   The soil is saturated in this picture because I had just watered it.  No outside water enters my greenhouse soil as the perimeter wall is quite deep, so I can control how wet it gets.   With the heavy clay soil I don't need to water much as it drains slowly.  I am still feeling this out.

I will try osmocote & Jacks HPF once per season.  I still have the bag of Jacks so I can check their recommendation for concentration.

loneroc1

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2018, 10:44:44 AM »
Howdy Brian,

The variegated Minneola you show looks like it's from a Harris batch that has two-toned green variegation but no white, and will not likely produce striped fruit. If that matters to you. There are several current threads on this issue on the GW citrus forum  Steve H

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2018, 11:50:54 AM »
Interesting... I actually received one white/green and one two-tone-green from Harris.   I was wondering why the coloring was off on this one.  Would you mind sending a link to this forum thread?

Thanks for the heads up.

EDIT - is this it?   https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5434853/variegated-minneola-from-harris-citrus-nursery#n=83   
I guess GardenWeb is now Houzz. 

I'll have to go double-check my trees.  I received both variegated minneolas from Harris around November 2015.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2018, 01:35:00 PM by brian »

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2018, 01:59:37 PM »
I was reading the linke posts and also noted that the Harris trees are likely Swingle, not FD as I was thinking (not sure why).   According to UCR "'Swingle' is moderatlely salt tolerant but is not adapted to heavy clay soils or calcareous soils", which is exactly the type of soil I've planted into.  Oh well, I am going to ride it out and see how things go. 

I recently ordered two 1yr Xie Shan's from Harris, to replace mine that just croaked.   I planted one in the greenhouse soil, and one in a rootmaker-roll container.   Along with the variegated minneolas, I will see how the in-ground trees do compared to the containerized ones. 

Millet

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2018, 06:25:01 PM »
Brian, if you have the right rootstock for your soil, or even close, the difference will be night and day.  My greenhouse in ground trees have reached to  the top of the greenhouse, and are approximately 15-feet wide.

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #15 on: August 22, 2018, 10:27:03 PM »
Thanks, Millet.  These are definitely on Swingle, as I see the "SWG" on the tags.   I'm not sure what led me to believe they were on FD.   I recently attempted another batch of grafts as I have a good amount of 1-2yr FD rootstock trees now.  If I become successful I am going to graft all the varieties I want to plant in-ground onto FD and replace them with these new ones.   My previous grafts failed, but I expect with enough practice I will get the hang of it.


Here are the two variegated minneolas I received from Harris.   They look completely different.

#white/green



#two-tone green





Galka

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #16 on: August 23, 2018, 02:35:23 AM »
My tree produced a two-tone branch and it is holding one green fruit. I am planning to harvest the fruit and cut the branch off to graft it to the dwarf rootstock. I saw big trees for sale at HD two years ago. The older leaves lose the variegation and new leaves are two-toned and all the fruits are green. I will have two different looking fruits from the same tree to compare next year when they get ripe.


« Last Edit: August 23, 2018, 02:44:18 AM by Galka »

brian

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Re: in-ground in-greenhouse
« Reply #17 on: August 23, 2018, 09:51:09 AM »
Interesting.  I guess we will see how this plays out.