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Messages - nanewnanew

Pages: [1] 2
1
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Grapefruit tree issues
« on: February 02, 2024, 01:42:37 PM »
Okay I have fish emulsion. Maybe put a cap full of that in a gallon of water and pour it?
Gro power has also been recommended. Thoughts?
Finally, what about just a few cups of chicken manure?
Thanks

2
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Grapefruit tree issues
« on: February 02, 2024, 10:01:05 AM »
I'm going to give it 2 cups of Dr.Earth's fruit tree fertilizer

End of January (just did)
Mid March
End April
Mid June

What do you recommend?

3
Citrus General Discussion / Grapefruit tree issues
« on: January 30, 2024, 10:06:27 PM »
I purchased this Ruby Red grapefruit tree as a 15 gallon in 2018. In 2020 it produced 9 delicious grapefruits. Then it skunked 2 years in a row. In 2023 I decided it needed help and dug it up and replaced some soil with sand, cutting many roots in the process.  It subsequently lost most of its leaves and now is what you see. I'd like to keep it if it has a chance, but otherwise am thinking of pulling it and replacing it with some other citrus. Any advice?


4
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Citrus issues
« on: October 28, 2022, 11:07:22 PM »
I just applied Tanglefoot, so far so good. Inspected the leaves and branches and saw lots of scale. I rubbed some of it off the leaves and there was a sticky substance, so I think scale and ants have been the biggest problem. I sprayed the tree w Neem Oil, but I just dont see how it's going to handle a big branch w armored scale.
At what stage do people get rid of the tree and start over?
Thx

5
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Citrus issues
« on: October 14, 2022, 10:41:10 PM »
That sounds right too. I see ants on that tree a lot, I assume they're farming something but I couldn't tell. I used Amdro for the ants a few weeks ago, no luck.  I'm going to try a Boric Acid and powdered sugar combo for the ants. Any other suggestions for ants? Thx

6
Citrus General Discussion / Re: Citrus issues
« on: October 13, 2022, 06:43:06 PM »
Okay thx, I'll try the spray.
It flowered pretty well this past Spring but lost all small fruit and what remains,  as shown, is brownish and small. Could a Magnesium deficiency be responsible for all that too?


7
Citrus General Discussion / Citrus issues
« on: October 13, 2022, 02:29:15 PM »
Any idea what can be going on with this grapefruit tree?
Thx




8
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: A couple of avocado tree questions
« on: May 06, 2022, 12:55:41 AM »
Stake it up loosly, it will lignify after a while and not need the stake.  Fuerte is especially vigorous and erect so it wont need staking for long. 

You will know if it has enough sun after a year or so.  It just wont grow much if its not enough light.  It will grow very slowly and tend to stretch upwards in search of light if its not getting enough.

You wont like this but fuerte is kind of hit and miss as far as production goes.  Apparently a lot of fuerte trees dont produce well.  I have a huge one that produces poorly.  It has had 1 good year and lots of years will almost zero fruitset.  It flowers fine but fails to set fruit.  Im about to chop it down and graft something else on it.  I know other people with the same issue.  Hass is much more reliable.  I would top work your tree now.  You've been warned.

Okay thanks. I'll heed your advice on the fuerte and just wait out the other one out. I don't have space for a tree that doesn't produce regularly. Are you still able to provide Hass scions? Maybe I'll try to do some grafting some time this year when I get a chance.

9
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: A couple of avocado tree questions
« on: May 05, 2022, 10:31:20 PM »
I don't remember the exact number of winter sun hours but I think the number might be comparable.

10
Tropical Fruit Discussion / A couple of avocado tree questions
« on: May 05, 2022, 06:46:04 PM »
I've got two questionable avocado growing situations.

The first tree is a Fuerte that I purchased last fall, one gallon I think, and I planted it on a hillside. It was tied tightly to a small stake. I removed  the stake and tried to put a couple of stakes to the side. It grew and when I removed the stake ties it got floppy. It just slowly flopped over eventually. It didn't break, it's growing fine, just flopped over. I hesitant to stake it because I generally think staking produces weak point for eventual breakage, but what would you do?

The second tree is planted in a spot where it gets full sun right now (May, in San Diego mixed coastal and inland climate) from 8 am until about 2 pm, then it is in shade for the remainder of the day. Does such a tree have a chance of producing good fruit, or will everything be mediocre without 8+ hours of full sun?

Thanks

11
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 12, 2022, 11:12:09 PM »
Rather than pull the Fuerte, have you considering too working? Can cut the tree down pretty far to remove spindle effect, then graft to the new shoots. Might be too late for this spring? I always like to graft another type of two on. Sure it might grow funny, nothing a little pruning can’t fix. Always seems to help in fruit production though
Think I'd be more inclined to plant a pit and top work that later.  I've pulled seedlings to thin pits I've planted and am shocked at how long and sturdy the main root is. All the root systems of the potted plants that I've dig up pale in comparison to the system u get from a pit.

I actually wish I did this in this case. Should have started with a pit and grafted fuerte. I imagine that's what will probably end up happeni6with this 

12
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 11, 2022, 06:23:57 PM »
I think once a tree is established, not caring for it is just fine. It takes some care to either get it to size quickly, or to reverse course from it going backwards.

I would think fertilizing those citrus would do wonders for production, health of the tree, resistance to disease etc. My gf's family has a pretty good amount of fruit trees which they never fertilized and last year after applying 20lb of slow release the changes were shocking, far higher quality fruit and taste, more of it, and the trees cleared out all the leaf curl without fungicides or copper or anything.

Alright I'm convinced. Maybe I haven't been using the best fertilizer.  Can you recommend a good slow release fertilizer? A link would be best if possible.

13
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 11, 2022, 03:24:47 PM »
See, that's what is confusing about fruit trees. The most productive fruit trees always seem to be the ones that are neglected. But to employ that strategy seems iffy.

14
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 10, 2022, 08:13:47 PM »
Alright thx, I'll give it a shot. The grapefruit has delicious fruit but doesn't seem to be bursting with flowers, like I'd expect.

15
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 10, 2022, 07:08:07 PM »
Throw a bag of chicken manure on each and some citrus avo slow release fertilizer and see how they grow this year. I bet a lot.

Grafting citrus isn't too hard, but you need to do it when weather is hot. I didn't get 100% takes either, but they worked. I recommend also using plant tie or similar to really cinch the graft shut along with the buddy tape up and down the scion and covering the wound.

Okay I've got the slow release, I'll go look for some chicken manure. Is that particularly good for all citrus for flowering (high phosphorous)?

Growth doesn't seem to be the problem with that one, it's the flowering thats the problem.

16
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 10, 2022, 07:06:15 PM »
The fuerte is too young to really say how it will do.  Really needs 5+ years to decide.  But fuerte is known to be unreliable in producing.  Mine produces some years then others it goes for  2 years at a time 0 fruit.  Its big and healthy and if it strikes out this year Im going to top work it. 

Personally I think hass is a better avocado tree to plant.  Instead of ripping it out maybe just top work the tree.  Not sure if thats what you planned since you were asking about hass scions recently.

I planted some seeds last year and they are chunky so I wanted to graft hass onto those.

I chose the Fuerte for two reasons: time of year it produces and flavor. I'm willing to gamble with production since hopefully I'll have small producing more reliable trees in other areas. And as you mentioned, if it does strengthen I can always graft onto it later (which I'm better at than with citrus, for whatever reason).

17
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: When it's time ......
« on: February 10, 2022, 06:14:27 PM »
Okay thx, that sounds right. My soil is kind of lacking. I do fertilize (with Organic Fruit Tree fertilizer), do I need to apply more or less? The strong leaf growth on the Grapefruit but no flowers make me think less than what I was doing, and not sure what to think of avo situation w regards to fert.

I tried topworking the Grapefruit last summer with scions from CCPP and failed with all 3 scions (tangerines, I think). I figured citrus on citrus should be fine and thought my cleft grafts looked good, but no luck.

18
Tropical Fruit Discussion / When it's time ......
« on: February 10, 2022, 05:22:22 PM »
So let me preface this with saying that I have limited yard space.

I have two trees that I am thinking about pulling due to lack of growth or production.

The first is a Fuerte Avocado tree. I planted it last summer from 2 gallons and while there has been some growth and new leaves, the trunk is still kind of spindly and the leaves just look uninspired (I didn't plant it in compost).

The second is a grapefruit tree. This one is tougher. I planted it 3 years ago from 15 gallons. It had a few fruit that year that I let grow (I know, probably a mistake), the second year it produced 8 delicious fruit, and last year it skunked, not even a single flower, although a lot of leaf growth. I'm thinking about pulling it if it doesn't flower this year. Still kind of pissed about last year.

So, would you pull these two?

19
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Top heavy grafted avocado tree
« on: June 21, 2021, 12:43:23 AM »
Alright. That's what I want to do just because it'd be weird to cut off the new growth thats here (and what I've been hoping for this whole time).

When do you stop rubbing off shoots below the graft? Never, right? The stalk is so long that a couple of branches below the graft would be nice but I guess that'll slow the desired variety quite a bit.


20
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Top heavy grafted avocado tree
« on: June 21, 2021, 12:13:16 AM »
In Summer of 2020 I successfully grafted onto a half inch wide avocado rootstock. The problem is that I grafted about two feet off the ground and stripped all the lower leaves.

Fast forward to now and the scion is putting on a lot of new growth and there are no branches below the graft union, so its tall and about 3/4" wide all the way up, about 2.5 feet high. 

I'm wondering if I should top the new growth to stimulate lower buds to prevent snapping. It's not in a windy area but it just looks wrong.  Should I just wait it out?

Sincerely,

Too tall

21
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Linda macadamia nut
« on: May 22, 2021, 12:12:32 AM »
Problem with a seedling, of course, is that it will not be true to type.  One of the nurseries sells macadamia trees thru HD that carry a label identifying the tree as a "Cate".  On the reverse of the tag it is identified as a seedling.  I thought we were past this selling seedlings as a specific identifiable, predictable genetic type.  Given 10 years looking at a "Cate" seedling production and that of a true grafted or airlayered CATE, would lead to inevitable differences.  Growers need predictable outcomes, especially after an investment of time and $.  Ten years from planting the seedling's crop could just be junk.  Difficult enough differences caused by climate, soil, water quality, etc.  A seedling is a seedling, nothing more.  May be better, may be worse than parent(s).  To expect a specific outcome from a seedling's variability is unreasonable, and most people know that. So do the nurseries.

Of the 50 or so macadamias I raise, about a half are seedlings of unknown parentage.  Many, if not most, produce excellent nuts.  Some, not.  Of the 14 named varieties, grafted, nut quality corresponds with known standards. I don't think we should expect anything less.

Seedling trees graft easily as long as the scionwood is girdled about 3-4 months before cutting.  Results are close to 100%.
I only have room for a few trees so y'all have convinced me to go for grafted varieties, thanks for the advice.

Out of curiosity Jack, because you grow a lot of seedlings, is it your experience that most seedlings don't produce for 10-12 years after planting the seed? And what percentage of the seedlings would you say never produce at all?

I'm asking because nurseries tell you that seedlings are generally close to being true to seed, and I just don't see how they get that.

Also, what do Cate nuts taste like, and are their shells significantly thinner?

22
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Linda macadamia nut
« on: May 20, 2021, 10:34:40 PM »
I am not surprised by the poor growth of that macadamia seedling tree. I had the same issue with my Beaumont tree over 10 years ago. I suspect the native soil is heavier clay type. At my location, I replaced over 1.5 yards of my heavy clay with sandy soil and after I did this my tree took off.  It is not a good idea to plant seedling macadamia trees because even in ideal conditions it will take 8-10 to start to produce nuts and since the tree is Not true to type you never know what you're going to get. It's a big risk and a long wait with seedling trees. Both of my trees are grafted. The Beaumont is 10 years old and the Alba is seven years, about the same age as your seedling. Both grafted trees started to produce at four years of age. Also, macadamia trees like water and grow best with heavy applications of water. I also make several light applications of sulfer twice a year to lower the ph of the soil. They do poorly if the PH is too high.

Enclosed are a few recent pictures of my two trees. The nuts I got last year were excellent.

Johnny



 

Alba Macadamia Tree (7 years old)


Beaumont Mac Tree

Thanks Johnny, beautiful trees.

How do you add sulfur (can you link to a product)?

A few more specific questions:

Do both trees produce continuously throughout the year?
Which tree has the better tasting nut? If you could only choose one, which would it be?
Will you prune it to keep it smaller?

Apart from the question of maintaining a lowered pH, my understanding is that Phosphorous is not a native component of Australian soil, so I tend to tread lightly there - Alaska Fish Emulsion 5-1-1 seems to fit the bill pretty well. It's kind of my go - to anyway for a lot of new/tender stuff -since it's not going to burn anything. When I think to collect it, I also toss a couple handfuls of seaweed into the mix - for Iodine and trace elements. Seems to be getting a little scarce on my local beaches these days, though.
When you say both trees started to produce at 4 years of age, does that mean 4 years after planting a tree that was already 2-3 years old (and grafted, in a container), or one to two years after planting that same tree?
Also, can you prune these trees to stay at, say 15 feet tall and still be good producers?

23
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Blueberry Pollinator
« on: May 19, 2021, 10:46:33 AM »
Primarily Bumble Bees here in the Southeaster US...

Kevin

I'm in the southwest and the only bees I see on my blueberry plants are bumblebees, and likewise the blueberry plants seem to be the only plant they really like.

24
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Linda macadamia nut
« on: May 18, 2021, 11:35:04 AM »
I am not surprised by the poor growth of that macadamia seedling tree. I had the same issue with my Beaumont tree over 10 years ago. I suspect the native soil is heavier clay type. At my location, I replaced over 1.5 yards of my heavy clay with sandy soil and after I did this my tree took off.  It is not a good idea to plant seedling macadamia trees because even in ideal conditions it will take 8-10 to start to produce nuts and since the tree is Not true to type you never know what you're going to get. It's a big risk and a long wait with seedling trees. Both of my trees are grafted. The Beaumont is 10 years old and the Alba is seven years, about the same age as your seedling. Both grafted trees started to produce at four years of age. Also, macadamia trees like water and grow best with heavy applications of water. I also make several light applications of sulfer twice a year to lower the ph of the soil. They do poorly if the PH is too high.

Enclosed are a few recent pictures of my two trees. The nuts I got last year were excellent.

Johnny



 

Alba Macadamia Tree (7 years old)


Beaumont Mac Tree

Thanks Johnny, beautiful trees.

How do you add sulfur (can you link to a product)?

A few more specific questions:

Do both trees produce continuously throughout the year?
Which tree has the better tasting nut? If you could only choose one, which would it be?
Will you prune it to keep it smaller?

25
Tropical Fruit Discussion / Re: Linda macadamia nut
« on: May 17, 2021, 10:29:09 PM »
Wow, yeah I thought it'd be taller too. Thanks for the update.

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