The Tropical Fruit Forum

swimmingfree, thank you for the offer but I think I will be okay with the number of survivors for now.  This is more of an experiment, but I'd like to know I can reliably grow rootstock in the future when my grafting skills improve.

Millet, I put osmocote plus in the small containers so they should have necessary nutrients.  The yellowing seems to be rather rapid, these were mostly green a week ago.  It looks like poor drainage or overheating but when I check after heavy rains they aren't damp at the bottom and I think I've been consistent with my watering.  I have also had poor outcomes with tomato and pepper seedlings once potted up.  I wonder if the 4:4:1-ratio mix peat/cedar/perlite might be inappropriate for seedlings?  Or just too many soil pathogens?

I planted twenty or so FD seedlings last year and again this year.  It seems that ~30% die off right after sprouting, and otherwise healthy seedlings randomly decline or die until only a small number remain.  The four that survived from last year are very healthy and green.  It looks like this year will be the same.

All were treated identically.  They're planted in the same cedar/peat/perlite mix as my larger trees and seem to have good drainage - there are holes in the bottom of the cups.  They get the same amount of water, sun, etc and shouldn't have ever dried out. 

Is this like damping off of tomcato/pepper seedlings?   Anything I can do to improve survival?  I really don't need many I was just growing them to eventually graft other varieties onto. 

These are last years survivors


And this years bunch.  A dozen already died over the past few months and there's more dead ones here.

5 grams of 90% GA3.  Enough for a lifetime, I am guessing.  Unfortunately I don't have a scale so I haven't yet figured out how I am going to dilulte it to the proper concentration.  From what I read overdoing it can easily cause problems.  If you have any suggestions here I am all ears.

Some were from Fourwinds so I assume Cuban Shaddock.  Others are on unknown rootstock, I bought them from Hope Depot or Lowes.  They are clearly grafted, though.

After agressively bare-rooting some purchased trees a year ago many took 5 months or more to put out new growth.  Once they did it has been huge flushes ever since.  I no longer worry when trees haven't shown growth in a while so long as there are no signs of decline.

I forgot Page is a tangelo.  Mine is blooming right now.  I briefly looked around online for a retail spray containing gibberellic acid but I can't find anything, only powder form and expensive bulk sprays.  Millet mentioned that some tomato bloom products contain this but I can't seem to find any or they aren't listing GA3 as an ingredient.  Anybody have any ideas?

I have enough bees around that I expect it will be pollinated anyway but some of my trees end up blooming in the greenhouse and so won't have this option.

80F for flower buds to form or for green fruit to ripen?

If the former it explains why mine didn't bloom until nearly July.

They are all painted white on one side to keep the afternoon heat out.  I think Millet mentioned this a ways back and it definitely helps.

The orangequat is blooming now so there's a good chance I will get to see what the fruit tastes like this winter.

My container citrus trees are in very low maintenance mode right now - there is osmocote plus in all containers and they get a mix of rainwater and long sprinkler watering.  Aside from occasionally killing ant infestations I don't really have to touch them.   I remember hearing about June Drop from the other forum as something that was an avoidable problem this time of year.  Is it just a matter of keeping the trees from drying out?  Anything in particular to watch out for?  My oranges have already set fruit, the kumquats are blooming, and the lemons/limes are ... both. 

I had heard that letting plants sway in the wind builds strong trunks so I always stake just long enough for the roots to establish and then I remove the stakes. 

I didn't know about the lower leaves being important, though.  I generally pinch off any growth low on the trunk for my taller tree-form plants.  This is mostly because I have a mix of tree and bush-form trees and I can cram more of them in a row if the canopies are staggered high/low.  Adjacent root pruning pots sort of lock together when touching so it keeps the wind from blowing individual trees over.   I guess the question is:  if you know a branch will be heavily shaded is it better to pinch it off entirely or let it survive?

The only kumquats I've ever seen for sale were Nagamis.  They are very sour and sort of astringent but I love them.  Nobody else I've offered them to seem to like them.  I don't have any true Nagami trees but I have Nordman Seedless which tastes about the same.