Author Topic: minneola tangelo in container  (Read 4393 times)

brian

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minneola tangelo in container
« on: April 20, 2014, 05:33:13 PM »
I just tried these for the first time this winter and they were probably the best store-bought citrus I've had.  I happened to find a grafted tree for sale locally when I was out yesterday and bought it.  I was looking into the variety online today and read that 1) it grows large, fast 2) it may require a pollinator.  I need to keep it under 7ft tall in a greenhouse in winter and it isn't likely to be pollinated in there if it blooms in winter like the rest of my greenhouse trees did.  I read in a CGF thread that you can spray gibberellic acid on it during bloom as a substitute for pollination.  Is this as straightforward as it sounds?






Tom

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2014, 05:50:36 PM »
I guess that could be called straight forward. Good luck ! Your green house will be a huge help for where you are. I believe your tree is also called a honey bell. The tree and roots look good to me. I guess you are repotting in the light colored square container. Are the pictures in order or did you put it back in the same pot or a similar one ?  Tom

brian

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2014, 06:19:03 PM »
I've never used gibberellic acid so I have to obtain and mix it I guess.   

The pictures are in order, it isn't the same pot.  I moved it from the pot it came in to a larger rootmaker pot.  I had good luck with the one Millet sent me so I'm repotting them all in these this spring.  The square container is just what I was using to mix the potting medium up.

Tom

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2014, 06:42:43 PM »
Great. That makes sense. Thanks. Tom

Millet

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2014, 09:50:18 PM »
Yes, gibbereilllic (GA3) acid works great.  I use it most every year, both on my citrus and grapes. Two things to consider when using GA3 acid to pollinate your citrus.  The percent of active pollination is very high, so the tree will set a LOT of fruit when sprayed with GA3.  Much more than a tree being pollinated by natural means.  Therefore, you will get many more fruit, but because of the great number, the fruit will be smaller in size.  However, if you thin the tree a little the tree will produce the normal size for the cultivar.   Use a 1 percent solution.  If you don't want to by GA3 you can use tomato and pepper set.  In most brands, the active ingredient is GA3.  To be sure, check the ingredients on the label.  Spray at full bloom.  - Millet

Tom

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #5 on: April 20, 2014, 10:21:44 PM »
Great info. Thanks. Smaller mandarins often taste better to me than the big ones. Same holds true about blueberries and blackberries, usually to me at least.  The best cantaloupe I ever had was unusually small. Tom

brian

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2014, 03:04:24 PM »
Yes, gibbereilllic (GA3) acid works great.  I use it most every year, both on my citrus and grapes. Two things to consider when using GA3 acid to pollinate your citrus.  The percent of active pollination is very high, so the tree will set a LOT of fruit when sprayed with GA3.  Much more than a tree being pollinated by natural means.  Therefore, you will get many more fruit, but because of the great number, the fruit will be smaller in size.  However, if you thin the tree a little the tree will produce the normal size for the cultivar.   Use a 1 percent solution.  If you don't want to by GA3 you can use tomato and pepper set.  In most brands, the active ingredient is GA3.  To be sure, check the ingredients on the label.  Spray at full bloom.  - Millet

Thanks for the info, I will check out the sprays available locally and thin out the fruit if it gets out of hand.

Millet

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Re: minneola tangelo in container
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2014, 03:48:05 PM »
An easy way to thin a citrus tree to ensure large fruit is as follows.  A citrus fruit only requires the energy produced by the three closest leaves to it to grow from a pollinated flower into a mature fruit.  So if you wish your tree to produce the largest size fruit, thin to leave one fruit for each set of three leaves. - Millet