Author Topic: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b  (Read 1311 times)

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« on: October 22, 2022, 01:05:58 AM »
Hello I'm not exactly new to the forum, but I've never made an account, only browed silently. So then I thought I show you guys the crazy idea I had of throwing everything I had in a container to the ground. Being in TN, we have heavy clay and areas of silt loams, but I got stuck with heavier clay.I grew citrus in pots for 5 years before I got tired of lugging them in and out of my house every winter. It wasn't until last year that I got into more tropical fruit like mangoes and went on a buying spree. I've labeled then almost in order, but I'm doing this on mobile so it's a toss up. But I have currently: Red lady papaya,  A sad minneola tangelo, Smith Red Blood, Sanguinelli, fukushu kumquat, brown select satsuma, variegated eureka lemon, nules clementine, pickering mango (the bushy one) Persian lime, Cara Cara navel, Valencia, Río Red, Coconut Cream (Somewhat spindly), Meyer lemon, Sweet tart (in pot), Super Dwarf Cavendish banana, Wurtz Avo, Fruit punch (tallest one) And finally the ruby supreme guava with some fruit. Some bonus scattered pineapples as well as guanabana I got from a nursery in Kissimmee went I visited FL. My greenhouse is a mess with random water jugs and bubble wrap to keep the heat in better during the cold. The propane heater is there only the coldest nights. All of these were planted in March of this year. If anyone has questions about anything let me know, I like learning too.

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2022, 01:10:28 AM »
They keep marking my pictures as spam so I'll have to upload them in sections.











I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2022, 01:11:45 AM »















I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2022, 01:12:51 AM »















Midwestfruitjungle

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 83
  • -10 F won’t stop me 🌱
    • USA, Indiana, 5b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2022, 07:32:41 PM »
That’s awesome! I’m in 5b, I would love to do something like that once I have the time. What is your main way of preserving heat?

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2022, 08:31:45 PM »
I'm still ironing that out. I've had this project on the back burner for a while until I got tired of lugging them in pots inside during the winter. But I'm going to put in more water jugs, add more bubble wrap, and maybe some Christmas lights on the more sensitive trees to cost heating costs down. I put the greenhouse plastic up in mid-March and didn't take it off until May.

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2022, 08:52:34 PM »
It looks awesome! My first thought is that you must do a serious ballet to move around in there!  I still have all my greenhouse trees in pots. I can't dig down two inches becuase of our maple tree roots.

I tried bubble wrap with very poor results - the bubbles got all full of condensation and then got moldy, then it all fell down.

You will probably find the water jugs inadequate.  The second the sun quits hitting them they start releasing their heat, and even boiling water is the temperature of the ambient air in two hours.  Then the greenhouse is trying to heat the air AND the water.

I tried several ways to help keep my greenhouse warm, and really, insulation and just an outside heat source (like the propane heater) were the only things that worked. 

Of course, I have over a hundred REALLY tropical plants, like cacao, so I just bit the bullet and pay for the natural gas bill.  You are warmer down there, though, so it may be a bit easier.  A good insulating blanket would probably work well. They make a type of heavy duty bubble wrap just for greenhouses.

Cheers,
Carolyn

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2022, 09:32:22 PM »
I do have literally dance around some of my trees! There's more room in here than it looks in the pictures. But thank goodness I'm not the only one trying to make it work! I have noticed that despite having the water and wrap, the ambient temperature on clear nights does drop below the projected lows for my area. And the heat dissipates the moment like you said when the sun goes down. Thanks for the suggestions! Sometimes during winter, our temperature swings can be difficult to deal with especially when the daily high temps sometimes stay below 0C. I'll look into the greenhouse bubble wrap as the northern wall of the greenhouse doesn't get direct sunlight anyways.

Jaboticaba45

  • Check out TN Tropical Fruits!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2355
  • Tropical Fruit Tree Connoisseur
    • Chattanooga TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2022, 10:50:21 PM »
Wow nice setup. Where in TN are you located? We might be pretty near by.

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #9 on: October 22, 2022, 11:12:32 PM »
I'm in the western part of the state.

Jaboticaba45

  • Check out TN Tropical Fruits!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2355
  • Tropical Fruit Tree Connoisseur
    • Chattanooga TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #10 on: October 22, 2022, 11:15:09 PM »
I'm in the western part of the state.
Ah ok. I'm eastern part.
I have lots of stuff in ground in my greenhouse. Several mangoes, lychee, white sapote, jaboticaba, guava, rollinia, starfruit, and lemon drop mangosteen.
I use bottomless rootmaker pots.
IN ground has challenges, but the trees grow faster.
Everything else is in pots.

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2022, 12:00:53 AM »
I also have various potted plants like your standard citrus, sugar cane, Kari starfruit, prickly pear cactus, and palms. The other outside stuff consists peaches, pears, plums, nectarine, cherry, Musa basjoo, maypop passion fruit and edulis, loquats, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.

Jaboticaba45

  • Check out TN Tropical Fruits!
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2355
  • Tropical Fruit Tree Connoisseur
    • Chattanooga TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2022, 12:18:12 AM »
I also have various potted plants like your standard citrus, sugar cane, Kari starfruit, prickly pear cactus, and palms. The other outside stuff consists peaches, pears, plums, nectarine, cherry, Musa basjoo, maypop passion fruit and edulis, loquats, pomegranates, blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.
Have loquats fruited for you?
I know they grow here but with the cold sometimes the flowers are off and they dont set?

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #13 on: October 23, 2022, 12:27:22 AM »
I forgot to mention that I also planted those in March of this year. The bigger champagne i have looks like it's getting ready to flower but since it hasn't been in the ground for long so I'll just either prune it off or let it freeze off.

W.

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 647
    • United States, Alabama, 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #14 on: October 23, 2022, 04:03:24 PM »
I'm in the western part of the state.
Ah ok. I'm eastern part.
I have lots of stuff in ground in my greenhouse. Several mangoes, lychee, white sapote, jaboticaba, guava, rollinia, starfruit, and lemon drop mangosteen.
I use bottomless rootmaker pots.
IN ground has challenges, but the trees grow faster.
Everything else is in pots.

Sounds like he's closer to me than you, since I live in the northwest corner of Alabama.

Unfortunately, I can't help him with any experiential greenhouse advice. I am still working on designing and building mine.

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #15 on: October 23, 2022, 07:55:24 PM »
Any ideas are welcomed. It's going to be my first winter with the greenhouse up. I was originally going double poly insulation, but that's a more permanent solution. I take the plastic off during summer as the highs go upwards of 34C for weeks on end. But in the meantime, here's the sweet tart in some new shoes:



I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #16 on: October 25, 2022, 11:21:22 PM »
Here's that fruit from the guava that I harvest today next to an orange. The smell from this thing is incredible!


I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #17 on: February 18, 2023, 05:39:00 PM »
I have a question for you guys that are familiar with mangoes. These wouldn't happen to be mixed bloom inflorescences would they? Being in my greenhouse that dips to 10C to about 8C, The cold would be enough to stimulate pure bloom wouldn't it?



Some of these are my pickering, and the others Coconut Cream












I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #18 on: March 25, 2023, 01:36:15 PM »
BLOOM UPDATE:
Here's my pickering, coconut cream, fruit punch (somewhat), and sweet tart in bloom. The coconut cream and pickering smell amazing! I didn't know that the coconut cream blooms could be so big, and the pickering be so red. I ve since clipped the blooms in half on my sweet tart. I don't want it to produce anyways it's too small. I've also recently added orange sherbet from tropical acres farm and plan to add more soon.

Sweet Tart


Pickering






Coconut cream






Fruit punch




And lastly my new orange sherbet


I don't know what the brown discoloration is, but hopefully it grows out of it. Maybe I'll get some mangoes this year! But before that, I'd like some advice on how many mangoes I can get out of pickering without stunting it. I have to keep my trees smaller, and if fruiting them heavily enough stops them from getting big quickly, then so be it. So any advice on that would be appreciated! I may also dig out either that papaya or avocado and plant the OS or ST instead. What do you guys think?

Daintree

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1209
    • Boise, Idaho - zone 6, with a zone 12 greenhouse...
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #19 on: March 25, 2023, 03:15:10 PM »
Others may have had diferrent experiences, but I have found that plants will naturally drop the fruit that they can't support nutritionally.  Premature fruit drop usually starts when the fruit is very small, and they may drop half or more. Then as the fruit gets bigger, if branches are weighed down or if none of the fruit are developing, you can manually thin the fruit.  When I manually thin, I will prune 1 out of 3 fruits.

I_Grow_Almost_Everything

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 18
    • TN 7b
    • View Profile
Re: Citrus/Tropical greenhouse zone7b
« Reply #20 on: April 07, 2023, 09:48:34 PM »
Great advise, i was also leaning towards just letting ii set and then thinning it. I find that citrus also does the same thing except satsumas, those things will fruit themselves to death! Thanks for the reply.