Thanks, Toni!

My little cold-frame is 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 2 feet deep.
There's just enough room for me to climb inside and turn around if I have to.
I load the plants in from the near end one at a time, or else I wouldn't fit!
Both sides can be opened for air circulation, and closed tightly with velcro tabs.

Dolomitic Garden Lime and Vinegar:
1. Bark-based mixes have a low pH to start.
Therefore, I add Lime to the bark to slightly raise the pH and to provide a source of Calcium.

2. Tap-water/hose-water tends to be slightly alkaline.
Over time, fertilizer salts and residue from water tend to become concentrated in the soil mix.
Therefore, I add about a capful of white vinegar per gallon of water to combat the gradual
alkaline creep and to help free up and flush those accumulated salts.

The Lime is added once - preferably when the bark is mixed.

The vinegar is used with nearly every watering.

Mike!

Yes, you're right, I do have a lot of those plants!
I've seen your Gardenia, and know you have the magic touch, so I'm following your technique.

And I'm so glad that I went ahead and purchased this Lemon, despite the sour sales lady! ;)

We'll chat more about the Container Forum.
Cheers!


Josh

i feel so popular, my pun is now so well known ^^.
that variegated sure looks perty. "Lemon tree very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the poor lemon fruit is impossible to eat"

Josh, boy do i feel stupid for my last post, chech the Went Citrus Pricing Today for my apology/explanation

Don't worry about a thing! ;)
Besides, that lemon rhyme takes the cake...!

Josh

Two more shots of the Variegated Pink Lemon.

The first thing I did was remove the ridiculous stake.

{{gwi:626329}}

This is my favorite part - a nice low graft, and low branching:

{{gwi:647103}}


Josh

wow, its great... if you ever have the urge to root...and have to much room..... :)

Oh Josh, so beautiful...

I love the different angled pics and it has a perfect start to begin with! Just your type of plant. You are going to have so much fun with this one. You are going to forever be grateful you picked him/her up.

That tree will a blaze in beauty in your care for sure. I am very happy for you.

Please keep us posted as we always enjoy along with your others. This is very fun, informative, and just awesome.

Congrats again on such a nice one!

Mike:-))))

ok, i am making a new profile because of reasons why i had to get a new email... not gonna go into that, i will post onto this thread on my new name/profile
i need a new email, and its not letting me change it

its andrew--
i agree w/ mike, its just amazing. did you get that from that nursery from that other thread?

Hey, guys!
Hello, Andrew 2.0! Sorry you had to change e-mail.
I hope it didn't have to do with that scumbag who posted on the Forum a while back...

Anyhow, yes this Lemon came from the same nursery where I go citrusing periodically.
I know some of the students that work there - I even had the daughter of the owners
in one of my English summer school sessions a couple years back - so it's a shame that
the other employees aren't all as friendly.

I have great patience...but once I'm mistreated, I hold a grudge for a long time.

Now I'll just try to focus on the blooms and the fruit to come.


Josh

Hello Andrew.

I too am sorry that you had to change your screen profile. It is such a shame.It is good to see you still posting even though you had to change it..So you like lemons, ay?

Josh: I hope I am never one of those that mistreat you. You are just to nice to be treated any differntly than GOOD.

Yes, wait until your trees start blooming! You know, now that you have three citrus and maybe more? lol. The chances of getting fruit and blooms has just increased 2 fold!

Have fun today

Mike

great tree josh!

what I like most is how clean that graft is. All mine are bud grafted and they have a poor angle.

great buy!!

Thanks, Oklahoma Mike! ;)
I thought so, too. I pulled all the trees out into the aisle, and turned them
this way and that to inspect and compare the trunks, the graft, and the overall branching structure.
This tree didn't have the thickest trunk, but it was nice and vertical, had a low
clean graft, and a decent balance of branches.

Meyer Mike, I highly doubt you'll ever be the one to offend or mistreat me ;)
Besides, you've come to my defense on these GardenWeb Fora countless times in the past.
I'm like a Norse king of old....rewarding my friends handsomely, but utterly scorning
and crushing my enemies.

Andrew, if I decide to try and root some cuttings, I'll keep you in mind ;)


Josh

Josh, I love your lemons variegation. More white than green. Cool...:)

What do you mean your graft is low? lol. Are you talking location? If so, I think the graft is on the high side. lol.
All my citrus, '20+' grafts are low. They're potted in tree pots..Tall, narrow, plastic.

Anyway, your lemon is doing great. What type of Gardenia did you get? Did you post a pic anywhere? Or have one to post?

Mike, yesterday I went grocery shopping. Wouldn't you know it, they had small Gardenias on sale. It may or may not survive though..Each 'denia was wrapped in aluminum foil, soil drenched. Stagnant water inside the foil, Yuckee!
First thing I did after purchase and in the lot, was remove the foil, let water drain, then set in the grocery bag..it's dangerous keeping plants outside in this weather, even a short time, but the odor was unbearable, and I wanted the pot out of the foil.

People should complain about that darn foil. It's a plant killer. Of course, it's possible they're using it intentionally for people who don't know roots sitting in water is harmful. They leave the foil on, 'for looks.' The plant dies a slow death, tossed in the trash. Then off to buy another..

People starting out should be aware aluminim foil is harmful to plants. Toni

toni, my grocery store loves doing the same (hisses under his breath, "murdererssssss", thats why i never buy plants from the grocery store, maybe if no one buys them, they'll stop selling them and leave it to the professionals

i dont have any gardenias, but after so much people saying how great they are, im considering them.

Josh, how you phrased your sentence about Norse kings, made me lol, do you teach english? it sounded like it on ur post about that employee. And thankyou for keeping me in mind about that plant :)

yes mike, i just like gardening in general, although citruses are great :)

my email changes DID have some things to do with those trollers...but id rather not go into that right now. Hopefully that wont happen again. On the plus side, my google email address is compatable w/ microsoft outlook, which is very fun!

Andrew...The store I'm talking about is Jewel/Albertsons, or Albersons, down south. They have an cool room where over-priced, cut flowers are kept..I don't step in that room. 'do not want cut flowers'.outside the area are plant displays..they usually have mums, but also sell tropicals and some sux from 3" pots to 10". I usually buy their 1.00 plants..My D. 'Dragon Tree,' was in a 3" pot. I also found a C. 'Fire Flash,' one in stock, that was sitting around for months, for 4.00..they hardly ever foil-wrap. Occassionaly for holiday plants, Valentine's, Mother's Day, etc. If I stopped buying plants from Jewel or HD, they wouldn't stop selling..

Andrew, sorry about your email, for whatever reason. Hope you're not having 'puter problems..

Gardenias are beautiful, but they're extremely fussy..Stop at the Fragrant Forum some time..You'll see what I mean.

Mike, please explain to Andrew about Gardenias and the FF. lol..

lol toni, sounds like there are many stories, i wish my grocery store had that selection, we have a cut rose little cold booth, like the things where they keep produce that needs to be chilled and misted. those roses are some of those genectically enlarged one that (as a side effect of the enlarging) lose all that nice rose smell. that and everyonce in a while other plants. Nobody ever buys from this Kroger, and the roses sit there until they turn brown.
i am not having 'puter problems (that made me smile), i am having forum troller problems.........

Good morning!

Toni, this graft is about 6 inches above the soil line (where my finger's pointing).
How low are yours???

Toni, the gardenia is radicans jasminoides (if I recall correctly).
I've had it since last summer. The roots were dead in the heavy, peat soil, and it's had to regrow a
whole new set. Most of the plant died, but it's slowly recovering.

Andrew, I'm a substitute teacher....but English is my specialty.
I've been lucky to enjoy long-term positions, as well as teaching my own summer school classes,
to keep sufficient income while waiting for the right full-time position to come along.
I love to learn, and I love to be in the presence of learning.

Josh

Toni!!! Your kidding?!!! Lol..

What the heck? Gardenia's in your area! I am thrilled you picked that baby up. They are not difficult for you to care for, compared to many others I know..lol
I am sure that thing was lucky when you scoffed that one out of the store..lol

You mean this one Toni? lol

Talk soon

I will link it at the bottom..

Josh: lol. I definately wouldn't of made any enemies in that era! lol I have seen to many of those movies and read too many books! I don't think the common man made it past 40 years of age. You too have been there for me and many others! Now, please, some more pictures soon, ok?

Here is a link that might be useful: Suicidal gardenia

So much for a wonderful smelling greenhouse. My meyer has some red mites. All I had on hand was some FE and its too cold to apply it outside. Now it smells like a fish proccessor inside. Its always something isn't it.

Mike

I noticed red mites in my cold-frame yesterday, too!
And I'm thinking they arrived with the new citrus...which is why I hate buying when I can't properly quarrantine!
I immediately sprayed every plant with Fish Emulsion. What's the ratio again? I just went by feel....

Josh

Josh
How strange we both have the same issue. I havent seen a posted ratio. I use an old windex spray bottle and put about a half inch of FE in it then add water. Seems to work ok. I just checked on it and the little red mites aren't moving. I guess Ill continue treatment for awhile and see if they return

Mike

Thanks, Mike, much appreciated.
I used a spray-bottle, drizzled some FE in the bottom, and filled about half the bottle with warm water.
Then I shook it well, and sprayed above and below, every plant.

I talked to Meyer Mike this afternoon and he gave me some great tips.
He also reminded me that the mites might have been in the environment to begin with,
and were merely waiting for the slightly warmer weather to suddenly reproduce.
So....I might have blamed the new citrus too soon... ;)

If the mites don't abate, I'll turn to stiffer measures.

Josh

Norse God destruction, rape, and pillage (vs. The mites) measures?

I shall drown them and their children in Neem Oil! ;)

Josh

haha, ^>^

You peoples from the big CA, alert me when the weather starts makin a turn for the warm, i am eager to add a new tree to my spaces under my sunroom's sunroofs. I want to order from Four Winds, and i'd rather not do it while it is under freezing >.>. Okay then g'night

-Andrew

WAIT josh, if your going to kill the mites w/ F.E./N.O., then are you "PUN-ishing" them?

In the newspaper, (wow, i just admitted im in high school, and i read the newspaper) i saw this coupon/ advertisement.

{{gwi:647106}}

Its 3 citrus for 10 bucks, 3.95 each, you save 2 bucks. Dwarf (UNSPECIFIED) Lime, Dwarf Meyer Lemon, and Dwarf Venous Orange (which i have never heard of).

Heres picture they give of the full grown trees

{{gwi:647109}}

The reason there is only a chance that i will have 3 new trees to my house is that the website says they do not ship to arkansas (among other states, including the ones that have bans on citrus export/import) The flyer says that they only dont ship to AZ, CA, FL, TX, which means im good. So im going to order through the mail and see what happens. THey say they ship to warious zones based on ideal planting time. For 7b, they ship Feb. 27 - Mid March. So around then, i might have 3 new citrus.

For 4 bucks per tree, they will probably be barerooted twigs though. But im optimistic, and even if they are twigs, plants grow.

Wish me luck
-Andrew

Looks like a good deal, they want 12.99 on their website. Their reviews all seem to be positive.

That is a great deal. Go for it! They do have a way of making the pictures look great...Now to just get your plants like that which I think you will be able to do..:-)

Hi Mike:-)

Mike

Hey mike

well the FE seemed to have killed the mites. There are little red dots on the leaves but none are moving. Amazing how well it does, and organic as well. Greenhouse still stinks though :(

Ill soon be posting a pic of my baby Rio Red Grapefruit seedling that just germinated yesterday!!

mike

FANTASTIC! That stuff would kill me too if I got showered in it..lol
If not that, I would be every stray cats best friend in my back yard..

Mike

Well once the blizzard passes ill get out and takes some pics. Currently we have 18 inches of snow and 3 to 4 foot drifts. My trees are nice and cozy in the greenhouse. Mike you get this kind of snow a lot but for us okies its a record. Temps are gonna get down to below zero over night with wind chillsaround -15. Get this just 2 days ago it was 80

Mike

My God Mike, I don't know which is worst, my permanent cold, or your freaky warmth to frigid!

I don't think those extremes are god for any plants.

Is there any where in the country that is safe from these extreme changes?

Have you heard about Jojo's weather? I hope she chimes in on this. I heard it is suppose to get to 0 in parts of Arizona, or at least the teens. Is this true?

Josh, tells me his weather is warming up that stinker..lol

Today we got about 8-12 inches, and tomorrow am, we get to have another 12 again!
Go figure. The years we get sort of mild winters, I bring my pop up greenhouse in.
The year I leave it out all winter long and push the limits, that is the year we get bammed with frigid and lot's of snow. That is the year Siberia decides to pay us a visit, for what seems like forever..lol

You are right, for Oklahoma, that is a lot. I am just grateful you are not having a severe outbreak of tornados!

Mike

Hey, guys! Temp here is about 61 degrees, and breezy.
My cold-frame is between 70 and 80 degrees F with the door open.
I fertilized this morning. It seems that my spider mite issue has disappeared, as well.

Josh

wow, its 22 as i speak, and it will be 11 tomorrow. BRRR and i live in ARKANSAS >.>

We're having an ice storm of epic proportions. Everything is buttoned up. Over 3,000 without power and they closed the air force base except for essential personnel. I think the last time that happened was 9/11. So far we have power. Oh well, and this too shall pass. (Not the power I hope)

Cath

ya, just about everywhere is having winter storms (in US that is). Friday, i'm supposed to get lotsa snow, maybe i'll get a SNOW DAY (woots)!. Not citrus related- i am extremely estatic: On X-Mas, my grandmother bought me some rosemary seeds. After planting those Xmas day (leaving them inside for warmth), note i only planted half of them in case of it being to cold, today, 2/3 pots have one seeling coming out WOOTS

The below temperature map is certainly depressing. More of the same for tonight. Actual low temp here at my weather station is now 14.6, the low as 14.4 with winds 13 gusting 21. I guess I can plan on replacing my citrus.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:393350}}

Sorry, I forgot to include the fact that these temps represents an historic, all-time low. :(

hey mike

Im glad we arent dodging tornadoes also. Of course with spring right around the corner we will get plenty. Well after all has passed we ended up with an official 14 inches with places a few miles north receiving 20+. This was a record for a 24 hour total. We have also set new records for lows. -6 overnight and wind chills in the - teens. 68 degrees in the greenhouse with 3 foot drifts on it and around it. My trees and seedlings have done just great. a little sun deprived but I was able to remove the snow off the roof and the sun is out today.

{{gwi:647112}}

Mike

Believe it or not, the below picture is from downtown Tucson:

{{gwi:393352}}

I'm sure there will be a run on replacement citrus in a month or so. These temps are the lowest since 1889!!!!!

Wow!

If anyone says we are having a greenhouse affect, I will, blank my pants! lol
Those temps are just ridiculous! Whhat gives?

I can't beleive the snow you had Mike and for that area. Good golly! looks like you are just about to engulf your greenhouse into an igloo very soon as I did..lol
Now, what's next, tornados?
I is such a good feeling to ee the temps in there that warm right, those lucky trees.
I lost my heat last night, ran out of oil. It was 55 in my home this am and it was 68 in the greenhouse. I almost slept in there this am..

Mike: The one thing that ALWAYS scares me, especially this time of the year is loosing the electricty while asleep or not home! Luckily, that is the one thing I can be grateful for.

Pgde!!!! Now that is a bad dream you had! Oh wait, is that the real Macoy? Ice hanging from the fountain way down there in Tuscon? Your kidding, right?... What about your trees? How are they doing? Wow, and yet beautiful..
Unbeleivable...

I will come back and show a few shots of my snow too, since it hasn't stopped for over a month. A snow storm about every two days!

Mike

I hear ya on the global warming, although they are trying to say global warming is causing it so who knows. oh man I hope you get heat soon do you have more oil coming? I for sure would sleep in my greenhouse if that was the case. I worry too about losing electric. If we do i plan to bring everything in by the fireplace to survive.

Yep next is our wonderful spring with torrential rain, tornadoes and baseball size hail. below is a link to a youtube video of a hail storm that came through may of last year. The house in the video is about 100 miles away but the system came through our area just as bad.

mike

Here is a link that might be useful: hail storm

Here is an interesting statistic from today:

Tucson, AZ high--35 degrees, low--14.4 (currently 24 @ 10:56pm)
Anchorage, AK high--31 degrees, low--20 (currently 27 @ 10:56pm)

A moment of silence for all the citrus in Tucson please ......

Peter

Lol..Too funny Peter!

And what time should we do this?

4 to 30 degrees today . A heat wave..Yahoo!

That is terrible Peter.

we are getting 3-5" more today and sunday.

Small correction: the area had 55,000 with no electricity, us included. We were without heat for about 40 hours. It got down to 35F in the house in spite of the fireplace. Our main concern was burst pipes. We have, however, dodged the bullet and the heat and electricity are back and the pipes are safe. I have no idea how the plants will take all this. Will eventually find out.

Cath

Here is the temp graph from my citrus area sensor (the green line).

{{gwi:393355}}