keep up the updates... what kind of seeds are they, pommelo again.

a little off topic, but what kind of succulent are they, they look fun to grow

Hey, Andrew, yeah second round of Pomelo....
I'll keep the updates coming, for sure ;)

The succulents are all Crassula ovata - aka, Jades.
They're a South African plant that thrives on rocky, mineral soils with little moisture.
I water mine once a month during the winter, and maybe two or three times a month during summer.
They can be trained to grow large or small. The plant on the far left is a pink-flowering Jade
that was sent from southern California. The Jade next to it is a cutting I took from a large Jade
at the school where I work - it has very yellow leaves during the summer. The bonsai pot full of
cuttings on the right was a gift from one of our Citrus members - a couple dwarf Jades that are
called 'Crosby's Compact,' as well as that bright center-piece, a variety called 'Hummel's Sunset.'

I use the same mixes to grow Citrus and succulents...the only difference is that I water
and fertilize the Citrus far more often. A good mix is the foundation of a potting.


Josh

Josh, fantastic pictures, and this is going to be a great trhead. I can feel it and I love the detail and steps you take to post such thoughtful threads as this to help many learn and to follow your journey with you.

Many times I have enjoyed the journey's you bring us on and still do. I will be watching this one as I always do.
:-)))) By the way, I really love those Jades as you know I am a bit partial to them babies!

Andrew: How are you? I hope well..

Thank you Josh!

Be sure to maintain good moisture levels with that very coarse textured mix. Seeds like to have good all over contact with a moist medium in order to facilitate imbibition.

i have never tried seeds in a mix that is that course, i wonder what works better? I only know how to keep a citrus alive, not starting them. I am eager to get some sprouted because i want to try grafting.
Mike: im good, im glad things are getting back to normal around here...
how are all of you?

Andrew

Thanks, Mike! It's a pleasure as always!
If you want another visual excursion, check out the nursery citrus I posted yesterday.

Rhizo, I'll be sure to keep the mix moist. Once the plastic comes off, I water often.
This mix worked very well for the last Pomelo seeds I started, but the raccoons found it quite
appealing on their finger-tips, too ;)

Andrew, I've only sprouted seeds in course mix, so I'm not sure if there's a better method.
This way certainly works well for citrus, squash, and hot peppers (my only references).

One powerful advantage to a loose, course mix is that re-potting is very easy.
The mix virtually falls away from the root-ball, resulting in minimal damage, and allowing
a swift transition to new potting media. The smoother the transition, the less shock.


Josh

Josh, will do..I am headed there as soon as I get another gasp of energy and the desire to keep my citrus trees at a minimum..lol

Thank you very much for the visuals and the invite!

Mike

Greenmằn: Please teach me how to post pictures on this forum.
My friend grew pomelo from seed. It has been 15 years already, he already passed away and still the tree hasn't given any fruit at all. I bought one last year, a 1 gallon pot of grafted pomelo and this year I get 6 big fruits. The tree cost only $15.

Sure, thing. You must have the pictures online first.
Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket are the most commonly used.
After that, you simply paste the Hit preview, and you'll see the image appear.

As for purchasing a Pomelo....yes, I could buy one if my primary interest were in the fruit;
however, this is more about experimentation, refining my technique, and sharing the results.

I do enjoy the mild flavor of the meat, as well as the foamy, lemony rind.


Josh

Andrew, I've never started seeds in a mixture that coarse, either. I'm thinking that since the citrus seeds are so large, as long as he keeps them moist enough there should be no problem. Better this type of mix than something peaty and mucky, that's for sure.

I use a medium much like that for growing, but not for seed germination...which I generally use a peat and perlite mixture, just to make sure that the seeds aren't sitting in any air pockets.

Here are a couple pics from my first attempt....
the mix holds a surprising amount of moisture after a good dousing.
I dumped the excess from the drip-tray each time I watered.

Old (Summer) pics, but I figured I'd bring 'em back for a spin ;)

{{gwi:647155}}
{{gwi:647163}}

Josh

Here are photos of my citrus in my garden.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/57785823@N03/

Here is a link that might be useful: photos of my citrus

Started from seed? Pomelo?

Or was this to be posted to the Winter pics Thread?


Josh

Josh:

I grafted them to trifoliage root stock 3 years ago. One is sweet Texas orange and the other is Rio Red grape fruit. I have over 10 pots of citrus trees grown from seeds, none of them starts to bloom yet. It has been about 6 years already. I heard that growing from seeds, the fruits will not be true to mothers because they get pollen from other citrus nearby and it's kind of fun to do the grafting any way. Kim

Fantastic work, Kim!
I love the look of those healthy fruit.

Josh

Finally, a little over a month later...the seeds have sent up green sprouts...
Took long enough! ;-)

If these seedlings survive and show leaves, I'll post an update pic...

Josh

Now that several sprouts are emerging per seed, I thought I'd share a little update.
I turned the container so that the seedlings will trope the other direction toward the sun.
I'll update when the second set of leaves appears.

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Josh

Josh!
They look great! Now keep them away from the critters. ;-)

will be looking forward to more updates. :-)
JoJo

Just what I was thinking Jojo..lol

I hope your plants held up ok with your weather. Unbeleivable is what I say. You would think at this time it should be a whole lot warmer.

Yes Josh, now watch for those darn critters that like to climb into things.

What a great job.

Watch how vigorous those little ones grow once the warm sun and air hit them.

Please do keep us updated Josh. I didn't think they would sprout buddy. Then again, anything is possible in your care:-)

Have a great day

Mike

Thanks, you two!

Don't worry, these seedlings are always indoors in my window-sill....
there's no chance of slugs or bugs getting to them this time.

I only brought them outside to have their pic taken ;-)
Cheers!

Josh

I had the same problem with bugs and critters wreaking havoc on my seedlings placed on the patio. No wonder humankind took to grafting. Anyway, I now keep them inside and the majority survive.

Havoc, indeed!
My first seedling attempts went terribly...
I'd wake in the morning to find the seedlings completely out of the pot!
So I'd re-pot them, and they'd continue growing...then the bugs ate the leaves.
After that, I gave up. This time, I'm protecting the seedlings until they're
old enough to fend for themselves.

Josh

Well,
I let the seedlings go a bit too long in the container, and so they haven't grown much.
However, I finally got around to re-potting them. I selected the healthiest three out of the five,
and I spaced them a bit more evenly in a terra cotta pot. I promise to re-pot them sooner next time!

I made a mix of Fir bark, Perlite, Turface, and a small amount of potting soil (Ocean Forest)
to bind the gritty ingredients together. I think of this mix as a gritty 5-1-1. Osmocote included.

Here they are, ready to be re-potted:

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And here they are re-potted:

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Josh

Planted 5,500 Macrophylla seeds last year from which we got more than 5,000 trees..all to be budded to Meyers.
Pomelo seeds (an ancestor of Macrophylla, along with citron) are equally easy to sprout. FYI... you will wait a long time for the seedling to bear fruit.
I planted seedling Meyers alongside grafted Improved Meyers on Carrizo root 6 years ago; the grafted produced fruit (here in Guatemala) at 18 months; the seedlings have yet to produce a flower.
Bottom line is, if you are young, plant seeds; if you want fruit get a grafted tree.... and if it's Pomelo, get it on Carrizo or Macrophylla.. the Pomelo is a bit big for dwarf rootstock; but then you need to put it in the ground, not in a pot.

Hey, John!
This is just for fun mostly....just an experiment to make sure my methods are sound.
One of my friends had the Pomelo in his backyard, and I wanted to start seeds before he removed the tree.
Now that the tree is gone, I'm glad I have these seedlings as a memory.

I might use them for grafting at some point...who knows.

Josh

I noticed you don't peel the outer layer. Does anyone do this as I've had good results with peeled seed.

Regards
Nick

Hey, Nick!
I noticed that the seeds were already splitting when I planted them,
so I didn't bother with them further.

Josh

Germination of mature fresh citrus seed is near 100% without peeling them; and some are polyembryonic; so you get more trees than you had seeds.

I've found it's no where near the case here. Maybe your warmer/drier climate effects the germination, but anyway at least I get some germinating :)

Those are nice looking seedlings there I'll post a few of mine later.

Regards
Nick

Thanks, Nick.

The seedlings sure look nicer without the slugs and the raccoons eating and unearthing them! ;-)
I felt bad for not protecting the first batch....this is my redemption batch....

Josh

Almost a full year after sowing the seeds.....

There were a few mistakes along the way. Primarily, I should have re-potted far, far sooner.
And, truth be told, these seedlings should already have been separated into individual containers.
I could have fertilized a bit more heavily, as well. But hindsight's always twenty-twenty ;-)

So here they are, bigger and bigger by the day!

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Josh

Wow buddy! Look at em go!!!

I LOVE the coloring and size. Taking into consideration their growth rate in that pot was a very smart choice. Great job Josh and love the updates.

Mike:-0)

Nice work Josh they're really coming along nicely. Mine have also been doing well considering it's winter they''ve carried on growing really well.

I've got about 4 Kaffir lime and 2 Grapefruits that have made it and a few randoms I forgot to label.

I'm just going to start a few from my 'Lemon' as it's not looking at all great with all the leaves dropping off so if it dies at least I'll be able to carry on. :)

Keep up the good work!

Regards
Nick

Thanks, gents!

I'm very pleased with the progress....and I really look forward to re-potting them.
Just a few more months of the Winter gloom, then these babies will head back outdoors.
Earlier in this Thread - and in many other Threads - folks have expressed concern about how
often I would have to water using this mix. Well, I don't water very often - once every four
days right now. In fact, I water my citrus about as often as I'm watering my succulents.

Nick, I agree. Always propagate a back up! That's why I have three seedlings...just in case.

Josh

I must admit Josh that that coarse mix had me a bit worried myself but whatever works for you, and it's obviously working.

That's just it with gardening you can give all the advice in the world but everyone's growing conditions vary so much that you can't really ever be sure unless you try (within reason of course).

I'll get the camera out tomorrow and you can see how much mine have grown.

Regards
Nick

That's the thing....

Humidity in my area of northern California is below 20 percent right now....very dry.
With the ceiling fan and the sunny windows, one would suspect that I'd be watering often.

In other parts of the world, with more humidity and more gloom, one would think that a porous
mix would be *even more important* than it is here. I can understand folks desiring a more moisture
retentive mix for the Summer season....but not for the Winter. I'd rather water slightly more
often in the Summer, in order to have the perfect mix for the Winter when the real problems face
those of us in more northerly climes.

Josh