Love the pics! What great looking trees! And the furry white lime in the last picture is the best!!

Lol! Yes! Thank you!

very nice tree. May they grow well all season.

AHS 7b Steve

Beautiful Beautiful tree's and the fruit amazing Laura. Laura wait till when your tree's really take off growing about a foot every growth flush . It's so difficult to cut them down when they look so large and lush , this will also be the decision I will have to make by the end of the summer . Love your pup.

Brian

Thank you guys! Brian, yes, I understand how difficult it will be. I'm already there with my two largest/oldest trees! The furry, white lime is just over six months old and growing by the hour! Lol

Great trees Laura! I am so impressed with the growth rate you are talking about. That's amazing. Those key limes will be delicious!

They look great! So huge and bushy! Enzo is so cute, much whiter than my boy who likes to dig holes in our sandy silty soil and sleep in it lol. He's getting groomed and deshedded next week thankfully.

Laura your trees are doing so well and look fantastic. You have a very green thumb!

Evan

Thank you Amanda, Hobby, and Evan! Hobby, Enzo is going for a bath and serious brushing next week also! He digs too....almost uprooted a blueberry bush and a huge ornamental grass. I watch him closely now. I also put some big logs in the area where he was digging to deter him a bit. He is such a savage, I've seen him carrying a big log in his mouth ;-) lol

Haha yes they do like to have jobs to do lol!

I re-potted and root pruned 9 of my trees over the last week and all but the limes are no longer wilting and look to be on their way to establishing. I mixed up some more 5-1-1 and will be doing 2 more tonight. I was surprised that they didn't drop more than 1-3 leaves, I did some pretty extensive root pruning after mustering up the courage from reading Al's various threads on it. I was positive that I would have killed some of the trees by cutting out the big nobby roots (and the feeders that were attached to them) but they are taking it pretty darn well. They are more resilient that I expected. The limes were the worst for twisted roots and the new key lime and Moro were the only to have any signs of root rot, which I attribute to Orchard's care as I had only had them 1 day/1 week. I hope my tree's look as good as your do next year!

Thanks Sammers! Just for reference, the seville orange I bought March of 2016 from FW as a one year tree. It was a twig when I got it. That gives any of you an idea of how fast these trees grow. I don't think it is my care either...I do fertilize them, etc., but they just grow quickly. Sammers, I am sure your trees will be very happy and growing in no time!

Laura, you never cease to amaze me with those beautiful lush green trees!! And that beautiful white dog. Oh man, I wish we could visit you! A grand tour is in order..Thank you for such nice pics and now it's time to get to re potting mines! Thanks for the boost)))

Mike

Laura - as always beautiful lush trees. I spotted 2 bee hives r u into beekeeping as well. this year finally after a lot of apprehension I started 2 with 2 hives .

Laura, how are the bees doing this year? Do you plan on a good harvest of honey?

Dev, there are many beekeeper on this forum (Hobby, Vladimir, and myself at least that I know) and we can help you if you need advise! Mike, those bees just moved into the empty hive (yeah - free bees!). I need to open them up but have not had a chance. From the outside, they look great though....lots of activity. I do not expect to collect honey from them this year because they are new and I'd like them to be well equipped for winter.

Laura, your trees are beautiful and I cannot get over how much fruit they are carrying. I look forward to seeing more pie pics..

Enzo is really growing. What a cutie..How do you keep his fur looking so white? My little white Shih Tzu rescue is always playing around outside and his fur is a magnet for dirt.. Good thing he loves getting a bath.. lol

I find that the oranges are very aggressive growers and I just recently did a total bareroot and repotted my Seville and a few others from the gritty into the 5-1-1. It will be easier to lift and move around.

May I ask why you did not do a total bareroot on your trees? I worry that your trees are now in two different types of mix and that might deter your roots from growing to their best potential down the road.. Did most of the gritty mix fall off when you lifted it to put in the other pot?

Jinny, thanks! Yes, I have found the oranges - the seville in particular to grow very quickly. Enzo has very coarse fur and even if he rolls and gets mulch on his fur, it just falls right off. It does not really penetrate the interior. These dogs are working dogs and basically live outside. His mother lives in the field that she guards, so I guess they have to have a resistant coat. Unfortunately, often whatever is stuck to him falls off inside my house ;-). He has had one bath since I got him and is going for another on Friday. He is currently shedding like crazy. I brushed him yesterday and came away with loads of white fur.

You must have missed my post about the transfer from one mix to the other. It was a while back. I thought about that, but concluded that the mixes are very similar in drainage characteristics so I opted to not bare root so as to not stress the tree any more than necessary. I did that last year with a variegated lemon and it is very happy. In the case of the Seville, the gritty mix did not fall off at all because it had so many roots surrounding it. I wondered afterwards if I should have pruned some of those roots back, but it's too late now. I put it in a bigger pot, but did not go up much in size (maybe a couple of inches on each side). I wonder if I should have moved it to an even bigger pot considering how fast it grows...

I was so happy that my one original hive came through winter ok but now it appears my queen is either missing or a new queen is out getting mated as I did find an open supercedure cell! I am playing the waiting game to see if laying starts, otherwise I need to buy a queen immediately. I have had a rough past few bee years, I went from 10 booming hives to one now... and it all started with wasps attacking and robbing my hives before winter one year.

Like citrus container culture, bees can be a very heart breaking hobby!

In relation to this, I have 3 trees (Meyer, Key Lime, and Mandarin) that are healthy and seem to be growing new leaves off and on, but they don't seem to be getting much bigger. The pots they're in aren't the biggest one ever. Will they grow any faster if I repot them into a bigger pot? I mean I guess it gives the roots more room to spread, so in essence it should right?

Like I said, they're decent and grow new foliage, but they just never seem to get any bigger as a whole

Jason, I'm not sure. I pot mine in bigger pots than they probably need, but I know that can have drawbacks if the mix holds too much water. What mix do you have them in?

I just use a miracle grow citrus mix, which hasn't been bad. I have no complaints on how it drains as it seems to do well. They're all in 10 inch? Pots I think. The only reason I haven't really considered going bigger is because living in Alaska I obviously need to have them be somewhat mobile to move inside later in the year

Laura, I too find that using the 5.1.1 mix that you use the pots are not as heavy as they could be so I can go much bigger than one could if they used a mix that holds more water.. Beautiful trees! I always come back for seconds Laura..

Jason, how long to you go before you renew that mix you are using? A re pot?

Mike,

I haven't changed them at all since I got them, I got them last spring. Like I said, I never considered a re-pot too much at the time because of space considerations. If doing so would make them grow faster, I'll buy some bigger pots on the way home lol

Jason, actually doing so will keep that mix you are using from compacting and suffocating your roots before it happens at a moments notice. It usually catches many off guard and a renewal of your mix at least once a year will keep salt deposits down and the mix breathable for the roots...Just thought I would help.

the reason why we use the 5.1.1 mix or something like it is too prevent the issues associated with fine mixes that can catch you off guard in a short period of time. Decline of a citrus tree is usually quick and swift usually to late to catch unless you are aware of the problems you can avoid..I would say a years time before the fall is about the time to consider a re pot in your mix. Don't forget to flush it of all dissolved salts at least once a month with fresh water.

Mike)

So if you're me, and I decide to repot to a 5-1-1, would you jump the pot size up while doing it?

Yes, I would Jason. The 5-1-1 gives you more flexibility.

Brian, you have the most spectacular trees!! Can you post a pic of your pots so that Jason can see how large they are?

Wow! Incredible Brian! What is the diameter of that red pot? Beautiful pot (and tree ;-) by the way!

Thankyou Laura . Lol I am not sure over 30 inch in diameter anyways it's huge almost the same size of my rain barrel. Thanks again Laura.

Brian

Brian, your trees never cease to amaze, they're always so lush and green and loaded with fruit.

Evan

Reading about all the potting and repotting and soil comments is making me feel like my in ground problems may be the lesser evil! I was tempted to add a couple of citrus in pots, and now I'm wondering what I can uproot and sacrifice to the cause of citrus instead!

Laura, thanks for asking for a pic of those pots, they are freaking huge!! There's no way I can pot up that big and comfortable have adequate room for them. I'll probably go up a few sizes though. I do have a couple giant pots in my yard but those are for the cold hardy Raspberries, Blueberries, and Red Currants. I don't have to move those ones in the winter.

In regards to my citrus, I would like to keep them somewhat mobile. We have a bank of trees behind our house that can eat up a lot of sun so I tend to keep my citrus on the deck and would need to conserve some space with the furniture and BBQ grill there lol

My trees literally look like Brian's in the blue pots at the moment

Thankyou much Evan I am doing something right thats for sure but not to sure what lol. They sure are getting very large and out of control it's going to be brutal cutting them ail down to a more manageable size this fall . I hope that the heat in your area has come down a bit . How are your tree's doing now ? Must be extremely difficult keeping your tree's moist, the evaporation rate must be crazy fast .

Kcandmilo it should be much much more easier growing citrus in pots in your area most of what your reading are northern growers growing citrus in pots which is a whole new ballgame. .

Brian

Brian! I know exactly what your doing. Your talking to them after a drink at that tiki bar surrounding them with tropical trees and lots of sunshine while you feast on sloppy joes. Except for the last part I'd be growing from pure joy too under those conditions. Haha. Much love bud

Mikey your a riot my friend lol . I hope that you enjoy your weekend . Thunderstorms here tonight and tomorrow with humidity as thick as peanut butter. Yuck. Love Ya right back

Brian