Hey Brian - can't wait for my Kishu to really mature. It is blooming up and down the branches now and for the first time since I got it (back in October 2017) it is starting to sprout new growth. Have been misting it most days and it seems to like that (obviously...lol) -

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It's interesting to see how the different citrus bloom but in all cases, the scent is incredible! The Kishu blooms remind me of how Coffee arabica blooms - up and down the branches by the leaf nodes - although the coffee flowers are much bigger. I have a new little coffee plant that has a ways to go to get to blooming age but a previous one I had for about 10 years, was pretty cool, and did produce a bunch of berries. Unfortunately it (and a bunch of other plants I had including a calamondin and notably a bunch of different hoyas) got caught in what I call "the great mealy bug massacre. Ugh.

This was the coffee (I had had it for about 7 years at the time) -

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Thank you Steve. I just finished wiping off all the leaves and getting all the scale I could see, Only 10 or so. They were big ones in the joints of all places. I used a bit of rubbing alcohol in the spots where I took the scale. Final step a good spray and I'll remember to stay away from the newest shoots.

Hello Jenny that's so sad that was a beautiful coffee plant you had . Your so right the coffee flowers look almost identical to the Kishu's , do coffee flowers have a scent ? Jenny I have a small coffee plant and it absolutely hates the GH no growth and the leaves are more yellow then green . Jenny the scent from all those blooms is intense and they cover every branch up and down, the same will be for you as your Kishu becomes larger . My Moro is just about to bloom as much I love February and March! !! Gorgeous sunny day here it' already 88 degrees in the GH.

Brian

Brian, Holy Tomoli!!! Great job. Pray for warm to stay will yah. Brian, Shasta is my next tree this summer! They don't seem to mind the cold temps right? Hugs!

Evan great thread and great pics. Thank you!

Beautiful pics and words everyone.

Jenny, what is it with Hoya and mealy bugs? I have to watch out for those all the time with them even the root mealy. What a pain! Does that coffee tree smell good? Mine in Puerto Rico use to smell the whole yard up on a warm tropical night! Love it.

Steve, I have found that the bugs are worst on the youngest to growth...How do you control; them if you are not spraying the young buddy?

Night

Mike

Scale will not have time ti develop on new growth while it is young. I use a tooth pick to knock aphis off tender shoots. I'll also knock them off with a spray bottle squirt. It doesn't take long for tender shoots to become not so tender.

Steve

Brian & Mike - yes, the coffee flowers are fragrant (jasmine-like) but generally only once the tree has matured a bit. I.e., the very first few flowers may be scentless or weakly scented, but once the coffee starts reliably flowering, it is pretty strongly fragrant!

Brian - the coffee is really an understory or edge-of-forest plant and although they tend to farm them commercially in full blazing sun, that is not their natural environment, which is more cool, misty, high elevation tropical. Some commercial growers have been planting them under banana trees for some shade. They do get raggedy looking in more sun but I think it's because they like humidity. I had my new one upstairs on a table under a lamp and it complained (continual dry leaf edges and some leaf drop), so I put it in the basement near the humidifier where the citrus are and a little further from an overhead light and it transformed into a different plant. lol

Mike - I had I think 5 varieties of hoya and I had finally found a variegated rope hoya and months later found out that it had mealies. And you know how hard it is with any bug on a rope hoya. UGH! And unfortunately I had a number of plants overwintering inside clustered near that hoya. The bugs eventually spread to my calamondin, the coffee, a "rubber plant" (Ficus elastica), an oleander, a michelia alba, a stephanotis, and all the rest of the hoyas that were hanging in the window near the infected one. I had a box of qtips, bag of cottonballs, and large bottle of 91% alcohol and worked them all - and the bigger plants moreso as long as I could, and eventually tossed the hoyas and later the rest. The coffee was the hardest to let go because it was originally a little 6" tall plant in a 4" pot from Home Depot that I babied for almost 10 years and 5 repottings to get to a 14" container (it started blooming after about 4 years).

So I am starting all over after 8 years (it just started putting out some new growth a couple weeks ago) -

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I bought this from Logees with my Australian Red Centre Lime and both are doing well.

Just to throw in a citrus - here is my variegated pink lemon (Eureka) from the back of my reflective structure (reflective sheet rolled up to take the pic). The lemon's branches are sprawled across the back and a few slide around the side towards the front around a thornless key lime that is just in front of it (i.e., the tree is not really upright like the others) -

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Knock on wood but it (a premium FW plant from 2016) has been pretty unfussy in this setup (very few dropped leaves so far). When I finally get it back outside, I am going to have to do some gathering/tying up of the branches or something (maybe just prune it)...lol It was the only one last year that set fruit, although the fruit dropped once they got to about 1/2'"- 1" long. I noticed it is a "sneaky fruiter" where you don't even realize there was bloom or fruit until you suddenly discover it somewhere on a branch. lol It had a sporadic bloom this winter so far but with the new leaf growth happening, I expect it will start up with the blooming soon...

Outdoor New Zealand lemonade get fed for growth and fruiting.

Steve

These were hit by the cold in late Dec. Back out they go to recover.

Steve, is New Zealand Lemonade the same as “Lemon Lemonade”?

Mr. Nice

I don't know. The NZL May not be cold hardy enough to grow out in the field but should make a good container plant. I would try to get an NZL on flying dragon for outdoor growing to push cold hardiness an fruit flavor.

Steve

Thanks Jenny for all the great info I also heard that coffee doesn't like regular potting mix and they prefer volcanic material. Interesting that the flowers smell like jasmine flower's very nice .

Mikey spring couldn't come soon enough my friend it's been a very wacky winter now it's warm with rain it's a real mess up here . Personally I think it's going to be a early spring fingers crossed.

Steve that New Zealand looks great, let's hope that it can keep most of those fruit .

Brian

I think I’ve got the same tree I just bought. I think it’s a cross between a lemon/Mandarin.

Brian< I hope your right!! I don't want the kind of spring that comes early just to get zapped with a frigid air mass after everything starts growing. We lost so many plants last year and all our fruit trees! I hope they really stay dormant until the spring is here to stay. It worries me. These unusual Arctic Blasts so late in the winter early spring just kill everything...Remember last year when we had a very mild February and March and all the cherry blossoms went nuts in Washington? They lost them all to below 0 wind chills in April!! Pray to God we get normal for a change. Give Sugar and yourself a hug for me buddy!!

Looks very nice. You need to get it in a bigger pot. When is your last frost safe date for tomatoes and your first frost in fall. Ou rs is considered to be May 15th and October mid month

Steve

Yes, all my new trees are in those tiny pots from the store. Most of the routes have been hacked away so they could fit them in the small part for shipping and sale. I was wondering if it’s better to leave them like that until the growing season starts to avoid root rot in a larger pot now. I think all the trees will require a year to recover from the root pruning.

I’ll be keeping most of these in pots in front of my house where it’s much warmer.

I estimate Tomato seedlings would be safe in front of my house from about mid March until mid-November.

My inground garden is in a frost pocket about 2 km away. Tomato seedlings should be safe there from about May 1 until October 1. I’m going to place a couple more stronger Mandarin trees there that I have doubles of here.

Last spring my last frost came march 24 (7 weeks early) and my first frost came November 11 (3weeks late). My yard is in an anti frost pocket and I am one of the very few to be frost free this long. My winter low this winter -7F = -21C. I have only had 2 years that was frost free before April 10. 2 winter ago my last frost was march 8. This was unheard of ever. New record set. Our growing season between your frost pocket and my antifrost pocket seem similar but my lows go much lower than yours. Probably has to do with the ocean being 700 miles away from me.

Steve

Interesting. I should clarify by “safe for tomato seedlings“ that’s already active growing season.

There’s also a time in spring in the frost pocket where there’s no frost, but there is super cooled air which will come down from the mountains at night and kill young tomato plants. This really fooled me, as I knew the last frost had been about six weeks earlier, and I lost all my seedlings the first year.

Having said that, I do think this area is much better than many people have it, probably because of the ocean influence as you mentioned. Despite being up in the mountains, I have two oceans on either side of me about an hours drive away.

Here's a picture of my seedlings. The big 1 is some sort of birds eye chili pepper I got from a plant I had last year.

Believe it or not but the smaller one on the left is actually 1 month older. It's a scotch bonnet from a store bought pepper. I few other small sweet pepper seedlings... The thing inside the cup covered by a plastic bag is a limequat cutting I took last week... Making this post relevant lol.

I need to replace a few trees. The unpredictable cold and lack of rain kinda killed a few trees. Ok. It was my fault. I didn't want to water the trees in the dark and cold. I kept expecting it to rain more. So far 1 GN and 1 Kishu are gone. This was the Kishus that gave me about 40 fruits. It was *just* alive. The LxN and one Kishus are struggling.

I may be in a similar boat. I think trees will survive, but there will be no leaves on most of them.

I just did a real-time comparison and confirms my suspicions: garden is -4; local weather station says 0; around my house +2.

It’s a bad spot.

Hey guys wonderful trees as always! Steve looks like you're going to get quite the harvest of nzl this year :)

speakinf of wearher I can't believe it Vancouver is getting hit with a snow storm! It was so warm just last week I was telling Brian that it's looking like a early spring lol spoke too soon it would seem! It's been -6 at nights!

OMG I had to post - that doggy is just adorable. Is it still a puppy? I know some toy breeds sortof look like pups but because they are small, they sometimes look younger than they really are.

Yes I've seen many a Vancouver winter – don't really care for them.

Jan what a cutie what an adorable pup !!!! Jan what's happening lol you guy's have more snow then us something is not right here lol. Jan it seems lately that all we get is freezing rain I would much rather have the snow , freezing rain again tomorrow. Hope that your tree's on the porch are all OK.

Brian

My inground cold hardy Yuzu, ain’t she a beaut! The shape of things to come!

Hi jenny! That's my fur baby cookie she's turning 11 years old in a couple months has some slight kidney disease and some cataracts so she's been vegan now for a year due to kidney problems seems to have done her kidney good :). But she's very active still and sharp as a tack and loves to play in the snow! :) She was the runt of the litter of miniature poodles out on a farm all her siblings are 15 pounds now but she's only 6.

Brian lol I know right?!? I feel like I'm inland and not on the coast! But Brian we have been getting some sunshine though so it hasn't been all that bad and all that snow sure is reflective so my citrus have been getting loads of sunshine I'll try to get a pic of my Moro blooms soon! :) I do much prefer this over the gloomy rain we usually get Brian! I'm starting to think we switched weathers Brian! Lol

Jan

Jan - what a sweetie and a spunky 11 to boot! It is obvious that you have done right by your furkit. :-D

Some updates - my recovering Tango is doing a tiny growth spurt -

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My Kishu continues to pop out growth and blooms (gave her a good misting) -

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And as a note on that last picture, the fact that it is blooming right along the stem (as mentioned similar to a coffee) also reminds me of the temperate deciduous stonefruit trees - the Prunus (peaches, plums, cherries, apricots, etc), which are the northern deciduous neighbors to the mandarins. This suggests there shouldn't be much of an issue vigorously pruning the ends of these with the fear of eliminating fruit like the Citrus limon varieties, that apparently bloom on new growth. Of course I know folks who have mandarins in-ground (and some in pots) who obviously do prune them. Kindof interesting to see that genus evolution however. :-)

No growth in size but nothing has dropped yet either

Jenny your tree's are really coming alive now I bet your thrilled. I love the way the Kishu flowers to they just coat the branches and they smell so good !!!

Steve looking good a month or so you will have your greenhouse removed come on spring.

Jan looking forward to see pics of your Moro. Jan your right the snow sure does reflect the sun the reflection sometimes can be hard on the eyes . We haven't seen to much snow this year just lot's of ice and I will take snow any day over ice . I cannot get over how cute cookie is very adorable!!!!

Brian

Hi Jan I just took a pic of my Moro not a very good one I could only get the the very top right hand side of the tree my bird of paradise and palm are hiding the rest of the tree .

Brian

Brain!! Wowowowow..Not only do I love those trees, but the pots are to die for. Nice. I'll bet you yesterday when the sun was out you were in citrus heaven! Now that the reality of winter is settling back in, I think I will spend time in my greenhouse tomorrow when the sun comes out again. Great job buddy and hugs. Green trees!

Jenny, congrats on all the nice growth. Great job and nice and green too!

Jan, what a cutre muffin you have there!! Cold though!!

Just a few pics of my in ground planted New England Meyer tree after I severely hacked it back a month ago )

Mikey my friend that is one gorgeous Meyer you have there by the thickness of those branches that tree must be pressing up against the ceiling love the fruit . Your kumquat is beautiful to , I think it's the only variety I'm missing lol. So you like my dollar pots lol . Mikey the weather has been crap up here this weekend lot's of freezing rain , the sun just came out and it's about 47 F . Mikey the sun is so strong now when it does come out the temperature rises to the upper eighties in the greenhouse with extremely high humidity almost unbearable. Mikey your doing a great job there my friend. Enjoy your day tomorrow in the greenhouse jealous !!!!

Brian

Steve - am crossing fingers for your NZL fruitlets. Hope you get them through their baby stage so you can enjoy some.

Brian - love your "twins". They look happy in your tropical jungle!

Mike - your fruit are to die for right about now!!!! The meyers & 'quats look like they are ready to roll... right into your mouth! lol

Everyone’s trees are looking great and they look so much bigger! I’m sorry I haven’t been on lately, I have been swamped with nursing school! We have almost made it through winter! I lost my lime tree, but the others are doing great! It was so nice to see everyone’s trees again! Hopefully this summer I will be back on again regularly!

I took the calamondin outside today to wash it off and all I could think about was you guys! Miss you all so much! This is about the third bunch of fruits that have ripened this winter! Hopefully when this semester is over I will post and show pics of the kids eating them straight hahaha it was hilarious! I’m sorry if I don’t reply to this, but just know I am working my tail off in school!

Mike

I think you are going to like that kumquat tree a lot. It will be very maintainable in the GH. Don't forget to plant the seeds. In the GH you can graft a Meyer to a kumquat seedling and it will not grow so fast but produce a more manageable compact tree.

Steve

Mike Check this out.

[kumquat used as rootstock[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/shiranui-grafted-on-no-name-kumquat-seedling-dsvw-vd~4468542?n=5)

Steve

Evan,

if you see this. how the hell are you buddy? I would love to see a tree of yours in lots of bloom. Have any? Hoping all is very well with you buddy!!

Steve, thanks buddy! Always ready and willing to help))

Amanda well, you have been missed and I am sure you will get this if you have the alerts on..Haha..Beautiful tree and keep up the hard work. You should be proud of yourself. Don't forget to come back!

Jenny, thank you! You can eat them all if you want because they are just going to waste((

Brian, I here you! Now the sun warms my greenhouse up at 9 in the morning and it can reach 80's too. Many think that if they put their trees outside no chance of sunburn because it's cool, but trust, even way up here one can burn their trees already! I will have to start using a shade cloth within two weeks for my orchids..Crazy right? Freezing temps yet hot sun. I wish the temps matched the sun. Hey at least we got through the worst month of winter unscathed! Now if we can just get through March without an Arctic blast, without anything lower than 0 buddy..lol. Hugs hugs! Thank you my friend. I learn a heck of a lot from you and not to be afraid to think outside the box..))

Mike

Calamondin starting to look like a tree again. Meyer of course always blooming

Matt, very nice! Once summer comes, they will be in their glory)

Mikey everyone up here thinks old man Winter is done with us and the 15 day forecast kind of looks that way which would bring us to the middle of March . The next 15 day's everyone of them are going to be above freezing very nice but not normal . Mikey the wind and sun can really harm fresh new growth after being sheltered indoors , I've gone through this at the end of May . Mikey have you heard any long range forcast for the Summer? I think that we all deserve a real long hot summer right ? Mikey your the best citrus caregiver here and love your threads !!!! Hugs buddy

Brian

Hey Mike, I’m good, hope you’re doing well too, we’ve had a cold snap the last week and a half so my blooms have held off a little bit. Winter arrived late for us oddly enough. Here’s a couple pics of lemons in bloom, they never seem to stop blooming no matter what time of year or the weather.

Eureka lemon

Variegated eureka lemon, this tree is turning into a monster.

Not citrus but the tecomas are starting to bloom too.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Evan

Brian those gold nuggets look amazing I’ve never gotten such a growth flush of leaves all in one go how do you do it! And your greenhouse must smell amazing with all those Moro blooms :D mine are about to bloom as well but they just kind of look like small tiny bumps right now the flowers have not yet swelled. And so far Brian the promix soil is only slightly moist after one week of watering so it seems to be very fluffy still and not water logging will update you on the long run :)

Jenny very nice ;D

Amanda nice looking calamindin welcome back and good luck in nursing school I know how tough it is I have many friends going through it now!

evan that really is a monster of a pink lemon you got there I’m envious you get to plant yours in ground meanwhile I’m shoveling snow almost into March!

mike your lemon tree seems to be doing very well in ground! What temperature do you keep your greenhouse at? I’m about to get a greenhouse as well this summer. It’s a palram oasis 8x8 hexagon it will be my which has crystal clear polycarbonate on the sides and 4mm poly on the roof. It’ll be my first greenhouse so it’ll be a learning curve for a while. If anyone has any reviews on the palram brand let me know :)

Hello Jan Thanks!

My twin Gold Nuggets are really motoring with new growth. I purchased those tree's from David at Greenscape , I'm really happy with them . Jan so glad the pro mix is working out for you I love that mix , please keep me updated . Jan I see that your weather has warmed up you must be so happy, here it was in the upper forties today with lot's of sun . Jan no below freezing daytime temperature's for the next two weeks lovely .

Evan lovely as always . I heard it was pretty cool there actually freezing a couple of nights and your tree's show no harm great .

Brian

Brian!! Now that scares me...What If we get a warm next few weeks then everything dormant wakes up just to get zapped at the end of the month with an arctic blast!!? That is what happened last year. 50's and 60's until the end of March then bam, 30's and snow first week of April. I lost all my fruit and perennials! Pray it does not get warm enough to destroy the spring crop. That Jet Stream has been so wacky that even the weather men can not explain why. It behooves me.Do you realize that we had the coolest summer on record last year? We even hit the 30's in mid August the hottest time of the year. In fact, we only had one night above 70 when days of it are suppose to happen the whole month of July. No barbecues last year not even a dunk in the pool..Hugs buddy..Want to see my pickins? Here you go..lol

Manderines!!~

Evan, what's up!!?

Beautiful pics of the flowers up close. Does your yard smell nice at any given time ? Does the fragrance waff through the air, especially towards the evening? Does it fill your home with the windows open depending on which way the wind blows. Great job buddy! Love that variegated one so flawless as are all your trees. Mom is no too good but hopefully better soon. I love teh red tinge on your blloms. I can tell they love that sun))

Evan, those really orange blossoms look like trumpet vines to me! I have always loved them Great humming bird attractors...Yes?

Jan, nice to meet you. I keep the greenhouse always above 60 because it's loaded with orchids which can not take temps below that. Sometimes depending on how much sun we get all winter that Meyer tree will drop many leaves or will grow like a weed. This year it is growing like a weed. I have had to cut it back at least a dozens times since it was planted. I think this year I will either dig it up to be replace with one that Silica suggested or a Shasta which Brian seems to have great success with. That greenhouse you are getting is wonderful and in fact that is what I have. Depending on where you live we can help you with all the learning curves...There is a member here called Cory who is amazing with greenhouse ideas...Just as and I am sure she will have plenty to say. I am sure she is looking at this thread..She's a gem with all her ideas! Brian too. Many here in fact!

Mikey buddy what the heck, those mandarines are gorgeous and huge lol how many did you pick up? We bought 2 Sumo's a couple of weeks ago same size they were so good !! Mikey maybe you should try a in ground Shiranui in your greenhouse apparently they do very well in greenhouses. So how did you like the taste of the above fruit ? Mikey have you heard the possibility of a big East coast storm Friday it's beginning to look that way oh no !!!! The forecast here has changed to the possibility of snow Thursday night - Friday what else is going to change now ? Mikey I would hate to see a artic blast hit now , I heard that tree's were already in bloom in the mid Atlantic states that would be devastating especially for fruit growers . Let's hope for a better spring and summer the only thing that stayed above 85 last year was the pool and every time we had a party it rained. Fingers crossed my friend for a great summer with awesome beach and pool party weather.

Brian

Looks great everyone