Hi Kelly,

Not the best picture but here are two photos - one is most of my Harris order (the Xie Shan is already on the roof because it’s in a big cedar container) and the other is my Bearss.

First picture left to right is calamondin, Bearss, Harvey, and Seville.

Thanks Pac! Beautiful trees! I figured the trunks would not have as many leaves as your Bearss and Harvey. Mine will be delivered Wednesday and not doin enough lol

Just wanted to update on my little ST (I noticed that FW has them and Genoa back in stock again, at least for now).

Here she is today -

Little closer look at the new growth -

Rootstock growth (note it is trifolate) as FYI before I rub it off -

I had potted this up on May 9th and detailed that in this thread - https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5281539/santa-teresa-transplant-shock

It is in a mix of leftover 5:1:1 and some additional Promix (so probably more like 5:3:2). I didn't bareroot it but did break up the roots. Like other areas on the east coast, we have had a lot of rain (with some Alberto remnants due at the end of the week), but it seems to be doing okay so far. As a note, I have it and a couple other pots bungeed in case of sudden winds from thunderstorms (or squirrel acrobatics...lol), if you are wondering about the black cords.

As another note, my Shiranui is starting to form flower buds (surprising) while it is leafing -

I have not repotted it yet but this is a pic of it yesterday (plopped in the 14" clay-colored plastic pot) -

Congratulations Jenny and thanks for the update! My ST finally started putting out new growth as well (repotted in March). I also noticed what appear to be two blooms!

Oh that's cool Kelly! So it is putting bloom buds close to the branches vs the tips with new growth at this point. Thanks for your update!!!

How cute are those two buds? :)

Mine (also received in early April) flushed pretty big in the past couple of weeks. All of that rain we had during the last wet spell really put it in overdrive. All of the shiny lighter green growth is new. It basically doubled, or more, its leaf area.

(the green thing in the pot in the second pic is a toy caterpillar)

Thanks for the update lucky! Your baby is looking good. And LOL @ the little caterpillar. :-D

Jenny I just looked at the your new growth pic again - your tree is going to be huge in just a week or two!

Jenny - your tree is covered in new growth. It’s going to explode this summer. My ST, before it lost all of its leaves was a very vigorous grower. Please post more pictures throughout the dummer. I love watching how much they change. Mine is just starting to sprout new leaves 5 weeks after barerooting.

Nice trees guys! You will all have monster trees before you know it. My ST seemed to take a little bit to get going, then exploded. It is still the wisest of all my trees. I should prune it, but the lemons are along the ends of the branches and I don’t want to trim them off.

It feels so good to see all these update photos! So happy for all your trees that it's now their time to shine. They're all so pretty and a beautiful green color. I finally placed an order for a few trees with Stan so soon enough, I'll be posting what they look like when they arrive too!

Stan ships really fast so you'll be enjoying your new babies in no time!

Oooo thanks for the heads up! I don't even have my soil mixes or containers prepped for them yet! What container sizes have they usually come in when you got trees from Stan? I usually buy containers as I need them since I don't have my own pre-owned stash

What did you order?

He usually ships priority mail, at least to my area, so it just takes a few days. The size depends on what you ordered - I think he has 1gal and 3gal sizes.

I didn't realize he had 3 gallons but from the total it came out to be, the trees will be 1 gallon. I'm such a dunce! I forgot the prices listed on his site are all for 1 gallon sizes anyway. Thanks for the information lucky! What trees did you get from Stan in the past?

Alanna I ordered a Page, Ponkan, and an Okitsu Wase satsuma. I can't waitttt

That’s so exciting - post pictures when they arrive

Wow! I cancaeevthat you have a fondness for mandarins!

Will do Alanna!

Amy I didn't realize that until you pointed it out! I think I subconsciously veered away from oranges thinking I wouldn't be able to ripen it in time before winter. I love grapefruit though so that would probably be next on my list. Those oranges are gonna have to wait :D Are there any orange trees in your collection?

I wasn't aware Stan carried some of the varieties mentioned.

lucky - the new growth on the ST seems to be expanding almost 1/2" per day. Am hoping my little ST does okay given how touchy these FW trees can be as young plants until established.

Alanna - will definitely post progress. This is only my 3rd year at this location and it is very different from where I was for over 20 years before (hi-rise with covered balcony but well above all the trees and houses and getting direct sideways morning sun). So I am still trying to adapt my cultural practices to these new growing conditions for all my container plants (which now get overhead sun and actually have access to south sun for the first time).

Laura - we are all trying to catch up to your amazing orchard (although some of us have no room left outside... yikes!). :-D

kvetch - you are hooked. LOL Didn't realize Stan had the selection you bought since the site's pictures haven't been updated in who knows how long (although they do say to call for availability of other citrus).

Edit to add - Denise, I just posted the EXACT thing before I saw your post! Didn't know that he had ponkans and the others.

I only have two orange trees: moro blood orange and a valencia. The moro is doing great but I am not sure if the valencia will survive. It is a cutting from rbf and for some reasons it’s starting to decline with lots of dropping leaves and branches die back. I don’t blame rbf because it was beautiful when I first bought it. Maybe, it’s something in my growing conditions ...

For this summer, I am debating to add a vaniglia sanguigno orange or not. It’s suppose to be acidless so I suppose that it’s gonna be sweet even if the growing conditions are not perfect. (I am growing all my citrus indoors from september to may)... what do you think? Is it a good variety?

jenny, My daughter will be attending North Carolina State University in the fall so I have to make a few trips back and forth from GA. After seeing kvetch's post, I want to see what he has. I don't need any more trees, but you never know what Stan may have available as he has been collecting citrus trees for 20 years. He has a website that doesn't do him justice of what he may have.

Amy have you bare rooted your Valencia while it has been in your care? I had an RBF Meyer that did well during last years summer/fall months but it died after repotting and putting it out for the spring weather last month. I had bare rooted it for the first time and saw that the roots were in bad shape and not formed in a helpful way for the tree. That kind of thing can't really be fixed so I hope your tree doesn't have that problem! I had seen a huge list of different blood orange varieties that mentioned the vaniglia sanguigno but I don't remember the site :( I found a thread of someone who has actually tasted the fruit [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/vaniglia-sanguigno-blood-orange-dsvw-vd~4978810[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/vaniglia-sanguigno-blood-orange-dsvw-vd~4978810) The person said it is so a acidless that the sweetness and flavor tasted almost manufactured. And in Fruitmentor's link he said that mixing it with an acid orange juice made the vaniglia sanguigno taste even better. So maybe it'll work for your growing situation in getting some acidity in the fruit!

Jenny and Denise, I knew from looking at threads about Stan that he has more than what's listed on his site. And sometimes I forget he even writes that on the webpage lol. I first emailed him to ask what the other non-listed citrus are. He probably has too many because he asked me instead what I was looking for. So I mentioned the varieties at the top of my wishlist. I didn't actually ask about the Ponkan in the beginning since I assumed I could get one from Brite Leaf. They had them in stock when I started emailing Stan but some days later Brite Leaf sold out of the Ponkan. I knew Harris wouldn't have dwarf Ponkan either so I brought it up with Stan as an afterthought. It's a good thing I did because it seems he only checks for the variety when you mention it! Hope this helps the next time you guys are on the hunt for a certain variety. He had the Page in his greenhouse so he probably grows some less hardy ones but maybe not too many of them.

I too have a Santa Teresa from Four Winds Growers. It's growing currently under the HLG Quantum Board lights, which seem to perform better than the select spectrum LEDs. It is one of the most vigorous citrus tree varieties I have. It does not seem to fruit as readily as other lemons however, and as Laura mentioned it prefers to grow wider than taller.

Tropical, after our discussion about lights over on the other thread, I'm looking hard at getting one of those HLG quantums for this winter. They look really nice.

Denise - now you will have the perfect opportunity to "browse" in person and there will be no "guesswork" for what you'll get like when you mail order. :-D

Kvetch - thanks for that info. I will have to keep that in mind. If I can get (generally) pest-free trees from a source then I will try to stick with that source. I know that I have had to battle those cottony cushion scale that have come on FW trees and some brown scale that exploded on my poor OGW Kishu before it went out for summer, so am crossing fingers with the Shiranui from Harris.

Tropical - thanks for that piece of info regarding ST. There is a thread about the variegated pink (Eureka) lemon and how it tends to sprawl too, so that will be something to plan for. My ST is still small and I'll be happy if I can make sure it stays happy. lol And thanks for the note about your lighting setup. I did a quick scan of the various models and the price seems reasonable.

jenny, I got in touch with Stan McKenzie and plan to visit his farm mid June. I passed it twice without knowing going round trip to NCU in Raleigh, NC. It wasn't even that far off I-95, but the trip up there was last minute and we took a different route than originally planned. There will be no mail ordering. Cash and carry will be the plan. I will make room in the car for whatever even if one has to sit on my daughter's lap. lol.

Denise - that is so exciting! I made a detour to logees twice when I was ‘in the area’, but I’m never driving anywhere near Harris or McKenzie farms. You can always make room!

Alanna Is that because you live to far away or you don't like those to nurseries. I live to far

Alanna, I really shouldn't go and be tempted because I have limited winter storage space. Stan's reputation as the "Citrus Man" and the opportunity to meet him is too good to pass up. I only want one more tree from Four Winds Growers, but if Stan has it, I'm going to get it. I save myself $30 in shipping and get to pick it out myself which is the best part.

Sadly, I’m too far! I know if I went, I’d come home with way more then I planned. I would much rather get to pick out my in trees than order online, but outside of California, there’s very little available locally. Every road trip, I research any nurseries near by.

Hint, hint Kelley. lol.

Oooh what is the citrus that you hope to find with Stan? Even if you don't end up getting more than 1 citrus, who knows you might bring back the other fruiting plants that he also carries :D

Not saying what I am looking for. Then everybody will want to get one. lol Since my daughter is going to school in NC, I will probably be making more than one trip up that way in the future. I am really going up to Stan's to browse. Who knows what he has? It's too bad it isn't early winter and I could taste my way through.

Let us know what you discover. Curious what’s not listed on his website

Hahah Denise that's hilarious! But I can understand considering how everyone watches Four Winds like a hawk

Alanna, I will take notes and report back. I would think after collecting trees for over 20 years, he will have varieties that we have never heard of from way back because new varieties are developed every few years.

kvetch, I am glad you took my response well. Kendra Just told me that there are less citrus nurseries doing mail order so more pressure is put on them to produce more trees to satisfy the public and their inventory goes quickly. I believe her because it took me quite a long time to get a New Zealand Lemonade. I watch FWG's website every day at least 3-4 times or as many times as I get on the computer. That is so bad. lol.

Denise - Hoping you have good weather for that trip! And don't forget to consider making a list of questions to ask too. I know before I go plant shopping, I make myself a list and check it twice. LOL

I remember a post on this forum where someone did a road trip with citrus (tall ones) with the tree canopy propped on old pillows (if I remember correctly).

Denise
If you are going down the I75 corridor through Cincinnati, Oh I have 5 healthy US897 rootstock trees in 5 gallon bucket you can have free. I'll help you load them. I live 1 mile from I75 on the I74 interchange.

Steve

If you notice he has any citsuma Prague, let me know! Jealous you are getting to visit the farm. :)

poncirusguy, I live in GA and will only be going as far north as Raleigh, North Carolina. Thanks for the offer though. That is very kind of you. I will be using, I-20N, I-95N, and I-40N. If there are any nurseries worth stopping for, other than McKenzie Farms, please speak up.

My offer goes to anyone passing through cincinnati, Just letme know ahead of time. They are to big for me to ship them $$$$.

It looks fine this way.

Oooo Alanna! That is looking good! Amazing what a little sun can do. :-D And that is an impressive row of trees in rootmaker pots!

All of my citrus are now in rootmaker knockoffs. After much research and debate, I decided to give them a try. I found relatively cheap ones and bought them in several different sizes, so I can pot up as necessary or customize to what I need, they’re essential expandable. I do worry a bit about the black plastic in the sun and I don’t know how well they hold up because it’s just thin sheets of injection mold plastic (I don’t recommend getting too close with your weed wacker - it does not boost longevity).

I was pretty happy with my terra-cotta pots, plus I already own tons of them in various sizes, but the dense root systems that rootmaker style pots produce were pretty impressive. I’m hoping they’ll allow me to grow bigger, healthier citrus in containers.

Alanna, have the pots resulted in good root structure? What brand are they?

I’ve only had the trees in the new pots for five weeks and three days, so I don’t know about the root structure yet. I ended up going with a company called Maxx Yield Power Pot. They sell on eBay, Amazon and a larger selection on their own website. I found them to offer the best price on most sizes; I ordered 6 packs to save money and it was a good excuse to add some trees to my collection. It seemed like a tiny operation, but the customer service was also excellent. I received email responses very quickly and they were helpful.

Thanks for the info on that brand Alanna. It will be interesting to see how your trees fare this summer in them.