How fun! Please post pics!

Sorry. I don't know how to post pics on here and don't have a smart phone either.

I've known Stan or 20 years. I see him just about every year at the Southern Citrus Expo. You will find at his place a farm and his small citrus grove. I believe it is the farthest north citrus grove on the east coast.

I have come to learn how small the citrus world is. I should have gone to the citrus expo in Savannah last November but didn't want to drive the 3 hours one way.

Silica, which state are you from?

Meeting the grower is always a high life priority for me; sometimes we can share secrets. Anyway, have fun; and if you ever want to come for a visit, I always have lots of things to give away that I would never sell.

Steve, I wrote your question down and hopefully will get an answer for you when I return on Saturday. I, too, would prefer dwarf trees.

Denise - I am wondering if he by any chance, has any red Australian finger limes! Seems everyone has the green but other than Just Fruits and Exotics (in FL, who can't ship citrus out of state), the red variety seems almost impossible to find in the U.S.

I'm curious if he still has citsuma Prague or keraji mandarin. Enjoy your visit!

Stan told me he does possess the red Australian finger lime and plans to graft some plants for sale next year. The implication was that he had none for sale currently, but perhaps he just didn't have it on a rootstock that I was looking for. I asked (via text) if he'd put one on FD for me but didn't get a reply. Perhaps if more than one customer requests a particular rootstock /scion combo he'd be more eager to do it. I do understand why a nursery operator might not want to go through the hassle of custom grafting a plant, keeping track of it for a year (or two} and notifying a customer for a gallon pot that goes for 20 bucks.

Steve H

lucky_cloud and Jenny, I wrote your inquiry down. I am getting really excited because it's now 2 days away. Steve I will ask for you about the FD and red finger lime too. In the past I have emailed or PM'd through FB and took forever to get a reply.

It's silly, but I'm excited for you. I wish I was going too, but I'm eager to hear all about it.

While your at Stan's you can also purchase a big bag of Collard greens from the farm.

I can't purchase any fresh produce as I am on my way up to NC State University for my daughter's college tour and orientation. I go home Saturday.

loneroc1 - thank you for that insight! Woot! And thank you very much Denise for inquiring for us. Am definitely willing to wait for it to be established on whatever rootstock seems to work since I am obviously going to grow it in a container.

Don't thank me yet. I have to meet the man first. I don't have a smart phone so you all will have to wait for answers late Saturday evening or early Sunday morning, unless Kelley is willing to post for me. I can text her info.

Edit: Just contacted Stan a few minutes ago. All set unless he is called away at the last minute. I am leaving home around 6 am and hopefully will get there sometime between 12 and 1 pm. Oh my, it's going to be a scorcher up there. Forecast is 98*.

Have a safe trip tomorrow Denise! And don't forget your daughter! lol :-D

haha. She is being a good sport about going to the farm. She asked me what am I going to do if I buy a tree and where is it going to go. I told her take it with me in the car. She asked about the hotel. I said what about it. It is going inside just like the luggage. lol. North and South Carolina are not quarantine states so I think she would be embarrassed about lugging a 1 gallon tree in and out.

lucky_cloud Should I be checking out the Lowes while there to see what citrus is available? Not sure if citrus are available that far north.

All our Lowe's and HD seem to be sold out of citrus, and it was only ever very basic varieties. I did check a few of the Raleigh independent nurseries, but didn't see much. Logan's did have a very large blood orange but it was $200!

Curious to what he sells on flying dragon enjoy your visit

An news on the McKenzie Farm visit?

I went to the farm and it was around 100* and it was miserable out there. I met Stan and he was really personable. I did not get to see as much as I wanted to as I was only there for about 30 minutes. I had meds in the car which had to stay cool and there was no way to do it.

Jenny and lonerock1, there were no red Austrailian finger limes available. He has to graft from the one tree he does have. So you will have to wait until next year. Not sure if he is going to graft them next year on FD or not. He had lots of FD growing so I don't understand why he is growing some if he wasn't planning on using them.

lucky_cloud no citsuma prague or keraji mandarins. No New Zealand Lemonade Lemons either.

Stan lost a lot of his Flying Dragon rootstock this winter due to the cold weather so he had to start over. He is going to switch over to US 852 because it takes too long to get a tree on FD to grow.

The farm is in the middle of nowhere. lol. He had citrus trees of various sizes and the trees had tags in the pots. Stan just quickly went over what he had in the one gallon sizes and nothing he had in any size interested me. Most of varieties he had I could get online or at my local big box store. A lot of his inground trees were damaged from the cold and you could see all the dead branches still on the trees.

While there I asked what he used as his potting medium. He said small bark fines and sand. I was surprised, but that was what it was. I looked.

My recommendation is if you decide to make a trip out there is to go in the spring or fall.

Thank you so much Denise for reporting back. I feel for him because winter was rough all up and down the east coast and for marginal areas for citrus like his, I know it had to have been frustrating, but I suppose it is what it is.

It will be interesting hearing reports from those who have trees on US 852 on this forum (I think there are a few) just to know what to expect.

Again thank you and glad you survived the yucky heat out in the middle of nowhere (probably with little or no shade to boot)! :-D

Small bark fines and sand (builders sand, not the fine river sand) is a very common nursery medium, works well.

jenny, very little shade. I would have liked to stay longer and explore what he had in other areas, but Stan looked for every bit of shade just to carry on a conversation. My daughter was trying to get me to hurry which made it worse. For me, this was an opportunity to learn more about him and how he does things as a farmer as well. The heck with the heat as this would be the only time I probably would visit. I was hoping to learn some trade secrets on how to apply his methods to my own way of gardening, citrus and vegetable. I was really surprised to learn he used small fines and sand. This confirmed my conclusion that citrus were hardier than from what I have read. I am wondering where he acquired his fines. I just have a hard time believing he sifts bark considering how long it takes and for the large quantity of pots he uses.

You’re the best Denise! Thanks for taking the time to ask our questions despite your limited time and the miserable weather. It’s too bad about the losses due to the cold. I don’t understand losing FD though, isn’t that hardy down to zone 5 or 6, or am I wrong? I’ll have to look up US852. Too bad that you didn’t find much of interest to you. He sold me a NZL earlier this year and did say it was the last one.

lucky_cloud If I had my way, I would have gone through all the plants to see if there was something unique misplaced. lol. I did go to a Lowes in the Raleigh area and was surprised to see citrus. I didn't really expect to find any. The plants there were from Record Buck Farms and the more commonly found varieties. I noted they were rooted cuttings only.

Yep. That's what the big box stores carry. Though I did find mango and guava trees from Pine Island at Home Depot in Durham earlier this year. There are a few independent nurseries in Raleigh that sell citrus from other farms, but also the same varieties. Logan's had kumquats, variety unnamed, and "Pineapple" orange. They were from VanZyverden and expensive. The NCSU hort club has sales in the spring and fall and supposedly they have citrus, more interesting things like Thai lime, etc. Plus the Raulston Arboretum has some FD and citrange in-ground that you can go see.

lucky_cloud I would love to go to the horticultural and the agricultural areas at NCSU on a future trip. There is so much to see on campus and we had very little time to get it all in. The worst part of the trip to the college is that to park on campus you must have a permit or park in a paid parking garage. I had to go to the student health services building for something and didn't do either. I took a chance that no cop was going to be out in the heat give out tickets. lol. How does one become informed of the horticultural sales? Do they have a FB page? Do you live in the Raleigh area?

Denise, thank you for sharing with us. I have been in those situations, too, where you are limited in time or have other people with you.

Great idea to ask about the soil mix, too.

Bulk materials suppliers really should have PBF, in theory.

hibiscus, I inquired because I wanted to see what the pros use in their greenhouse and why they go that route. The answer I got was totally unexpected because most folks receive pots that are peat based and his were not. If folks purchased one of his trees, they would not go into shock if transplanted into a 511 mix because this is darn close to it.

If I go up to NC again during the early winter when Stan harvests his mandarins, I may drop in again on the return trip. At least I know this time where I am going. lol.

Denise, I live in Durham, a little up the road from Raleigh. I go down there infrequently but occasionally. I do drive to one of the nice indie nurseries there, Atlantic Ave Garden center, because they stock Rootmaker pots. I missed the NCSU sale this spring but I am going to try to watch for the fall announcement. I think if you like their FB page, is the best way to find out.

https://pialphaxi.wordpress.ncsu.edu/plant-sale/

https://www.facebook.com/NCSUPAX/

Thank you lucky. I checked out the FB page and made a note to visit the garden center too.

I just picked up two babies from Stan on my way back home. I arrived a bit after 9am and it was starting to get warm, but there was at least a breeze. I added a Ponkan (on sour orange) and Changsha (on trifolate) to my affliction (aka collection). Both cuties will get some transplanting later this week. Stan showed me his baby red finger lime plant - with a few little fruit on it - SO cute (think of a baby golden retriever). He sold his last Moro blood Saturday, maybe he'll have some back in the spring (mine died over the winter and I've had bad luck with C-35, so i'm avoiding that rootstock).

Are those trees grafted?

Denise, yes, their on sour orange and trifolate.

Denise, thanks for sharing your visit to Stan's place. He's a member of a dying breed, a true farmer. In my rural area farmers were long ago replaced by commodities producers. A few organic, city-to-country migrants and Amish still have an interest in horticulture. But traditional knowledge of agriculture completely died out with the last of the Great Depression survivors. Home gardens are memories. I don't know of a single local "farmer" who has a garden.

I'm a bit intrigued by the sour orange rootstock that Stan is using. Sour orange was the gold standard for imparting the best flavor to scions. It makes a large tree, at least too large to plant in my greenhouse. Does anyone have experience growing on sour orange rootstock in pots?

loneroc1 Steve H

I will be grafting to sour orange in about a month. I will let you know in 5 years on any size problems.

Steve

Harris is selling a lot on sour orange right now, so we will see how it grows...

If Tristeza virus is not present in your area, then sour orange rootstock, is an excellent EXCELLENT rootstock. It has all the advantages.

Hi Silica, I think that sour orange would be far too vigorous for in-ground planting in my greenhouse. Flying Dragon has performed well for me in that capacity. Am I wrong about that? I am intrigued about sour orange as a rootstock for long term pot culture. I doubt that Wisconsin citrus face much risk from tristeza.

Steve H

Greenhouse Wisconsin! Flying dragon would be my choice. I would also look at US852

Hi. I was on youtube and happened to find this video. The beginning shows Stan McKenzie's farm. This video was taken before my trip by a few days and his selection was not as good as shown so he must have quite a few customers. I found another one which I found interesting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-vhJ7MuWaE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJG0uM_Hu8k

lonroc1, your correct, flying dragon rootstock would be the rootstock of choice for in ground citrus trees growing inside a greenhouse. Depending on the variety, and the height of your greenhouse the tree should be fine. I have a 15 year old Cara Cara on Flying dragon, and it is 11 feet tall and wide.

Thank you for posting that Denise! How cool. The guy cracked me up about confirming that somone can really "fit 5 trees in a Camaro". LOL! Interesting that Stan has those palms there given he's not really in southern or coastal SC (more inland), at least from what I could estimate on a map.

After watching both videos, I realized I need to go back. He has an open house the 1st Saturday in November. I missed seeing a whole lot and would love to learn more of his operation. Going in the early fall means I get to taste a lot of what he sells.

jenny, Stan's farm is only 20-30 minutes off I-95 and to drive out there, you get the impression he is out in the middle of nowhere. When I arrived it was noon and he was waiting for his grandson to bring him take out Chinese food. lol.

Denise, nice video, I really enjoyed it. I've known Stan and his side kick Ned Rahn for many years, most especially in connection of the South Eastern Citrus Expo. You can not find a nicer guy.

Interesting. In the video, the "trifoliate orange" he shows has a tag that says "Prague" on it. Maybe a failed graft?