No pictures jurasico? :(

For me the kaffir lime and an Indian lemon (Gondhoraj) are the most robust. The kaffir is from seed and has no fruit. But my definition of robust is that they are healthy and vigorous.

I add CRF at quarter to half strength to my potted plants to counter my laziness. Right after rain stops I may apply full strength Foliage Pro if forecast looks good.

You are asking a lot of sort of unrelated questions.

Question #1: What is your most robust citrus?

Yes, I consider 'robust' to mean they do well in containers -- foliage, roots, everything -- as well as -- they can tolerate my winter conditions -- a cool garage with not much light! Citrus will never perform as well in containers as in the ground, especially in the north.

This is my 'Armstrong' and it looks pretty robust to me. It is mostly alternate-bearing at this point, but that's OK. Not many fruit this year, but maybe a hundred last year.

I have another Satsuma (Owari) with more fruit on it. You can never have just one.

But probably my MOST robust are my citrumelo and citrandarin -- trifoliate hybrids. They can take a LOT Of abuse!

Question #2: WHY is it that I can look outside now... and only see fruit on my LIME trees...?

Because different citrus behave differently when grown in containers in a less than ideal environment. Also smaller plants take a while to ramp up. Bloom is initiated in late winter/early spring and plants must be in good shape and in good growing conditions to hold on to fruit.

Question #3: Do you feed even with deluges occurring, doesn't the fertilizer just leach away with the heavy rain?

I think since it's raining so much, that's even more reason to keep the fertilizing going. At least diluted.

My Bearss lime is the one that makes me happy, it's grafted on flying dragon, grows faster than any of my other grafted citrus trees, has fruit on it consistently.

So far my yuzu is the most robust container citrus I have. It stays outside year round, is huge, and set tons of fruit for me this year. As for the fertilizer question, we get less than an inch of rain on average each July and August so I fertilize weekly and augment with CRF.

Here’s a picture of my yuzu with my Seville from Harris for scale - this is the yuzu’s third summer.

My favorite container citrus (Surprisingly for those who know I am the Meyer lemon guy) would have to be the Cara Cara orange, sometimes called Red Navel. It is easy to grow, produces year round (in my climate); and is excellent both for eating out of hand and for juice.

The Red Lime that I received from Hirts last fall is a tremendous grower and is a wide spreading beast. I saw no graft line so I believe it is cutting grown. It put out a steady amount of growth during the winter but all of the limes fell off when our cats used it as a jungle gym. It bloomed early summer and currently has quite a few fruitlets all along the branches. I have a lovely 3 year old Hirado Buntahn that does very well in a pot. The roots (and trunk) grew so fast that I potted it twice in the first season of growth. It has more of an upright growth pattern and I needed to stake it because the wind will just knock it right over. The wind blew it off of the deck a few times and broke a few nice limbs off it. I just decided this week to plant it down in the ground in a corner of our wood heated greenhouse. It currently has three fruit holding on. It is on Kinkoji roostock. OBO. I will need to keep it trimmed.

My 4 year old Meyer is definitely my most robust. It lost a lot of leaves this past winter, but still put out an insane amount of lemons.

It's just now starting to grow back that missing foliage after these big rain storms.

pics

Jurasico, what's happening on your side of the world? You must be getting some great storms..Nothing here in Lowell yet.

Mines would be Orange and Ponderosa trees!! Ponderosa especially because even when inside with little light and kept cold, they still grow well all winter for me. They come out in spring looking healthy where as all my others struggle to hang on or slow down dramatically!

Dave, of your tree, which one of the ones you mentioned flowers often and smells very good? Nice looking trees there!

Mike

Here's a pic of my Clem-Yuz hybrid from seed (whether it's 3-3 or 2-2, I don't know -- but I know the fruit tasted pretty good). It's about 7 feet high. Bloomed for the first time this spring. No fruit, but at least it's growth is finally maturing. I did a graft from the top-most growth onto P. trifoliata and am forcing it now. Hoping to get a much smaller flowering plant.

Forcing T-bud.

My Smith Red is my most robust out of all my trees. To my surprise, it is the fullest and most beautiful looking of all my trees. I couldn't believe, but it's true, that it's putting out blossoms in August.

I love my Smith Red so far. It’s an entry sized tree in its first year from Four Winds but it’s just such a deep healthy green and it’s absolutely exploded with new growth this year. I’m hopeful it may flower for me next season but super happy with it so far. Denise, how has yours behaved during the winter?

Meyer, we have not had damaging storms as bad as the tornados in Ma. and NH..., just been extremely tropical for weeks now on NJ /Zone 7 (dew points in the mid 70’s with highs in the 90’s, which is why El Jefe is not golfing so much, :( , so far, the extreme, crazy flooding has been further west (Pa., DC, Md., Va), but rainfall has been good! The extreme humidity though is causing mold again on my Crape Myrtles. As far as Citrus, my limes are looking terrific at this point. I think most Citrus though before a bit of drying out. However, since mine are outside in full sun in a southern exposure that gets HOT, I do water most every day. Otherwise they start to wilt (and they are not in any gritty mix). I think they will actually do better once September temps drop some and watering is less intense. Meantime, we are in a flood watch for the weekend.

PacNorWreck, My tree did great over the winter. I keep all my trees in a north facing sunroom with very little heat and I think it did not drop any leaves. The sunroom originally was a screened in porch and the ducting was an add on. Heating and cooling is poor in that room. Anyway, it was in there for about 3 1/2 months. I took all my trees in and out when the days were safe for them so they did get some sun.

Good to know, thanks Denise! Our citrus growing season here is only a very generous 6 months or a more realistic 4 months, I have yet to decide for this winter whether to keep plants outside except for freezing days and nights or whether to take them inside except for warm days over 50. I’ll probably do half and half and see how that goes.

This winter I am going to position my trees differently. Last year I put the tallest in the back and the shortest closest to the window. It seemed to be a good idea at the time. Unfortunately, the Meyer lemon wasn't happy being in the back so I'll position it in the front and see if it makes a difference. When the temps are warm enough for me, they go outside. I am considering the Arctic bags for my trees this year too. I should have purchased them last year from Georgia Citrus Association for $2 when offered.

Denise, what are Arctic bags?

Vladimir https://www.amazon.com/Agfabric-Warm-Worth-Frost-Blanket/dp/B0157LVZKA/ref=asc_df_B0157LVZKA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198106292047&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8494969100759648806&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011206&hvtargid=pla-348358796626&psc=1

I am considering purchasing these or similar, but not at these prices if I can help it.

Denise, you know what? Wouldn't it be fantastic if they came out with some easy to put together product that all you had to do was stick your trees up against your home and cover them and make a temporary greenhouse? Boy that would solve all of my problems. Extend the growing season my a few more weeks without having to take up any room in my yard. I can't wait for the day I can put up a seasonal porch full of windows extended from my home. That is my dream.

Jurasico, boy, I could use that rain. I measured 1/4 of an inch for the last two months but as you said lots of humidity. Enough to cause mold on most of my shrubs even petunia and the sort but than God not on my grape vines. I sprayed those, but the lack of rain has caused them to shrivel like raisins before I can even eat them. I suppose I could put together a nice granola with them when they dry up just a bit more.,lol Good luck down there. Hopefully you will get a few storms and all this crazy weather will subside. Funny thing right? Tornado's and thunder storms just a few miles away and yet nothing here. Every storm dries up just a mile or two outside my zone, as if there is some force field up there of like I am 'under a dome'. year after year for the lats 15 or so, so my drought has gone right down to the huge trees dying off. Locally scary stuff(. I hear you about the HOT sun and what is does to your trees. Thank God those days have passed for her. Everything has perked up. I hear you about golf, I work at a golf course. It has been really slow around here lately. It will be make up time quicker than we think and fall in a blink of an eye. Ready for the Christmas music?

Mike They do

Steve,,hahahahaha, that made my night..lol I think I am going to ask my local Wendy;s if I can borrow some space!

Denise and Vladimir,

I have used the Agfabric frost blanket. I don't remember exactly the difference it made, but it was something like 3-5 degrees with Christmas lights on the tree under the blanket. It lasted 2 years and was a shredded mess after the second year (yuzu thorns can be pretty vicious).