You guys are so funny :) Amy, your cuttings look good! If the soil stays warm consistently, they will root. I find that it is the temperatures fluctuation that hampers the rooting. My Volkamer cuttings are growing, they came from the rootstock of my Meiwa tree.

Brian, you would really have fun grafting trees when you start. Careful, it is going to be addictive :))

Amy lol very funny and you know I work a couple of blocks away from where the bear was caught , thank goodness I was on holiday's. Amy lol maybe I will take you up on your generous offer after I bring in all my tree's in a few weeks. I will have to see how much room I have to play with in there which I'm sure will be none . Amy the Sugar Belle from Brugmansia Quebec I bought in spring is on fire it never stops growing it's a real weed , it's now up to my shoulders and it's not even a year old and it's on dwarf rootstock. Today was trimming again and cleaning and spraying down the greenhouse we never stopped some holiday . Tomorrow we are digging a hole in the floor of the greenhouse to drop the palm tree down into or it will never fit in there it's gotten so tall . Amy I'm leaving my tree's out and it's going down to 5 C brrrrrr and I'm not worried them so your's should be OK at 7C and the temperature next week back into the upper 20's C . Have a great weekend enjoying your cuttings!!!!!. Hopefully the Boukhobza will grow a bit more so i could give you guy's some cuttings from it .

Brian

Lol Sunshine that's just what I'm afraid of . If it's as addictive as buying tree's I will end up in major trouble !!!!

Brian

Hello Amy and Sunshine trim day for my Minneola

Brian

OMG Amy you made my day with one of your pictures! That baby Buddha's Hand is as adorable as can be. You can see the tiny little fingers have formed. This is the first time I've ever seen a pic of a new little one. They always show mature ones ready to pick. Your cutting grafts are looking good. I have also researched one of those rectangular dome lids so it was good to see the one in your picture to judge the size.

Brian - thanks for the trimming pic. I know I am going to have to do that to my Shiranui at some point because of the way it is shaped at the moment. I haven't repotted it either and it still has that one fruit (and possibly one or two more from the last bloom but I can't see those branches too well), so have been delaying the inevitable. lol

Looking excellent Brian, always nice to pick your own grown fruit.

Amy, that is the start of an orchard you are developing, i am all in favor and good luck. Bob.

Thanks Bob and Jenny!!!!!. Bob soooooo true you just can't beat home grown citrus eaten minutes after picking, the juice content and taste incredible.

Jenny it's probably a good idea not to trim your Shiranui now, I would wait till spring when the tree is actively growing. Jenny shaping a citrus tree is very easy you will have your Shiranui looking beautiful !!!! Jenny trimming my Tango today I filled one of those large leaf bags . You would not believe how many fruit were on the branches I trimmed so sad .

Brian

Brian - Thanks! I know that eventually I will get to the point where my trees are mature enough to really respond to trimming to thicken the canopy (my Eureka is almost there). And I know in your case, you've got to fit all your babies in the greenhouse very soon, so you gotta do what you gotta do!

Good luck Amy!! I hope they all take! Brian, as always, I’m blown away by your massive trees. My minneola is my largest tree, but it is not as big as yours!

Lol Jenny I did what I had to do and hated it with every clip especially the branches that were loaded with fruit! !!! . Everyone here that bring their tree's indoors for the winter will unfortunately have to go through this every fall one day .

Thanks Laura I've seen pictures of your Minneola and it's gorgeous and is getting very close to being as large . One day a trim will be necessary and your going to hate every clip lol . Laura my Sugar Belle is not a year old and if it continues to grow the way it has been all summer I to will have to trim it before bringing it in next year . I have never seen rapid growth like this before from any of my tree's . I hope Laura that you and your family and everyone on the east coast stay safe from Florence, let's hope that it stays way out to sea !!!

Brian

Thank you Brian!

Amy, good for you! Nice growing. I have some I just stuck in the ground that seem to be rooting, time will tell.

Brian, lol, that made my day. You are way too funny. Nic work. Hugs buddy Lol. You cut it back and it still towers your step ladder, a tall one for that matter. lol

Laura, thank you very much for what you did. I messaged you but not sure of you got the latest one. You are way to kind.

Mike

Thanks everyone for the nice words!! My cuttings and grafting are still green today! Oh I hope that they will all takes but so far my success rate is not that high!! Loll... I will be happy if I have one of each variety.

I had been quite buzy last weekend spraying and carrying my trees in. It was quite a challenge to fit them all in! I still have a couple outside but hopefully they will be all indoor by the end of next week.

Here is my set up. Sorry for the bad quality of the picture

Brian, you’re right!!! Sugarbelle is a monster! Both my Sugarbelle grow non stop now! I had to trim my big one in order to bring it in. Hopefully, we will have some fruits next year. I heard they are amazing!!

Your Minneola fruits are huge!! oh i so love to make juice with them! Yummy!!

Hey Mikey buddy lol you know how many times that I almost fell off that ladder lol. Balance definitely doesn't get any better with age . That was the start of the trim I cut it way back . Tree's are all ready to move in the GH I am ahead of the game this year for a change buddy .

Amy what a gorgeous setup!!! . I now understand why you bring your tree's in so early that looks like an incredible amount of time and work . Amy fingers crossed I won't have to bring mine in until the end of September. Amy believe it or not one more heat wave this week Yippee. What's with the Sugar Belle's so aggressive maybe fruit next year ? We can hope . Great job Amy and soooooo glad your cuttings and grafts are still alive !!!!

Brian

Amy, great setup, your trees are going to be happy. I heard the weatherman talking about one more heatwave for us, so I am leaving my trees outside for another week and bring them indoors after the heatwave is over. Oh boy, winter is not far away!

Brian, I always wanted to ask you, how long ago you started to grow container trees. Your trees are huge and gorgeous, it tells me about long time experience and dedication!

Oh, Brian, can you message me, I could not find the option for messaging in your profile.

Thanks Sunshine your very kind . Sunshine I've been citrus'n for 20 years . My first couple of years were very hit and miss unfortunately lost a few . Knock on citrus wood I haven't lost any for a while . I really got the citrus thing from hanging out in orange groves in Florida many years ago . Sunshine I've always been so impressed with your tree's and your propagation techniques !!!!. Sunshine I will contact you tonight.

Brian

Hi Amy and Brian, how are you both doing during the severe weather? I saw the destruction of buildings in Ottawa and Gatineau area by tornadoes and strong winds. I hope you guys are ok.

Fingers crossed that it's been quiet from our friends in Ottawa and Quebec because power is still out and not because they were personally affected by the tornado. Amy & Brian, please let us know everyone's ok and your trees weren't blown away to Kansas or down the yellow brick road :-)

Hi everyone, thank you for your concern! I am alright here in montreal. The tornado was not in my area but I saw some really bad pictures of its destruction in Ottawa. We had very strong winds last week and I am lucky that all my trees were already indoors otherwise they will have fly away pretty badly!

Brian, how are you faring? I cross my fingers that you were far away away from the path of this tornado!

Hello Sunshine Cf03 and Amy. Thanks so much for your concern!!!!. Amy glad that your Ok. Unfortunately maybe another round tomorrow, this time more in your area Amy stay safe . . It was a horrible storm we were sandwiched between 2 tornadoes a F3 went north of us by 3 miles which did tremendous damage in Gatineau. There was also a F2 tornado that went south of us by 1 mile right through parts of Ottawa so much for the theory tornado's don't touch down in major cities . We faired very well compared to the poor people that lost everything we lost power for almost 4 days . No damage to my tree's or home there were few branches that came off the maples and Pines . Amy how are your cuttings coming fingers crossed! !! . Sunshine is it alright I send out you cuttings next Monday everything has been just so upside down here. Today was my first day back to work since the storm.

Thx again so much to you all for your concern !!!

Big hug to everyone

Brian

Wow Brian. Glad you were okay and hope you and Amy can get through the next round. This is the time of year - the clash of the cold air and warm air.

Major tornadoes in Cincinnati. 1969 tornado touches down and destroys the upper crust restaurant. 1974 tornado touches down in Cincinnati and re destroys the same Upper crust restaurant. A few years later the same upper crust restaurant is destroyed yet again. by a FIRE. The same day an F5 went through near my neighborhood in Cincinnati. One heart attack death. no injuries.

Yea Tornadoes do hit big cities and sometime the same spot twice

Thanks Jenny your so kind !!!! . Jenny we are just starting to hear that we might be doing this all over again tomorrow WOW .

Steve that's a large tornado wouldn't want to be in its path , it's just amazing the force of these things . They are just finding out that there were 6 tornadoes on Friday within a 40 mile area and these tornadoes were moving 60 miles an hour leaving no time to take cover . I don't know how to link but if you YouTube Ottawa tornado you will get a feel of what we went through last Friday.

Brian

Oh I just saw a tornado warning for tomorrow!! Oh god I hope that it will not occur for real!!

Wow Brian! It must be hard not to have power for four days! The longest I’ve gone without power is 2 days during an ice storm in winter 1998! It was not fun to take a shower with cold water!! do you have a generator?

Thank God you guys are fine! Every time I listen to the news about the terrible weather in your area, you both are in my mind, wishing you to be safe and get through the next round.

Brian, don't even worry about cuttings right now, you can send them to me in the spring. You have bigger worries right now, please stay safe the two of you! I imagine it's not easy to be without power for four days. I grafted two sugar bell and three Shiranui grafts on my tree from the cuttings that Amy sent, will let you know down the road about the progress.

Brian, some of the cuttings are not rooting. I can see them starting to dry (among them are my two cuttings of the variegated minneola. Really heartbreaking!). On a more encouraging note, my two grafts are still green so I am really happy. Did you put all your trees in your greenhouse yet? It’s getting colder here in montreal except for today! Apparently, we will reach 29C here in Montreal.

All my trees are indoors now and some of them are shreading a lot of leaves with twigs die back.oh no!!

Sunshine, how are you? Did you put your fig trees inside yet?

Amy, I put my fig trees inside to ripen the fruit and then they will go in the cooler room which is dark and overwinter there. My Meyer lemon dropped most of it's leaves after I brought it in :(

I hope there aren’t anymore tornadoes from here on out. They move so quickly and all the damage is done in a quick snap. I can’t believe there were that many tornadoes in the same area too!

Stay safe you guys! if you need to for the sake of your safety, let that citrus tree fly off, stay sheltered, and save yourself instead!

Brian My prayers are with you. A word from someone 'Me' who was missed by 800 feet by an F5 tornado, saw 2 more noisy funnel clouds, and heard one more roaring over head after dark, That I have not seen a tornado or funnel cloud in 44 years, 5 months 23 days 1 hour 41 minutes and still counting. They really aren't very common.

Steve

Brian and Amy, my God I was just thinking about you yesterday and have been meaning to come here and let you know that. I saw and heard this and was quite worried. I am glad neither of you lost your homes or trees. It's very strange this year the weather. I was misses by one just a few days back and now today it's 82 yesterday 50's and cold and tonight big storms to be followed by very cold temps again. It can't make up its mind around here. I am keeping you guys in my prayers.

On a side note: I cut up one of my trees to come into the greenhouse like Brian suggested a few weeks back and stuck the cuttings into the mulch in my greenhouse. I totally forgot about them until I moved the pots around in there to clean and low and behold they all took! I am so excited.

Brian, I wish there was a way for you to send me some especially that Shasta you have since it grows so big and is always loaded with fruit.

Again hello to everyone here,all what I consider my friends in whom I do care about deeply and HUGS to you Amy and Brian. Please keep us updated on this next round. I got flooded yesterday with a quick 6 inches of rain but nothing in comparison to you all. Many hugs

Sunshine, I do the same with my trees too. But I get so discouraged because I get no fruit on mine year after year. I don't get it.

Mike

Guy's you don't know how much it means to me knowing that I have love coming from every direction Cincinnati, Lowell, Toronto, Montreal, New York and Pennsylvania , thankyou soooooo much and a hug for each of you !!!!! . Friends always come together in tragedy !!!!!. I have been just taking it easy the last few nights I didn't sleep much last weekend . Amy don't worry next spring I will send you much larger and stronger VM cuttings as the tree will be larger. So glad to hear about your grafts !!!

Hugs everyone

Brian

Mikey my friend I wish I could send you some Shasta cuttings I have a endless supply there as the tree is still way to large. Hug Buddy .

Brian

Hi, Amy, Brian and everyone, wanted to update you on the grafts on my Friendship tree. Out of 5 grafts on the tree the 3 Shiranui grafts took and the 2 Sugar Bell grafts failed. I have grafted one sugar bell on a different seedling just to save the cutting, but it is still not clear it has taken or not, will open it in a week. Here are pictures:

Brian, I am excitedly waiting for the cuttings :) Thank you and Amy for your kindness and generosity, this tree will be cherished by me and my family for years to come. The tree has three varieties of citrus grafted on it. In the future will graft some other varieties.

Looking really nice.

Nice job, Amy and sunshine!

Hello Sunshine that tree is sure looking good !!!!. 3 out of 5 is pretty darn good . So glad that the Shiranui grafts took I remember how bad you wanted one . Your going to love your Shiranui I think it's the best tasting citrus out there. The skin of the Shiranui fruit if scraped has such an intense sweet fragrance. Your friendship tree is going to be one special tree with all those great varieties on it . I'm so happy for you!!!!

Great work .

Brian

Your friendship tree is still looking really nice sunshine. Hopefully that last sugarbelle backup takes. That’s one variety you don’t want missing from your tree!

Hi everyone, wanted to post some updates! Amy and Brian, how are you both liking the cool weather? Thank you both for the cuttings that you sent me! Here are the Shiranui grafts:

Brian, here are the Gold nugget grafts:

Here's the Tango:

It has been a week since I grafted them, looks like they took. Will update on Shasta and Valencia in the coming weeks. None of my Sugarbelle grafts took. Will have to take good care of the new grafts untill spring, looong time to get there :)

looking great.

Steve

Sunshine does't feels good when you have such success and these little tree's develop in more beauties to add to your meager "collection".

Sunshine congrats!!! So happy to see those babies grow!!!

Far out sunshine beautiful you made my Saturday night so happy for you !!!!!. Your a pro at grafting. Sunshine it was a real beauty here today a ton of sun but very cool . We still have not had a killing frost , you know in the old days the killing frost happened in the middle of September. Sunshine I'm ready to spend the whole winter in the greenhouse really looking forward to that . Great job Sunshine!!!!!.

Brian

Thank you guys :) I cannot have huge collection on my balcony, so decided to have a decent collection on my special tree, it will take some time for the tree to give fruit, but I am patient :)

Brian, I was reading a local paper and they were saying in 20-25 years people in southern parts of Canada will be able to grow citrus outside with no problems. Mindblowing, that's climate change for you! It scares me!

It will be at least 50 years before I can grow citrus like Arctic frost, orange frost, kimboragh, kumquat, Bloom sweet, 10 degree tangerine, Outside with out protection. I will be 111 years old then. I hope you do better.

Steve

Steve, I hope by that time humanity will take care of Earth better or it's not going to be fun to live on this planet and grow anything :)

Sunshine, wow!! Great job!! My little cutting I just stuck in the ground 2 months ago are growing like gangbusters! Strange

Brian is right, I can't wait to spend my time in the greenhouse too, especially on those cold snowy days!

Brian buddy, you are right, I'm with you. Hugs buddy

Mike

Mike, good work on rooting your cuttings, I always have hard time rooting citrus cuttings, they sit in soil for long periods of time and do nothing, grafting gives me far more better results.