My Calamondin citrus tree outside now inside

Do any of the fish emulsion manufacturers say that it can be used to control insect pests? If the answer is no, then I would not use it for that purpose.

Kings-rose - Your Calamondin citrus tree is beautiful. In order to get all my citrus in my greenhouse I have to keep them pruned to a specific size. Your tree really looks robust and gorgeous.

Vladimir - Excellent point. I am going out to review the online information from the Fish Emulsion manufacturers. I thought I read that Mikemeyer uses it with very good luck.

kings_rose that’s one gorgeous little calamondin bush!

I’ve thought about getting an apron specifically for spraying my plants. I hate how messy spraying is in general

King-rose, does that tree produce for you, if so how does it taste. I was promise some cuttings sometimes. Sure a excellent looking tree, keep up the good work, you need a few more like that one.

In ground seed grown Fukushu kumquat getting its enclosure.

Steve

Ladylotus, lol! I can relate with your first statement about saying you are not going to buy anymore by the end of fall, and then wanting to get more in spring.lol Much more room in our

yards verses indoors!

I use Fish Emulsion every year on my trees all summer because I don't like using soaps, chemicals or oils on my trees while blooming which happens all summer long. But, I also found for the same past years that I have not had one pest issue in that time either all winter on the ones I treat that way, in fact all year. Could be coincidence, who knows? And, my trees stay a rich dark green too. It might be in my head or actually helps, but I make no claims as to it's success except to my trees only. It might do the same for yours))

I don't smell for days. I use a nose end sprayer and it does not get on me. It drips off the trees and just smells like the ocean around the house for a few hours.

I don't use it indoors though and only use it on my plants in the greenhouse since then I don't like using oils or chemicals either.

Beautiful set up and i hear you about crowded. Have you seen what Brian's greenhouse looks like? Now I know he started small and worked his way up. That's an idea in which I keeping saying I'm going to get to. He even has room for a beer or two and a nice sitting area. ha.

Good job.

Steve, always very nice and very creative with the space you have!.

KIngs, what a beautiful FULL looking tree. Very nice!

Kvetch LOL...an apron with a hood.

Steve, one has to wonder why we go thru all that we do for our plants. It looks like you are getting your Kumquat situated nicely. That is a lovely, large tree.

Vladimir, I did research on various Fish Emulsion manufactures. I found it quite fascinating all the information I learned. I always assumed FE was used as a nitrogen booster and was pleasantly surprised that it has quite a few trace minerals in it. In addition, I believe some have suggested that there was no benefits to foliar spraying with FE. The manufacturers indicate that there is value to foliar spraying FE. Lastly, there was no mention of anything with regards to pests. Based on the value of foliar spray I am going to continue using it throughout the winter and see what happens.

Mike, I used to post quite regularly when we had the old GardenWeb format. You helped me with a gardenia that was doing poorly in my greenhouse. I have since given that plant away as it was too fickle and I had too many other cherished plants. I am ALWAYS on the lookout for fragrant plants for my greenhouse. I love to sit in my greenhouse with a cup of coffee and putz around as well.

Here is a photo of the entrance of my greenhouse prior to bringing in all my plants I needed to winter over. Please excuse my dogs bones. LOL. He has to have something to keep him occupied so that he does not chew on my plants.

I don't recall seeing Brian's greenhouse. I would love to see photos if he is willing to share. I am going to try the FE spray Mike. I figure it cannot hurt and I have plenty bottles of it that I purchased on sale. If it helps with the pests, that is wonderful, if not I hope it keeps my plants healthy.

Every year except this one I purchase praying mantis egg cases. These things are voracious eaters and keep my greenhouse nearly pest free. This summer I had aphids for the first time in my greenhouse...OMG they are awful. I will be getting praying mantis egg cases again. I know what you mean when something is working for you and not injuring the plants or people, keep on with that method.

Happy gardening!

Fish emulsion and kelp have one thing in common, brown likely composted in some fashion goop, the smell may even attract them, only kelp doesnt stink, mixed with a dash of insecticidal soap, will have handy on waterings, 2 for one while pots in basins getting watered

Thanks everyone

Bob, its been growing and producing fruit heavily I kept removing the fruit because it was attracting squirrels now that its indoors I will let it fruit I already see about 10 small fruits and few flowers The orange is kinda sour the peel kinda sweet I think they are meant to be eaten with the skin I think these oranges are more for decor

Ladylocus- What an incredible greenhouse, it looks massive!! I'd really love to see more of it. Great looking Var. Pink Lemon, I have one as well, it will go into a South facing guestroom.

Steve- Bravo on your tree's winter home. Does it go dormant or keep it's leaves in there?

Mike- Gardenia and the Michelia Alba look fantastic, must be the Fish Emulsion spraying and your great care!

Yes as nanzjade said, Your GH looks amazing! I too would love to see more pics, Is it attached to the house?

It's about that time here too, to bring in the plants and organize the greenhouse. I find there are A LOT less pests, overwintering in a greenhouse.

Mike, I will see how the winter goes and perhaps purchase another gardenia in the spring. Your gardenia is BEAUTIFUL. I'm so glad to hear that your spraying of the fish emulsion is working so well for you. I have nothing to lose so I will try it all winter long and see what it does for my plants. The flooring in my greenhouse is made of pea gravel and I do not dig my plants into the ground in there. Everything is in pots.

Nanzjade, Thank you so much for the lovely compliment. It is a nice sized greenhouse 28' X 26'. I love the Variegated Pink Lemon. I keep it trimmed up so that it does not get too big. Do you keep your citrus trimmed as well?

Matt, I built the greenhouse myself with an older gentleman who had carpentry skills. It was very difficult and I was never so happy in my life once it was completed. I saved sliding glass patio doors for years until I had enough to build it. I had an old horse watering trough there so I piped in water, youtubed how to put in electricity and shed many tears until the entire process was completed. LOL. I also got old broken down cupboards and reconstructed them, painted them and put all those up as well. I even bought some chalkboard paint and painted a chalkboard and framed it. It is a free standing greenhouse on 4' cement footings, I dug a 5 1/2' deep pond in the gh in hopes of the water aiding in maintaining a bit of warmth. I will add more photos this week.

Wow! What beautiful pictures of plants and greenhouses! Steve, that must be a new enclosure, I take it. Looking good! Mike, wow! Your gh must smell amazing. Such beauty! King, what a beautiful and lush Calamondin !

Ladylotus, what a lovely and roomy gh you and your friend built. I am impressed. You have a lot of skills. I can't wait to see pictures of your pond. A number of years back my hubby and I built our first gh using recycled patio sliding doors and windows that we had saved for close to 20 years. It is 12×18, unheated and I use it to extend my garden season by up to three months. I absolutely love it. I crammed an awful lot of seed grown plants and vines in the gh the first few years. It was a lovely jungle by the end of the season. Lol

Ladylocus, that's incredible, how you built the greenhouse plus a pond! I hope to see more pics of it too, sounds amazing.

I pruned the Var. Pink Lemon mid summer, and it has regrown from the left side a lot! It's due for another round of pruning before bringing it indoors this month It has two competing leaders, it's driving me bonkers, lol! I haven't needed to water it in weeks because there has been plenty of rain, though I think it could have used a feeding (like osmocote in the mix) as the new growth is really bright.

Matt, you have a greenhouse? How big? You must be kind of excited. Did you have to wash it too? I would love to see a picture of it))

Nancy, I agree. Boy, what beautiful set up she has there! I would actually look forward to winter if I had a set up like that. That is where I would spend all my winters!! A pond too. Nice trees by the way, Very nice

Ladylotus!! I also put a small pond in mine and you would be surprised at the humidity it helps with. It was my friends idea. Once in a while a couple of smaller Bull Fogs will make a home in there about now for winter.lol I love them. In fact, I had an idea. Why don 't you move some gravel away from that pond and dig a whole filled with the mixture of your soil, peat moss and cow compost? Dig the hole, stick a nice gardenia or citrus tree in it and watch it explode in growth and size. All my in ground greenhouse trees are so happy and I love them all. I just hope I never have to shut heat off to their in the winter or I would have to dig them up, but I LOVE it. It's so nice not to have to worry about watering just a couple of pots.

I am in love with your area and I can't believe how much hard work you put into it. Now I am wanting a bigger one, one attached to my house in fact. I pray some day. Good job

You know you could sue the F.E in there and it would be so helpful in keeping all your good pests happy. I know that Neem can kill many of the good bugs such as praying mantis and other good critters. F.E will not.

Mike

Wow Mike, ladylotus, and jinny...your self built greenhouses sound so amazing and pretty impressive that you guys even constructed them in the first place! It’s so easy to dream about getting a greenhouse in the future and even building one exactly the way you’d want it. But it’s such a time consuming project to commit to in the first place! Really amazing you guys went all the way and completed your own. Also love the idea of a pond in the greenhouse and having bullfrogs in there. And if you grow some pond/water loving plants by the pond, you’ll probably be fostering a healthy and lasting population of beneficial insects to help out in the pest department too! Would love to see more pics of all your greenhouses and the ponds!

My green room is still empty but there is a coldfront coming in 8 or 9 days than this room will be overrun with you know what.

These guys are waiting patiently.

The road is line up with well wishers, they love their resthome!!

A little more glass installed

Are the posts treated? looking good, very ambitious

Top picture. The 4 uprights are not treated. I will be able to get about 5-10 years use out of them. They go up in the fall and come down in the spring. The windows are in their 10th year of outside service and are beginning to falling apart. They are 125 years old and are made of ceder.

The lower picture. All the wood except the lower horizontal cross beam are of treated lumber. The depth from the house is as well as the left side wall are permanently sized. They come down in the spring and stored till next winter.

This will be the seed grown Fukushu's 3rd winter and th NZL's second winter.

Steve

Steve,glass doesn’t do anything for winter temps, would plexiglass be better, the kind of stuff they use on greenhouses?

Glass does more than Plexiglas on windy days. Glass is marginally better on still air days. Plexiglas is more than 2 times the cost as glass. My windows are free and that is the big clincher for me.

Steve

If you were to buy your own greenhouse getting a GH made with Plexiglas would be better than one of glass. Plexi lets 90% of light pass through while glass only lets 80 % of light through. In my case for every 100 units of light I will loose 20 units though the first piece then 16 units of the original 100 through the next sheet. The 3rd sheet will extract another 13 units and the 4th sheet removes another 10 units and leaves me with only 41% of the light that hits the first surface of glass.

Plexi looses 10 unites another 9 plus another 8.1 plus another 7.3 for a total of 65.6 units to the plants. This math does not count for the fact that my windows are DIRTY and have a low-E heat transfer barrier. My soil will get cold and the occational very bright winter sun will not heat my greenhouse up and cause WLD. It will also need no heat unless the temperature drop below 10F at nights.

Steve

Just got a lecture in cost and what not. Steve, i have built humongous decks and room additions in the last 18 years here in the neighborhood, building a greenhouse is not a challenge for me and using recycled stuff windows, got sources close by that can give old windows for nothing as a matter of facts got another source in town, used lumber, no problem, old age a big problem. I am close to my second retirement and also final. My greenroom is suffice. I am with you.

Bobaloo.

I know you mentioned windows are free, with that I too would use them. However, if you ever get the chance to purchase twin wall poly-carbonate it really does a nice job retaining heat. I used triple wall on my roof of my greenhouse and used sliding glass doors around the entire greenhouse for the same reason you are using windows...free. Steve your cold frame is a perfect way to add enough protection to get your beautiful tree to thrive. Very nice.

Bob, love your addition. What a great place to bring your plants in for the winter. You made me chuckle seeing that you were ready at a moments notice.

this plant based hangout is staying outside to die

9 feet above the street and 7 feet from the street.

Steve

Bob. Retired twice! Stop making yourse out to be so old. Ha. How long will you be able to keep up with all that work? My goodness. My hats off to You. Thank god you know how to avoid all that lifting ))

Mike being a fireman is much tougher than moving containers, just try taking a 300 lb, half lifeless person out a rollover car and bring up towards the road. Containers, a piece of cake.I'll be eight 0 January.

Bob

I have a good idea of how challenging being a fireman can be.

Steve

Bob, but the sound of your writing, your work, your trees, your yard and all the effort you put into others, you would of had me fooled. I would of thought as young as I, say about 40? I give you lots of credit my friend. You must be eating right. Like all the fresh organic fruit of your labor.!

Now that is a sign of good health Bob. 80 and still grafting, planting, lugging trees around everywhere.

Steve, are the photos of the fukushu and nzl that passive heating system you mentioned making in the past? The one with the 4 glass panels that use the released heat of the air freezing between the panels? I really liked that system you explained in the past and have it saved so I’m wondering if maybe you’ve developed a new method because the mechanics of the first one is amazing!

Unfortunately I do not have the setup for that system. Yes it did work very well for me. My plants change so much each year I have to design a new GH each year. I use scrap lumber and the old lumber had rotted to much to use again. My setup this year will match the lumber, glass and tree shapes. The pictures above are looking from south to north. The small GH with the fukushu tree will get bags of leaves between the north "window and the house. The south GH "window" will get bags of leaves between it and the garage wall. The east and west windows will get a storm window on the inside and out side so the window will be 3 layers glass. These window are not Low-E and will let solar heat in non the ground and feet of the tree. The next level up will get 2 low-E window for each side East, South, and West. The north window will get a single pane window and will have bags of leave between it and the house. The tree will get light with out heat through the 2nd level of windows, 'not installed yet'. The heat will rise from the ground and feet of the tree to keep the top half of the tree at a similar temperature. The system is sealed tight and will not be using a condensation Phase change heating. system I used many years ago. The bigger of the 2 is still in design to get solar heating to and limited to the ground an feet of the tree. I will continue with pictures as I complete the setups. I have a 3rd tree in ground outside I will be enclosing last.

Steve

Ah that’s such a shame! It sounded like such an effective system for our cold winters. Maybe it will only work for trees on true dwarfing rootstocks

Kvetch, you are right. There mus be thriving good bacteria and pests in my greenhouse. What I love about an in ground source of water is that no matter how small it may be, it provides the moisture in the air during very dry winters. I never run below 50% humidity in there in the heart of winter. The frogs add charm, especially when reading a book and hearing them trying to call me for attention..lol I do bring home crickets once in a while for those that decided to keep me company while the others hide in my very cold ponds that I prevent from freezing in the winter,. Those hibernate. Thanks man)

I even have moss growing around them which add a flare of all naturalness to it.

Steve, I really enjoy your pictures. You are kind of giving me a few ideas. I wish I could pick up unwanted windows with frames like that. Good for you. I wish someone would sell or invent framed mini glass houses that you can cover plants with outside that are see through but can keep any small plant you want from freezing. You know, pop up insulated greenhouses for individual plants that work like insulation.

Mike