I've always gardened. I got into this just reading all the posts (I mean every post going back years in Citrus before I ever logged in with a screen name) for about a year then started buying some small baby stuff. My wife who passed away 2 1/2 years ago was very ill at the time, so I was spending more time at home/hospitals and needed a new form of gardening and ideas to keep me around the house occupied when I wanted to be but not tied up. The idea of getting something cold hardy to live out side with help is still there......

Dave, you hit it right on the nose. I may add, it was a cheap way to add more to my herd. Tree from Lowe,s one dollar, year end leftover, 2 from Walmart, each $5.00, leftover. 3 from Harris, 20 dollar each plus shipping. The rest are all from exchanges. I do have a few friends believe it or not.

Bob, if I could find such cheap citrus at end of year, I'd be in big trouble!

I bought a box of nagami kumquats at Krogers. Small fruits are easy to grow so I did some research and found out that Meiwas were very tasty and that citrus trees were very easy to grow. I found GW and everyone was having so much fun with their trees so I bought a #10 box of Meiwas and found they were tasty. I planted 300 seeds in which only 1 made it. I planted PT seed for rootstocks. Out of 20 seeds 3 made it. I was so happy that citrus trees are so easy to grow otherwise my trees would have all died.

Steve

The reason why I got into citrus is because I wanted to grow as much food as I could without using chemicals. Most of my adult life in California I always had a vegetable garden and fruit trees. In 1997, my husband's work was being transferred to GA so I had to give my Meyer lemon and Owari mandarin trees away due to our moving.

When I got to Georgia I took it for granted that I could grow everything here that I could there. Well, I was wrong. Between the bugs and the humidity, all my stone fruit trees had to be removed as I didn't want to spray them for pesticides or fungus on a regular basis. That defeated the purpose of having them and I was very disappointed in the difference of climate and the increased amount of pests destroying everything I planted.

I replaced the 2 trees that I left behind in 2002. As I learned how easy it was to grow citrus in pots and more varieties were becoming more readily available at the big box stores, I slowly increased the number of trees. After buying a few I became addicted because I had the space and they were so good to eat. I had a family of 5 and the trees were really slow in producing so I purchased multiples of the ones that we liked. As I learned more about the varieties available, I purchased more and more. Oh my. I now have 26. Time to stop buying and wait for the young trees to produce to see if they were worth the money and hype. lol.

I guess I have always been around them, I remember my grand parents had Satsumas and sweet Kumquats that were planted in ground a couple of years before I was born, of course to me it seemed they had always been there. So once I bought my own first house it seemed natural to add citrus, ...

It all started with me when I was about 12 years old. I think it was either because I was walking by one when it was in bllom at my local greenhouse or my Mom bought one for me. It was my only one. It lived but and smelled so good in my bed room in my sunny window until it croaked by winters end. I was devastated. I wanted another so bad.

It was replaced, but I hated waiting until it flowered again and I hated loosing them year after year.

I used the worst bagged mixes and even tried clay pots with them. I had no idea on when to water, how, of what to feed. I would loose one, then buy one.

Then I decided to buy a few at once incase any died, and one by one they would.lol

I finally decided to do research of proper growing practices and found this site.

I met a guy named Al, and learned about how soil mixes work in containers at the 'container forums'.

I learned of the concepts of 5.1.1 mix and the gritty. and thank God I did. I grew in these for quite some time and still do to this day.

I will admit at times I don't like using them because I don't like the frequency of having to water, but for some that is ok for me. For others, it was a pain.

I knew I would sacrifice the vitality of some of my trees for mixes that held water longer, but I was ok with it.

I learned at least how to water correctly, what the appropiate pots were, how to avoid salt issues, how to understand how roots work in containers, how to fertilize correctly, how to give the proper conditions to my trees, how to prevent mites, pest infestations and how to make them grow like weeds nice and green. I also learned how to make the soils I choose work for me and my trees and how to gauge when to water.

It was only after all of this I felt confident enough to buy more and more so that I would have one in bloom at all times of the year. I probably have over 35 at this time.

The only thing I did not take into consideration then, and in which still discouarges me greatly, was that I could never give them the sunlight or warmth they needed consistently year round. It is a constant battle for me but worth the battle when I smell these great trees.

I have met many great people here and have learned so much from many with different opinions and different growing methods.

To this day, I am greatful for the one tree I found with that sweet fragrance even if it only lasted one season standing beside my bed at night in my south facing window. I miss that tree. It was a Lemon Meyer one. Now, I can have many that last all seasons with the aroma filling the air at all times in so many different rooms and areas.

I was never able to eat the fruit for the most part, but for some reason growing different types still intrigues me after 25 years now)))

Mike

Redneckgirl, I noticed you liked a comment, just know you are missed. I hope you post again soon here.

Brian and Cory and many others, miss you all here.

Mike

I sort of blundered into citrus. I grew up where it was just a little too cold during many winters for in-ground citrus. As an adult I moved down close to the Gulf coast. A co-worker had a seed-grown Ponderosa lemon tree and he shared lemons at work. I started some seeds in pots and ultimately transplanted them to my yard. They were little at the time and I had no idea if they would take or how big they might get. Now I have 21 in my yard. The seedlings come up where I throw out the pulp for compost and I just transplant them to other parts of the yard rather than mow them down. I also shared lots of seedlings with co-workers so who knows how many Ponderosas there are out there that ultimately came from my co-worker's tree. I always wanted a fruit orchard so I "branched out" and added kumquats, Satsumas, and some others. I LOVE spring when they are blooming. The aromas are great and it attracts lots of bees and butterflies. It's just fun watching fruit grow and I really like the flavors of citrus. It's great to be able to grab an orange off the tree, peel it and eat it right there by the tree. Oddly enough, when I was a kid mowing around Mom's pyrocantha (thorny ornamental yard plants), I said I would never have trees in my yard that have thorns. I wish I could add more varieties but it's too cold for limes and I would probably need to make raised planters to help some of the more picky varieties get their roots above my compact, poorly drained soil.

For me it was probably a combination - my first trip to Spain by coincidence was when the sour oranges were blooming. It was magical, everywhere you walked the air was scented with orange blossoms and I simultaneously fell in love with Spain and with citrus blossoms. Five years later I smeller citrus blossoms again, this time at the local nursery. I picked up a Meyer, which I only kept alive about 8 months. Now after much trial and error and some losses I have a yuzu, sour orange, calamondin, three lemons (harvey, meyer, and bearss), smith red orange, some key lime / lemon / sour orange / yuzu cuttings and seedlings, a sudachi, and a xie shan satsuma all in containers and haven’t lost a plant in over a year. I am going to round out my collection this spring with a duncan grapefruit, tahitian pomelo, and an oroblanco (I couldn’t decide on a grapefruit). After that I will probably start to evaluate fruit and trim back - I only want to keep the best lemon that is productive and vigorous, for example.

I remember gardening as a child. My dad would till the garden and we all plant the seeds. We grew a lot of different things, from grapes and raspberries to beans and radishes. I have always loved growing. What got me started on citrus was watching a movie where a woman had a lemon tree in her kitchen and I just fell head over heels. I had a palm tree that grew well and I couldn’t let go of the thought Of having a lemon tree. I thought about it for two years before actually taking the plunge. When it starting suffering in the winter when I brought it in, I found this site. I don’t comment as much as I want or share enough anymore, but 4 kids and nursing school is a rough road to walk haha. That original lemon tree didn’t make it but thanks to the kindness of the good people on here I have had a great time growing citrus trees. Ive got a yard full of plants and a house full with different plants tucked everywhere, but the citrus are my favorite.