I got a lot of fruit for the first time and made the decision that continuing with citrus may be worthwhile. The figs are for the most part a waste of time and resource for what I get in late October and if I am lucky November. I left them on the rooftop unprotected and will use their skeletons to support half runner beans.

Steve

Sorry to hear that, for me, it is a must have addiction to my continued endeavors in growing anything. Having growing figs way longer than citrus, back to the year 1980, I have now just a small handful varieties.

If I just grow 10 figtrees, what would it be? Easy, 8 will be the Smith fig, no doubt!

Is that scientific Steve? Dammed you’re are good. I don’t need that much. My wife makes the finest fig and mandarin jams. I use that for my inbone pork hops bourbon sauces.

It takes 50 figs to equal the volume of 1 Red Delicious apple. That is about 40 apple or 2/3-1 bushel of fruit. That would make a lot of jam or 25 figs for my wife and Myself a day is like cutting an apple in half each day to share.

Steve

This year was very good for the lemons, but not so the limes or kumquates. This was an off-year for the figs.

Last year wasn't productive for my citrus but did get good fig and persimmon harvests. This year is started looking to be bad, only had flower buds pushing on my limes (key and finger), but now looks to be shaping up to be good as my satsuma and cara cara has pushed buds. Still waiting on my Moro and other orange tree, but they don't see to be going with the delayed flower budding plan.

Your persimmon harvest was the largest I’ve ever seen this year bob is that just a regular year for you? I’ve never seen so many! I’m still waiting for a lot of my citrus trees to get older since I’m relatively new to it but considering how I fared the past years I must say I didn’t do too bad here kiyomi tangor was the most delicious I’m shocked nobody else has it!

Jan, citrus is a huge collection and it is still growing fast. New varieties are coming out at a regular clip. I grew just about anything in the past, the best in apples, the best in Stonefruits...........Now citrus. I got family in California, good friends there, good friends in Florida. It is a good feeling when you have sources you can rely on. I am pretty much done with new stuff.

Btw, I grow the finest in persimmons, most are from Asia,Japan etc, one from Spain. As you can see, I am all over the place when it comes to fruits. I can keep persimmon pretty small and productive. You can probably grow them in the ground there in Vancouver.

there are only two rootstocks to use for persimmons one is Lotus, this the one to use for zone 8 and higher. Virginia is the other one, it’s the one I use. If you are interested I can help.

It was kind of hit and miss here, I was very happy with my Miho and Cara Cara, less so with my other early season Satsumas, and my Meyers performed well, am still slowly harvesting, but of course have an excess of fruit.

Bob I agree!! Have you heard of the amoa 8 coming out of Italy? Looks so beautiful it’s one of the red varieties of oranges a blood orange!

oh bob I would love to grow persimmons I’ve been trying to figure out where to plant one since the back is mostly shaded I’d have to take out some space in the front yard where it’s south facing! Bob it’s so very kind of you to offer your help and expertise thank you so much! Bob where would I buy a persimmons tree on those rootstocks here in Vancouver? I tried Phoenix perennials but Theirs didn’t fruit much I’m not sure maybe it’s me or the soil here not sure why but it hasn’t done a thing since I got it two years ago! Where did you get your rootstocks bob? Did you do your own cuttings of the rootstocks And then graft onto it yourself? The persimmon in that picture is just beautiful bob!!! like A jewel! Or gemstone :) maybe one day I can grow one just like it!

Jan, the rootstock I use are wild growing, all over the place. Here is what I do. On my property I have a ton of them growing wild, the problem is, some taste bad some tasted decent, some are very good, I pick seeds from them and plant them on my property, graft them when they are very small, like going in their second year around the end of May.

Graft them low as possible. When you graft on a rootstock that you know becomes a large tree, you graft as low as possible. Subtropical persimmons are much smaller In structure.

Bob, given your experience, I'm curious about which grafting methods hold the most success for you? I tinker some with my citrus and persimmons, but success rates are no where near where I'd like them to be. So any pointers you might have to aid beyond the trial and error learning.

Methods depends on rootstock, thickness of both rootstock and sion, are you top working and a couple other things like timing,spring, summer.

Real small stuff, go with w/t, if bark not lifting? Cleft, bark lifting? Barkgrafting. This is just for starters. Any specific questions you might have, let me know.

Thanks, Bob. I may put a separate post or message you since I don't want to go off topic on thread.

I added a few new varieties this season that produced . Every one below in containers except the Gold Nugget

Oawri

Honey

Page

Cara Cara

Moro- just put it in ground replaced pear

Kishu

These below I've had for 3-4 years producing fruit

Okitsu

Tahoe

Gold Nugget

Wash Navel

Meyer and Variegated Eureka

Bearss

This season I'm really looking forward to my Yosemite & Shasta producing for the first time. This will give me mandarins from Nov-June.

Nick, what else are you growing? That’s a lot of varieties you have, you need to diversify.

Do you belong to the California Rare Fruit Growers, I never joint, what I do is crazy enough. I love peaches the way I grew them years ago, don’t spray much any more, those days are over Persimmons no spray, citrus ? Very little. Others? No spray. Am I getting lazy? Getting there!

Read enough about Plumerias, soil/ ferts, I am good to go. I can handle it now, thanks to google.

I am lazy too. No spray

I have in ground a peach , nectarine , plout and plum. I have two dwarf peaches in half wine barrels all peaches different varieties.

8 varieties of avocados.

15 varieties of blueberries in containers

10 varieties of raspberries

8 varieties of strawberries

2 varieties of mulberries

1 thornless blackberry

3 varieties of red grapes

1 pink pomegranate

Various hot peppers and tomatoes and herbs like basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary 😎

I only spray my peaches and nectarines for peach leaf curl. I keep my trees cut down to 6 feet every season and get hundreds of fruit on each tree. I hate to climb on anything to reach fruit. Lazy 😎

Here is a YouTube video a couple seasons ago of my yard. I’ve added citrus since then and placed all the blueberries in 1/2 wine barrels . Took out the pear and replaced it with a Moro blood. Also removed the apple and placed It my gold nugget . Raise bed has 3 avocados and my Meyer in it now and added 6 mandarins since that YouTube video. That little pluot is now 7 feet and should give me 100 plus fruit this season. They are my favorite stone fruit.

https://youtu.be/FWzWZv35jiA

Nick, to die for, maximum use of land for sure.

bob you’re lucky you have a lot of rootstock to work with! I’m trying my first grafting attempt as soon as my special tape arrives bob not sure which grafting technique to use I guess I can try cleft!

nick that’s one great backyard!

Jan, we get you up to speed in a hurry, lots of help here! On my property I have about 100 tree’s, 90% homemade. 40 in containers. You go girl!

I'll take a new video this spring. I've collected Japanese Maples since then and have 40 in my back yard and pond area. When they are in

bloom I will shoot a new video. :)

Get your camera smoking, Nick!

Yep, best year in 10 years of growing citrus.

Josh

Have been citrus shopping at various high end store and others to find out what is the best tasting store bought citrus is.Sofar out of all I have tasted, including Cara Cara, Sumo, Cocktail grapefruit.

DeKopon, several other grapefruits, no name pomelo, most were high dollar ones, Cara Cara was from Sam,s Club, just to get a feel for what you can expect your fruits should taste like. I already prefer what my young tree’s produces.

After driven for two days, looking for the best tasting citrus, I came home with this.

MANGO’S!!! $ 7.99. Oh well. Better luck next time.

Bob, Kent mangoes are better than Tommy Atkins.