Wow Bob! The mandarin is huge! Is it one of the gold?

All Gold Series are pretty big. Those tree’s were thinned because worries of broken branches.

Three of them will brake a branch.

Which one is your favorite amoung the gold series Bob? I only have the shasta gold which is highly praised by our dear Brian.

For me they are all keepers. I favor bigger fruits, less per tree but that’s ok with me. Taste wise? Growing citrus here will not taste as good than citrus growing in California, but are good enough for me.Takes a minute to peel them. That with my Pomelo’s are hard to beat.

Been enjoy them for a while now.

It’a true that citrus grower like us can’t expect to get the same result than in California but I think that pur fruits are still better than store bought. Bob, do you have all the varieties you want? I think that I am done and I am pretty happy with what I have. I think that I will like to experience more with other fruits. Per example, I will try my first home grown starfruit in a couple of weeks!

Amy, I have all 3, Lee/Nova, Xie Shan, Sheranui, Half a dozen Valentines and Thong Dee Pomelo’s, Red Navels, Dream navel.

A dozen of valentine Bob? Loll Bob! I am dying to get one here!

Amy, 3 Valentines and 3 Thong Dee’s. Thong Dee,s are very large.(2hands). You would loves them.

What a beautiful fruit! Which one is your favorite Bob?

Bob, I know that you have a lot of knowledge for paw paw too. Can you recommend a variety that taste like an atemoya? I really like atemoya but I think that pawpaw are easier to grow here and I can grow them in ground. Merci mon cher ami!

Mango, is a excellent one, but there are some good one lately that I don’t know nothing about. I found a wild one close to home which I love a lot. Growing fruit forum has a lot of members that knows a lot Paw Paw’s. I probably have 10 paw paw tree’s.

Amy, I heard a lot of health issues with star fruit, be careful, make sure they are very ripe. The ribs should be removed, especially when under ripe.

Bob, beautiful fruit!! I wonder what those taste like? Sweet? Seedless? Easy to peel?

Amy, hello. How is your greenhouse holding up and your trees? How are you? I hope well. Happy New year!

One of the bad things about growing citrus is growing a variety that causes others to become seedy.

Pomelo,s are milder than grapefruit but have slight mandarin taste, which I like a lot.

Actually they are my go to fruits. All our friends Like them a lot. One ripen in December, one in January/February.

They are easy to peel, you can cut one length wise, than cut wedges and eat them that way or just peel the whole thing, brake of wedges. Mine doesn’t have a bitter aftertaste.

Bob, I asked a question? Please let me know

Mike, happy new year to you and your family! How are your parents doing? My plants are doing pretty well in the greenhouse. So far, we have a mild winter. It’s a balm to all the restrictions we have here. At least we can go take a walk without freezing to death! We are in January and I still have to open the greenhouse door to let out the heat during a sunny day! Unbelievable!

Bob, thank you for reminder about the starfruit. Yes, I read something about it not very good for people with kidney problem! Thank god, I don’t have any problem with my kidney. I have 4 fruits on my small tree this year. I will only keep one for me and share with my family!

Amy, they are doing ok , well except for my Dad. He's been loosing weight and they don't know why. He's also getting depressed because we can't visit him. I wouldn't want to be there for sure. Mom is ok. I have been doing everything to protect her from the Covid since I am the one that works and has to do all her and my errands trying to avoid crowds. Can't wait until this thing goes away. What about you? You ok? Do you spend time in your greenhouse being stuck indoors these days? Love the humidity in mine when I spray everything down. I sit and read a little. Even play bird songs from you tube just to feel like I am in the tropics. lolFunny you should say that. Strangely warm for January. Not one day with the highs anywhere near the 20's. Averaging 35 to 40 and I love it. NO winter coat yet and yes mines is warm too on sunny days. Less heating costs for sure. I can't wait for spring and for things to get back to at least somewhat normal.

So happy t see you posting again. Keep in touch, even if you have to e-mail me. I will respond for sure) Hugs

Mike, thank you for caring. I was pretty busy last year. I thought that I will have more time for myself because I must work from home and I won’t waste anytime to commute between my office and home. Nope, it didn’t happen that way loll. My kids need to be homeschooled and I must take care of my parents. I end up with less time for myself. Oh dear, I can’t wait to go back like we use to be. I am glad to hear from you and to know that I am safe. Oh It must be very tough for your dad. He must miss the warm of his family so much! Mike, it’s good that you can find some peace when tou are in your greenhouse. Do you have any pictures of your flowers? I bet that they are beautiful. My citrus trees will bloom. Can’t wait!

Bob, oh I know what you meant about seeds. I think that my page mandarin has more seeds this year maybe because I have more trees. It doesn’t matter because my husband said that it is the best orange juice ever loll so I am pretty proud of myself! I think that it’s pummelo season now. I see a lot of different kind of pummelos in the grocery. Bob, do you know why some pummelo has a bittee taste? Is it because of the variety? I am asking because I have unknown variety. The fruits are sweet but it leaves such a bitter aftertaste that I can’t finish it. Thank you for your pawpaw recommendations. I will check on growing fruit forum. I think that I recognized you as Aap right?

The pomelo I grow doesn’t have any bitter taste, very juicy. Yes, monkey ( aap ). If you don’t care about that variety topwork the tree with a Valentine and a Thong Dee you will be good to go. Once you have that variety , you need to make more tree’s, just need to find the proper rootstock and make 2 more. One problem, Thong Dee are huge so you need a sturdy tree.

Hi Amy, you are a wonderful friend from afar, trust me))) Thanks .

I'll start my own thread since it seems Bob is leaving me out of this conversation. No clue.

I will post a new thread and show you a few pics. I'd like to see updates to yours too. I wish I knew how Brian was doing. Miss that guy.

Mike, I miss a lot of people here. Brian, Jan, Matt and Sunshine just to name a few. I just hope that they are all safe and I am sure that they have a thought for us when they tend to their pkants. It’s just that we are in a difficult time right now and life must go on! Oh I will love to see pictures if your chef d oeuvre! Everytime, I look at your pictures they leave me with a smile on my face. Such beauty! Oh talking about flowers, I have a flower spike on my cymbidium!!! Oh I can wait for that to bloom!!!

oh Mike, I am sure that Bob didn’t leave you at of the conversation intentionally. He’s to generous with all his knowledges for that! It’s just that sometime there too many informations and we tend to forget some when we reach the end of the post loll. At least for me, it’s the reason loll.

Wow guys I have missed so much! How is everyone bob amy mike! Hope everyone’s ok! We’ve had a terrible time the last few months we’ve had so many COVID deaths in our family that I just have been neglecting all citrus! I’m so happy to see everyone on here it brings a smile to my face and some sunshine in an otherwise string of dark cloudy days! Bob beautiful fruit always! :) I did try the first sumo though it was quite dry probably due to the neglect I’ll see if I can post pictures none of them are dying but not doing as good as can be!

Oh mike that reminds me I recently got a orchid named jimminy cricket! Lol it made me think of you since you’re an orchid pro! I think it’s a cross between a brassavola and something else I can’t pronounce lol I’m so happy to be back on here finally I will try posting photos later oh and I also got a Hoya obovata I’ve been getting into house plants since i have been getting close to a particular family member that has a love for aroids and fragrant indoor tropicals it has rubbed off on me as well!

amy I would love to see some pictures how are your trees doing? Oh dear I got a pawpaw too last year a mango! It’s completely leafless now not sure if that’s normal but they’re about a foot tall not going to fruit anytime soon I bet unlike bob over there getting buried in fruits lol

Jan, hopefully things are behind, world are full of idiots, hard telling what’s nexts. Be careful. Spend more time with things you love to do. Fine music? Perhaps! Fruit trees? Nah.

Who cares about fruit tree’s.

Glad to see you back!!

Bought these a few days ago, ready to go to work, waiting for a warm spell.

Bob, hahah...That dog knows his stuff since every tree you plant it them turns out pretty good. Love it. I'll bet he keeps good company around the house, a little helper)

Jan, Jan, HUGS...I am so happy to see you back again. Bob is right, spend time doing things that you love to do. It's the cement that glues us together in our worst times of need. Even pets helps me a lot. Every morning while watering my plants all I do is smile no matter what happens to me. It just seems to come natural and I need that. Look at you getting into fragrant houseplants. I have tons. Ask me for opinions and I can help lol Addictive I tell you since 80% of my plants put out a fragrance))

Funny that should remind you of me. Thank you. You know me and my orchids. Many flowering now. If Bob does not mind I will share a few pics here soon. Smell sooooo good. I am so sorry about your losses. This virus is horrible. I wish it would go away. It's bad here too. But thank God my Mom is ok. Nothing here on my side of family yet. Every day since it began I have been working the front lines and thank God every day I have not had it and all I do is hear horror stories. Not sure what will happen now that Trump our president is out. That's a whole story in itself.

Please post pics. All the pics my friends post here make me smile so much, Can't wait to see. Much love to all here and I mean that.

Amy thank you for your kind comments and positives'. I will be posting pics soon for sure. I am happy to see you too and as Jan says, post some updated pics please since they too make me smile. Can't wait to see them friend.Hugs to you too.

Oh Jan! I am so sorry for your loss and like Bob said, I hope that the worst is behind us! Don’t worry about your trees! I am sure that they will bounce back once they have your attention! Jan, the situation here is not great neither. We have a curfew from 8pm to 5am! We can’t even go out on our properties during the curfew! It’s very weird right?

Here are some pictures Jan! They are from a few weeks back so some fruits start to turn orange now! I will try to take new pictures soon!

Meyer lemons

shiranui. It has started to turn orange.

In a couple of weeks, the greenhouse will smell great with all the flowers that will bloom!

carambola

Avocado trees

Amy, are you serious? What is a Carambola? Looks like a delicious fruit. Is that one you can grow locally.? I'd like to try one. I think I have seen them at the grocery store. Didn't think one could grow one in our climate. Nice job. And all that yellow ripe fruit. My goodness!! Good for you. Take a pic of the whole greenhouse too if you can. I can't keep a' shiranui' tree alive for all the money in the world. I swear they send the wrong root stock. Every winter when temps cool I loose mines. So sick of it. But when it fruits in summer and does well, my Mom loves the fruit! I have no idea but great job.

Bob I agree!! Lol love music a little fine wine maybe in the greenhouse what a fantastic idea :) bob I love your pup! Still so active and healthy! bob I don’t know how you find the energy to repot such large trees I really commend you Lol bob it’s funny you say that I have two pawpaws one is a mango the other I’m not sure but I’m hoping for leaves this spring since it’s all bald now and I’m planning to do my vegetable garden too pretty soon planning to order the wood next week :) please stay safe bob it’s crazy out there what with the new strain we’re getting

mike!! Hugs! Missed you and everyone here I thought about you guys a lot but life was just so crazy I’m glad I’m back now :) I hope brian is alright out there. Mike I am so grateful you’re ok and your family is safe it’s quite chaotic out here in bc please stay safe! Oh mike dont get me started I’m getting addicted lol! I don’t have a lot of orchid selections here but I got really lucky someone is selling here the fragrant orchid just a few kinds though! What is your favourite?

amy!!!! Wow you guys have curfew? That is quite odd! we’re on a little bit of a lockdown ourselves I think all the fines that they collected hve added up to $600k in BC can you believe it! Please stay safe amy it’s such a terrible virus! Seeing what it’s done to people and then seeing them isolated so that you couldn’t even see them during their final hours it’s heart breaking! Amy oh my your trees are gorgeous!!! I have absolutely no sun in my greenhouse lol so all my sumos turned small! It’s really annoying since my yard is so shaded lol is that a star fruit amy? Oh my you and your beautiful fruit trees! now I want them all lol

My small sumos btw it’s been such a warm summer I haven’t had to switch on any heat it has never dipped down below freezing

Cara Cara also small but was juicy and sweet!

My minneola left it on too long so it was very very dry!

That’s basically an outlook of my greenhouse I can barely get in to water lol when I was buying these baby trees I didn’t think ahead to what would happen when they grew!

I am so happy to be back into the swing of things with such dear friends like you guys bob and mike and Amy here! thanks for making this forum so great :)

It’s so nice to see you, Jan to do so well, not only that but the short time to accumulate such an array of healthy tree’s. A glass of wine and a toast to you.

Amy, another class act, very strong members. Watch these two this year! A toast to you to Amy.

Guys are we slacking of, guess we have to step it up. I think we doing great to.

Mike, another name for carambola is starfruit. I have four fruits on my tree and today I just ate my first one. It’s way better than the sore bought one. Quite sweet actually! They are easy to grow too! Mike, lol, I will try to take dome pictures of my greenhouse but don’t laugh! It’s so pack that you won’t see anything at all lolll. My shiranui stopped growing last summer and I think it didn’t like my 5-1-1 mix so I put it in a grow bag and promix and it seems ok now. Mine is on cleopatra. Do you remember what was your rootstock? Oh and they are so expensive at the grocery so maybe you can try to grow another tree for your mom?

Oh my god, Jan, your trees are gorgeous! What do you plan to grow in your vegetable garden this year? Do you still use your aerogarden? I love mine! It makes me so happy to have some fresh herbs during winter when nothing grows because we do not have enough light! Jan, I must confess that I have a new addiction since Bob show us pictures of his more tropical trees. I am now obsessed with tropical fruit trees loll! Oh lucky you! I wish that I don’t have to heat my greenhouse although I shouldn’t complain because we have a mild winter this year. I hope that we won’t have any polar vortex this year!!

Sprouting chayotes, my new experience

Bob, merci pour le compliment! Actually, you are the one that gives us all those great ideas! You give us courage to try new stuff and you are always here to help us!

Off topic, Amy, this is some of my inground figs, Desert King figs are my give away figs, Chicago Hardy for preserves.

Aquire new varieties for 2021. 6 in total. Red Lebanese. B/K. Uppotted today .

Double airlayer plus graft, growing good.

Amy, I have no idea what root stock it was on but I did ask for the one that is good for growing in New England when I spoke to them and not sure if they still did. So frustrating. It's my third one in three years. I really want to have one that lasts like my others(. Glad you are ok. Can't wait for them pic of your greenhouse if you can fit. lol. Seems many of us are having the fitting problem. lol Star fruit? Where did you get yours? I can't find any sold around here or on E-bay less than 100 dollars. Ugh!

Bob, beautiful figs!!! What is the coldest hardiest FIG tree I could plant here other than a Chicago Hardy? I would love to give one a try here this spring. SO healthy looking. What is your favorite eating sweet fig?? Very nice. Are you waking up your fig trees already? Is that potted one just coming out of dormancy?

Jan. OMG. I can't believe how big your trees have gotten. They are almost as big as Brian's. I think you will have him beat before he knows it. Has he even seen what your trees look like these days? He's missing out if not, in fact he's missing out on all our friendships here. I hope he's ok. Look at how green they are. You are the citrus whisperer for sure. Where's the orchids? Ha. You should have a go at coconut smelling orchids and the very sweet vanilla cookies ones. Oh there is the one that smells like chocolate)) I will show pics soon. I have a few in flower finally. Hugs)) Be safe. What a sea of green in your greenhouse and it looks like you have no bugs!! That is because you keep it cool. So much easier to deal with.That is why I keep mine pretty cold.

Have fun everyone today. Sunny and warm here by January standards!! 50 degrees and sunny!!

Mike, you have a choice out of 10 top varieties, problem with any of them they need protection. the big problem is not haven enough time to harden in the fall. you can get a artic blast early and your tree,s are toast for the following season. When they freeze, new shoots are coming back up, you should pinch them when they are 3 feet high for multiple branching. Taste wise hard to beat Smith.

Those are my new ones they are growing in my shop, 71* degrees.24\7. All figs are going in the field April.

Bob, no kidding)

I always thought that a fig tree had to go dormant to give good figs. Do the figs you grow 24/7 grow figs just as well?

I am thinking about waking a couple up now just to see if I can give them a head start. Would be nice to get figs very early if I can) That is a very nice looking tree in that pot. I like the idea of a smith. Where di you get that black pot with handles, I love it.

Fig getting hit while branches are still light green by a decent cold front will not make in the spring, even Chicago Hardy is not cold Hardy enough.

My local Hydro ponic store sells them, made in Italy, $8.00 each. About 10gl.