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michael_rivera96

How are your citrus trees doing these days?

3 years ago

Did they make it through the summer ok?

Did they get a lot bigger?

Did they avoid pests?

Did they fruit?

How are they doing?

Many would love to know.

Can not believe summer is over already(

Mike

Comments (50)

  • 3 years ago

    All of mine did ok. I only lost one because I forgot to water it in spring before bringing it outside and then it died even though I gave it lots of sunshine.

    They all got so big I will have to cut them back before they coke inside for the winter.

    No bugs yet thank God

    They are fruiting like crazy and have no pests.

    I still have them all outside until nighttime gets into the low 30's.

  • 3 years ago

    Mine are all doing good

    2 years old from graft growing Fukushu on Flying dragon.

    Fukushu on C35 has fruit for its first time. It was graftedb5 or 6 years ago.

    New Zealand lemonade on sour orange. above/below


    NZL on NZL seedling

    Fukushu kumquat, on Poncirus trifoliata inter stem, on sour orange.

    1 year old Fukushu on Flying dragon.



  • 3 years ago

    Mine grew a lot this summer. A few are so big, im not sure if i can carrying them in/out this winter. im going to have to prune two to get them inside the door. No major bug problems. All of them have bloomed and are fruiting, except for my calamomdins. Some reason none of my calamomdins have bloomed/fruited yet. No calamomdin pies this year for the holidays it looks like.

  • 3 years ago

    I don’t have pictures, but mine are all doing great - both in ground and in pots.

    I seem to be having a big harvest of Mexican Limes all at once. I always get a few all the time, but I guess there must have been a big bloom last winter that is getting ripe now.

    I don’t see much on the Lemon, but the Meyer has quite a few again. The Kumquat always surprises me with an unexpected bounty in December/January.

  • 3 years ago

    Thought I'd drop in and share, don't have any pictures at the moment. But my indoor-only trees are all doing well. Fukushu is taking a year off from a lot of fruit, though I suspect that's due to needing a repot. I had meant to pot it up this year into the final size I plan to keep it in, but none of the hardware stores in my area had the right size in stock so I'll have to wait until next year. My Nagami has finally flowered and has a single fruit, but a lot of new growth so I'm happy to say that I think it's finally doing well. My seed-grown rangpur has also doubled in size after having a few setbacks and pests. As usual I have a ton of passion fruit from the passion vine that has been a bear to keep out of the trees all summer. (It tried to anchor to one of the seedling trees earlier this spring and wound up swiping it off the plant stand, woke up to find the pot on the floor and the seedling hanging from the passion vine.) All of my seedlings are doing well and I've added a surprise seville orange seedling grown from an old dried out seed to the mix.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    My Calamondins finally flowered this week. My Satsumas are starting to turn orange color. My key lime is full of fruit to pick, and more blooms are appearing on it. Instead of a calamondin pie for thanksgiving i will do a key lime pie.

  • 3 years ago

    My Meyer and RR grapefruit both had a slow start this summer due to me still trying to figure out proper watering. I think I finally got it sorted out though and both trees really filled out. Meyer is taking a recovery year and did not fruit. Grapefruit is still too young, I think I'll get some next year. My meiwa kumquat is finishing it's first year and set a ton of fruit. I thinned it out pretty good because it's still young and recovering from a really bad sunburn it got immediately after I brought it home last year. But even after thinning, it's still got about 15 fruit.

  • 3 years ago

    I forgot to add, my sour orange seedlings (for rootstock) are about 10 months old now and doing great. I was 90% sure they would not survive the Phoenix summer, but thankfully I was proven wrong!

  • 3 years ago

    That picture is from early August. They are probably about 18-24 inches tall now.

  • 3 years ago

    Great job Travis. They all look so nice and I like that box with the neat set up drippers. I use the same drippers too)

  • 3 years ago

    Thanks Mike! I find that mine do much better on the drippers. I think I'm just no good at watering by hand. I'm sorry you lost one, but from the pictures I've seen in the past, I'm sure you still have a garden of Eden over there!

  • 3 years ago

    This thread is making me want to restart my citrus collection! great job everyone!! mike so good to see youre still around :)

  • 3 years ago

    very nice looking tree. I could not find your model light.. Could you tell me what the watts used, lumen output, and the $price.

  • 3 years ago

    Hi Poncirusguy, Google Gavita 2400e or search on YouTube. It was just released in September. Limited supply in North America and is being released as a special order. Any hydroponic store that sells Gavita should be able to order it.


    The specifications are 800 watts, 2400 umol s-1 PAR at 3.0 umol/j. I got mine 10% off which was $1700 CND. I would expect it to be $1200-1300 USD.


    https://gavita.com/retail/products/gavita-pro-line-led/gavita-pro-rs-2400e-led/

    Citrus, Cacti, Succulents, Photography · More Info


  • 3 years ago

    I am running 20 hours a day with light 12" from Canopy. The PPFD of this light measured at 12" would be 1400 PPFD. https://www.waveformlighting.com/horticulture/daily-light-integral-dli-calculator

    Citrus, Cacti, Succulents, Photography · More Info


  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    The summer was a lesson in extremes. In SE Texas we had a period when everything was soppy and then we had two extended drought periods, the last recently over. I watered my producing Satsuma during the dry periods so the green fruit wouldn't split once the rains came back. I wound up with a nice crop of Satsumas.



    I lost a lot of lemons during the hard freeze winter before last. I had grown the Ponderosa lemons from seed and some are coming back from roots or lower parts of the trunks that didn't fully die. Oddly, my five largest trees didn't come back at all. This one was protected some by the house on the north side and is coming back nicely. It actually bloomed a little this spring but didn't set fruit.



    This is a bit far afield from citrus but I'm also happy to see a pecan tree I planted quite a lot of years back make its first crop...and nice size pecans too! The bowl was made from a pecan tree in my yard that was felled by Hurricane Laura in 2020.



  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I have a small meyers lemon tree. its always been indoors and in a huge pot. It was in great health an just blossomed for the 3rd time this year. i just moved, and all of the flowers AND leaves fell off. Anyone know the cause?


  • 3 years ago

    Probably the change in scenery. Meyers are notoriously finicky and they will frequently drop leaves if they are moved to a new environment.

  • 3 years ago

    So you think it’ll be fine after it adjusts?

  • 3 years ago

    If it was the change that caused it, your tree should recover fine. I would take that lemon off because there's no way you're tree can support it with no leaves, and your tree needs all the resources it has to push new growth out.

  • 3 years ago

    Thank you! I just cut lemon off. i hope i get my beautiful tree back soon!

  • 3 years ago

    So nice to see old faces/trees and new ones also. Mike, how are you? Jan, so nice to hear you are well. Dave, hows that oro blanco? John that satsuma tree is crazy! I'm sure you are enjoying them. My trees are fine. I was lazy this summer and somewhat neglected them until recently. Several need root trims and fresh dirt because I am not putting them in larger pots anymore. I had some problems with scale that I hope I corrected before bringing them inside yesterday. I have significantly reduced my collection and am much happier because I can handle them better. I know which varieties I like and use now, so the rest got new homes. Here is my setup this year:


  • 3 years ago

    Looks amazing Laura! I'd love to hear more information about how you root prune. I have read Al's guide but it seems like it is more geared toward deciduous trees and I don't hear many accounts from people who actually root prune their citrus.

  • 3 years ago

    Hi Travis! I have my trees in the 5-1-1 mix - roughly. Honestly, there’s not much to it other than the fact it’s physically challenging and I get poked by the thorns ;). I just pull them out of the pot sideways - gently. Many of mine are big so it’s difficult. I prune the large, woody roots and any that are winding around. Prune enough to you have about two inches between the root ball and the pot. Then fill in with fresh mix. Silica, on this forum has referenced a video by an Italian citrus grower. I’ll try to look it up or maybe Silica will chime in. It’s a great video even though it’s in Italian.

  • 3 years ago

    Do you prune the top also, to help the roots, or they can tolerate the 2" without too much difficulty?

  • 3 years ago

    Laura, itis so good to see you)) i hope you have been ok after all time. It's been a while. Thank you for sharing. I see you did trim down a bit, and isn't so much less stressful when doing so? Those lights and that set up look fantastic. Great job as always.


    Travis, hey, what's up? I'll bet you are amazed that we up here i the far north can get trees to look like that, right? Good to see you too friend)


    John, BOY did your trees make a great comeback. I remember how horrible that winter was for you. I am hoping there is no repeat of that. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.


    Lemon LImee, thank you for sharing what you do. It is alll wonderful))



  • 3 years ago

    Mike, I've seen enough pictures of your garden of Eden to know that you can make anything grow! Are you buried in snow right now? IIRC, you're in Massachusetts, right? Or New York?

  • 3 years ago

    Travis, thanks man. NOt not us. That was in Western New York where a friend of mine lives. Over 7 feet where he lives. It's crazy. Mass, yes, but boy it has been frigid way too early. Last inght it was in the 20'2 with winds in excess of 40 miles an hour.

    Yesterday, it never got out of the 30's with winds so hard, it blew trees over. Winds of 50 plus. It has been very crazy around here.

    Now with oil to fill our oil tank to stay warm at over 5.39 a gallon, it's going to be a very expensive winter. It cost me 780 dollars to fill just 150 gallons today(

    No more space heaters going to keep the greenhouse warm and all the warm loving plants are indoors now.

    I will keep one going on the porch when temps drop into the 30's for all my citrus trees and no warmer than the 50's.

    The fun of growing stuff has become much more expensive, even keeping lights on. The electric rates went up 68 percent here. What cost me 100 a month will now cost over 200. So fewer lights too(

  • 3 years ago

    Oh my goodness Mike! I'm glad you are safe. Yes, it's getting crazy expensive. Ironically for me, winter is when it gets cheaper because I don't have to run the A/C 24/7 anymore. Now I feel like a terrible gardener. You are keeping things happy and healthy under extreme circumstances! We are hovering around 70 during the day and low 50s overnight right now. My trees have mostly stopped growing now and are getting ready for a quiet season. I'm having to adjust my watering for the change and hope I get the right balance soon. Fall and spring is when I usually start to hurt my trees, changing watering too fast or too slowly. You'd be too bored gardening here 😜, this is easy stuff for you.

  • 3 years ago


    does this look normal or ?

  • 3 years ago

    I still have no new growth on my tree. starting to get worried.

  • 3 years ago

    That is an exposed root. Its OK. You can cover it with dirt if you want.

  • 3 years ago

    I was meaning the bottom of the trunk, if it looks normal?

  • 3 years ago

    Bottom of trunk looks normal to me. Do you think it is abnormal looking?

  • 3 years ago

    my tree is in an indoor tree, and I moved about a month ago. It lost all of it leaves. I’m just trying to figure out why…

  • 3 years ago

    The bottom looks fine. If your twigs are green then your tree is fine

  • 3 years ago

    Travis , hum? I think I would like it down there. Hey growing a citrus tree anywhere is always challenging. I think for you it’s the heat and for me it’s the cold. Lol You and I are in a sea saw. Now it’s in the 50’s today. Wish it stayed like this all winter. Glad you are doing well. Caught Covid. Not sure where but boy it stinks. Finally feeling better after I was diagnosed 4 days ago. Lots of time to be with my trees inside
    Bob. Your tree looks normal. And in order to figure out what’s going on you need to look at the growing conditions. So many variables but if they come together it should put out new leaves.
    In general they thrive in a porous potting mix, lots of light , and proper watering.
    The more porous the mix the more often you can water without root rot.
    Can you provide LOTS of light ?
    That’s my first issue I’d address

  • 3 years ago

    Oh dear Mike! I'm glad you are starting to feel better!

  • 3 years ago

    Travis, thank you my friend. Finally stopped coughing a couple days ago. These viruses are just nasty(

    I found out that I caught it from seeing a doctor about my foot, of all places.

    At least we are having a good winter thus far

  • 3 years ago

    Ugh Mike, that's awful! Especially frustrating to catch it from the doctor's office!


    How does cold affect citrus leaves? My sour orange seedlings are starting to yellow a bit. No leaf drop yet. I probably need to dial back the watering but I'm wondering if cold roots are part of it. They are in 5-1-1 mix and rootmaker propagation trays, so small cells with holes on the sides. I know they need less water now that temps are lower, but I figured the mix was porous enough and with holes on the side that overwatering wouldn't be an issue. We are hitting low 50s overnight now and the seedlings are 18-24 inches tall with diameter between 1/8-1/4 inch.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Lots of new winter growth











  • 3 years ago

    Oh my goodness Laura Mike there you guys are!!! So glad to see you're both around! Laura I would love to see some pictures recent ones of the citrus!! I am restarting my collection could you suggest your top 10 trees?


    Mike!!! how are you my friend?? Please get better!

  • 3 years ago

    Anybody out there have a key lime tree? I just got one before our nurseries close and am wondering if they are cold hardy or if they drop all their leaves? Never owned one before and the new greenhouse won't be up until next fall!

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I have a fairly large potted key lime tree. I usually bring it inside when temps are to drop to low 40's F overnight. It has seen upper 30's briefly a couple times, and I didn't experience cold damage with it (Our cold temp drops are very brief here in zone 8a). Key lime trees are not cold hardy from what I have read, and will drop its leaves if it sees freezing temps. In the upper 20's the tree may die.

    Hope you enjoy your key lime tree. I love the fruit mine bears.

  • 3 years ago

    Dave thanks for the feedback! I will keep that in mind, it is supposed to get slightly below freezing here in the next week or two in Vancouver so I will just keep it inside the house and not take a chance. Mine is a 5ft tall tree now and is now just blooming! Hope to get fruit this year :)

  • 3 years ago



    Anyone know what this is? finally got new growth on my tree and now some of the leaves are riddled with this ….

  • 3 years ago

    New WINTER growth is always riddled with pests. My 2.25 year old Fukushu kumquat on Flying dragon has lots of new growth.



    Each view 120 degrees turn of tree

  • 3 years ago

    Jan!! Hi. Thinking of you and everyone else. Happy holidays !
    Steve, all one has to do is spray their trees with all seasons horticultural soap once a month and no bugs. Mike

  • 3 years ago

    Happy new year all!!


    Mike I hope you had a great holiday :) Hope you're well now and I can't wait to see your pictures in 2023! I have been going crazy shopping for new citrus lol! Hugs!!!