Miles Flansburg wrote:Benjamin, I was lucky enough to work for a company ,that has now been bought out by a company, that is using bugs to convert syngas to fuels. Ever heard of Lanzatech?
So you are making a big move to Arizona. Can you tell me more about the place you found down there ?
Do you actually get fruit from your citrus? Do you grow it from seed? I had some small trees , grown from seed, for about ten years and they never even bloomed. They made nice house plants though.
Never heard of that co. I'm looking at expeller pressing the dried chips of algea because it can run straight with no refinement. Although I'd love to discover a way to make biobutanol so i can keep my gas guzzling hot rod.
Have not decided on exactly where in Arizona, but I have 4 areas in mind with multiple parcels and agents standing by to take my money.
On getting fruit from citrus, you gotta have an absurdly big pot with a large drainage saucer #1.
#2 They need to get sun light year round. - especially in the summer when small fruit need
energy... by window with overhang blocks all the light inside.
#3 Gotta give them a give them a good soil mix with some sand for minerals and sawdust for acidic non-boggy
water retention.
#4 Take special care not to let them dry out during blossoming or else all the blossoms drop off but don't give 'em root rot - that's the hard part.
#5 Get a product called Hygrozyme from any hydroponics store and use it once per month with distilled water. Dissolves dead root matter and clears mineral scale.
#6 They will burn up from UV shock and drop all fruit if you keep em inside all winter and then plop them on a south porch in the summer. Need acclimation time and a little shade.
Oh, I prune a lot to get the shape I want. Any time I'm unhappy with the shape, I give it away
I use Foxfarms liquid for them now, but I'm transitioning over to
compost tea. Right now I have given away all but 2 keylimes, a calamondin and a satsuma (not from seed) that all
bear fruit. I gave a lot of meyer lemons, eureka lemons and keylimes and now every tree - 20 or so - has been killed by the new owner. Good thing I'm not giving out goldfish or kittens.
I killed my 7 foot kumquat that bore a bumper crop every 4 months or so in a 5 gallon pot :\ I'll go with a 15 gallon on wheels next time. Any time you let it dry out too much, you have to use hygrozyme to get the dead root material out of the way, or you'll get root rot the next time you water. Tricky business.
Cheers!
Ben