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Marty Mitchell wrote:
Anna Beth wrote: I can't seem to pull the trigger and put them in the ground. But they aren't producing oranges yet, could that be why? How did you finally decide where to put your citrus, did you save any "just in case", and are they still doing well? So many questions!
With Citrus it seems to be a very good thing to wait to put them into the ground when are you strong enough to. Since my Meyer lemons are only rated down to 25F... I let them get nice and large to have any sort of chance before putting them into the ground. The trunks are now over 1" in diameter on them. Some decent bark (cold protection) on the first 2' or so of the trunks now.
I am sure your plants are not producing yet because they are young. A grafted or cloned tree will be much older wood with different hormones... and thus will produce sooner. From-seed trees take much much longer usually. A way to cheat around that is to do a bud graft from them onto a mature tree.
I placed all of my citrus in the warmest micro-climate I have here at the house. Which for me is one the South Side of the house/to the east of the small side in-law house (protected from Winter winds from the North/NW during cold blasts), up next to a large Thermal Battery (the house, lower patio, and driveway are all brick and concrete... soaking up the sunlight all day and releasing it at night), AND the upper deck above the patio acts as a soft/open cover to slow down the rise of the warm air and creates a pocket of warm air (personal theory).
This past Winter I watched the small space that I wound up planting in Immediately turn frost-free just after Sunrise on the multiple 12F nights we had.
Also, all of my citrus was still in containers on that same lower concrete patio and survived. I had them all scrunched together with a large HD frost blanket placed on top... and a string of the X-large C9 Christmas lights (non LED!). I just left them naked until the first night came along that was headed towards 20F (which means the weather was predicting 25F in my area... as they need the numbers to show global warming I guess... or they always mean for the actual city up to the north of me). Then I left the blanket on for the rest of the Winter. Turning the lights on when the temps were headed South of 15F at night.
By the end of Winter the Meyer Lemons had been completely defoliated... NO wood damage. The cold hardy Satsumas that were much younger.... had not a single lick of damage on them or their leaves. Time to put them into the ground!!!
3 of the 4 Meyer Lemons I have are actually clones I made of the 4th "Mother" tree. Now that I know of "Yuzu" lemons that are good down to 0F to 5F... I decided it was time to stop babying my Meyers to see what they can handle. While the Meyers are totally probably better fruit due to not being packed with seed like the Yuzu... I would rather deal with seeds at harvest time than baby a mess of potted trees year-round.
Besides... Yuzu Lemons are extremely popular for cooking and condiments in Japan!!! AND I will be juicing my fruit anyways... not eating them like an orange. I will be putting a Yuzu lemon on order soon so I can grow it out in a pot and make copies to trial around the place in the coming years.
This Winter I am going to cover them during the deepest depths of Winter and do the lights thing... and that is IT. No more watering daily and feeding multiple times during the Summer. Lots of time and fertilizer saved. In fact, the chickens have taken to hanging out down there during the hottest days... which means that grass is now the greenest on the entire property! I shall have to add lime to the area at some point... but the trees will be very well fertilized. lol
I am indeed making copies of the Owari Satsuma at this very moment actually. That way I can have some plants on their own roots. I will likely put them up behind the barn on the edge of the old-growth woods I have. Large trees can warm the air on cold nights as well via their moving of fluids from deep within the soil. Since the trees would be on their own roots, I can put a ring of chicken fence around them each winter and fill with leaves. I won't even cover them!!! Just let them grow as big as they want. If the exposed parts die back to the trunk every few years that is fine.
Pic of the Owari Satsuma clones that are in-progress...
