Cara-Cara 12 28 05
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Joes Calamondin
12 28 08 On the left is Page Mandarin and the fuit in front is a Satsuma.

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1st Satsuma 12 28 05

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Benny, WOW! This is the kind of inspiration that every once in awhile all of us need,so thank you for the beautiful pictures.I did get (1)large Satsuma this year off of my 2 or 3 year old tree but I disquarded it.Next year I will enjoy the fruits of my labor though.LOL! And I do have 20 fruits on my Honey Murcott Tangerine.So I am inspired when I see yours.I will have to wait another year for this guy also as these are young citrus.But again this is an inspiration for all new citrus growers that containerized citrus is a "CAN DO", and you do it well.***Suzanne

Your garden must smell heavenly when the citrus are in bloom!

Suzanne:
I learned everything I know in this forum a while back. I was struggling just like everyone else at the beginning but thanks to all the guys and dolls who helped me carry through. Now I can say that I can stand alone but I think my plants are ordinary and not special. I remember a while back you post a very nice citrus here.
I will post more as time permits. The Satsumas were cut to a bare straight trunk because of branches died back 2 years ago. Now they came back and giving me nice fruits . They still are trying to recover.
Thanks today. That's one of the fringe benifits for growing them.

OroBlanco 12 28 05

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Eureka Lemon 12 28 05

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Shasta Gold 12 28 05

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2nd Satsuma 12 28 05

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Beautiful trees Benny. Thanks for posting them.

Thanks Chopstocky. I am just returning Toni's suggestion before Christmas and I am willing to do it.
Here's some more.

Joe's Clemenule
May 4 2004 This was what it looked like when he gave her to me:
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Now this is what she looked like: Its first fruit 12 28 06

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Page Mandarin 12 28 06

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Washington Navel Jan 24 2005
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Algerian Clementine
May 13 2005

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Satsuma May 24 2005

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Tangerine
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Orange May 5 2005

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Cara-Cara 12 28 05
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Suzanne:
Honey Murcott is one of my favorites because of its sweetness. Another one is Dancy. I am sure you'll enjoy your fruits' harvest next year. I have one that although it is only their 2nd year of fruiting, they are so sweet I just cannot stop eating them once I started.
Is it neat we expect these things to happen expectantly each year?
My Satsumas are not yet expectacularly sweet. I guess they are still very young. Someone says that it takes about 5 years before you can really expect some really good eating. I have one that is 4 years old that is very eatable and milder sweet. My kid and I like it now very much. The others? Nah! I just let them ripe as much as they can. And close my eyes to eat them. LOL. One good thing about them is that they are so easy to peel.
In oranges, my favorite is the Washington Navel. They are so sweet and juicy and grow extra large! Even though they live here in the area where there are no very hot summers. I myself cannot wait till they ripe.
Benny

May 25 2005
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These are all in containers? Do they also live outdoors all year? This yard looks so cool.

I'm new to citrus and trying my hand at a seedling I managed to start. I actuall grabbed the seed from a lime while mixing a gin and tonic. It's now around 18" tall and 20 months since breaking the soil surface.

Do you have any tips on soil mix and watering?

Ben, Ben, Ben..Wow..Out of all the sites I vist including nurseries, your citrus beat them all. (and you know I' always looking at plants) They are absolutely stunning. Whatever you're doing continue doing so.
Fruits are healthy, lush and good enough to grab from my puter and eat..LOL..
How many citrus do you have in all?
In one pic, by the tangerine, there's a citrus that looks like it has red fruit..what is it?

Other than that, how are your other plants doing? I remember you said something about growing Persimmons or something similar..Do u still have them?

All I can say is WOW..I'm really impressed. I want to move to CA now..LOL..BTW, do you have a website? Toni

Fognight: You make me smile to when you asked me those questions. It is as if you cannot believe that my citrus are in containers and appeared to be "shocked" what they look like. Thanks for your compliment.
Yes, they were all in containers at the start but last summer I transferred some of them to the ground because they outgrow their containers.
I was just like you when I started. It is the love of growing plants that keeps you motivated. I am sure you are satisfied when you see your 18" lime growing now. Your feeling is beyond satisfaction. But remember it's going to take a lot longer to put those lime in your gin and tonic if you start from seed. If you buy a grafted lime, maybe next year you'll enjoy your gin and tonic home made.
I maybe bashed for this but to me in my opinion, soil is not as important as the pH of your soil. As long as you have a well-drained soil your citrus will be happy BUT the soil must be on optimum pH- 5.4 (slightly acid). It does not have to be exactly 5.4. You can go lower to 5.2 to 7.0 and your plants won't mind. But you need to buy a GOOD pH meter- not like the one that you can buy at the store for $10. They are very inaccurate. You need to go on line and search for it. It has to be accurate to 0.002.
Regarding your soil: a good soil mix is: chips, manure, perlite, sand, and compost. Mix them according to your liking. Manure should be just a couple handfuls. Your citrus are not that picky. Just like I said the requirement is the soil must be well drained. The more perlite you add the more it would give the roots to expand easily and more roots growth, more leaves to grow on top. There are new thing that came up that is so good as soil medium the coconut husk ¼" size. You can add that to your mix or just use that as your soil. The pH of that is optimum. Thanks Millet.
But like I said before: to me pH is the most important. Because outside that optimum pH, you will notice all kinds of problems- leaves yellowing, small leaves, dropping of leaves, stunted growth, etc. because although all the micronutrients and fertilizers are in the soil the plant can not take it up to the leaves to manufacture more leaves and stems. It is just like a baby where his mouth is closed no matter how much baby food you feed the baby will still be hungry. So, I am a firm advocate of maintaining your soil pH to its optimum. I learned all of this from my good friend Millet.

Toni: Oh, my, do I deserve that entire lavish phrase you made? You are such a doll!!!
You made my day! Thank you so much.
The plant in question is a W. Murcott Tangerine. Yes, when the fruits are ripe they tend to be on the red side. And they are prolific bearers! But not as sweet as Dancy or Honey. They are good to munch or I juice them.
How many do I have? I dont know maybe 36?
Yes, I still have those Japanese persimmon trees. And I just harvested the last one of them last week. And they are so good- the reason I have so many friends (LOL). If some of you wont object I can upload some of the pictures of my other plants.
Toni, I like and made me smile when you said "good enough to grab from my puter and eat.." Thats hilarious.
If anybody is interested you can see my plants of yesterdays at Link the below.

bencelest:

Followed the link to your web page it looks like an online citrus catalog (seriously :).
I took cuttings from the rootstock of my Meyers lemon last year they are now about 2ft
with golf ball size fruits and are flowering again.
My question; Do I take the seeds from these fruits and plant them for grafting rootstock in order
to get a tap root and control size?
I have not tried grafting yet (intimidating), but hope to try this spring. Thanks for all you help. Gina

Oh my goodness!! bencelest, your pictures are awesome...these would make anyone want one of every citrus tree out there. I know I do now. lol Just amazing to see all of them. Toni, no wonder you love citrus...I can certainly see why. Wow!! I will be looking to purchase others for sure. Which orange is your favorite? My hubby is gonna wish I hadn't seen these pics. But hey, fruit is so good and healthy for us, right?

Leona

What an inspiration!
Jill

Ben, what a website!! That fuji apple is amazing..This is a dumb question, but are fuji apples like standard apples? I can't believe how red they are..and speaking of red, your mandarine fruit is really red too. How many months do they take to mature?
I am really impressed..and you've got sooo many pics.

I was thinking about the Papaya, not persimmons, sorry..is that the one someone sent you seeds or cuttings not long back? Is that the same plant? I remember when u first started growing them..they were babies, right?

I love your banana tree, too.when will it fruit..Now after bananas form, do you remove pups and start over? I think the mom dies after fruitng, right?

The structure your plants are in looks different than what I remember..did you expand it? Is it open to the outdoors?
What do you feed your citrus and how often? Did you buy plants out in Ca or order somewhere else? I know some nurseries are figthing to be able to send plants to CA and Fl.
You say you have 37 plants but it looks like more..I can't believe how wide the tops are and all those fruit!!! Please tell me your secret..lol..do you add any artificial lighting at night? Toni

Gina: Thanks for a nice compliment.
As I understand your question, you want to plant the seeds and used it as a root stock and graft another plant on top of it to control the size?
Well, I would not discourage you to do that. It would be a well meaning experience. But the academians and commercial people( school taught) wants us to use the trifoliate Orange in order to control the size of the tree- they will become dwarft. Besides they found out that trifoliate orange roots are immune to a lot of deseases found in the soil. But us newbies where is the boundary? None. I myself experement on a lot of things and usually they come out OK. As long as you are satisfied what you are doing and learned from it then do it.
As for example, over the years I have been afraid to do grafting, Then Joe and Mr. Texas came along that showed me how to graft and I did it ad I was 95% success. aND WHAT A FEELING!. I just cannot tell you how easy it is. The main thing is just do it.

Jill: Thank you for your encouragement.

Toni: A Fuji apple is a good substitute for a real apple as far as for eating it fresh. There's nothing like it. It's so sweet, and very crunchy and juicy. To me that's the perfect apple. I am not sure how many months my Mandarine mature- I just enjoy looking at them while they grow and changed color and flower. I am guessing about 8
months.
My papaya is still with me but I abandon it. I just let it take care of itself. Too much trouble. The white flies and aphids love them. They are so sensitive with the temperature, moisture, sunlight....ugh... I used to be a slave taking it inside and outside everyday for her sunshine bath.... and then I went on vacation to the Philippines and I saw those papayas grow everywhere even on the sides of highways, trash bins and every nook and cranny of someone else's backyard.... So what I did was I bought a large papaya, got the seeds and spread them in my vacant lot and 3 months later when I came back I saw them growing-lots about 6 inches tall.
The same thing I did to my bananas- they are still alive but most of the leaves are dried because of the tempt. But more pups will come out by springtime.I don't expect any fruit from them. I use the leaves for cooking. Bananas are so cheap to grow I think for fruit. So are papayas.
I feed my citrus with fertilizers that is close to 5-1-3 ratios with trace elements. Again Thanks Millet.
I move my plants at times where they can get the most sunshine. Here in California the sun changes location depending on the month of the year. My neighbors have large trees so I move my plants accordingly.
Had my plants are protected like what I did last year I think my plants would be twice as pretty than as now. To me my plants are ordinary compared to what I've seen in this forum. I am glad lots of you think that my citrus are pretty. And that encourage me to be better still. But my laziness is stronger than my motivation I think. I've got one too many projects in my mind other than citrus growing so I have semineglect them. But it is better for them I think.
There is no secret I think- just have a well drained soil, check for optimum pH, fertilize them acc. to instruction and semineglect them. And check for bugs at least once a week. And don't water too much. Sometimes I saw them started wilting for not watering so what I do is drenched them till the soil is so wet. And I think that is good for them so they will wake up and think, hey, I better give out more fruits so the 'master' will feed me. (lol).

Leona:
Sorry I missed you but your say is so nice I felt like I have wings now so I can fly. With your appraisal to my plants. I even copy your words and saved them specially when you said:" My hubby is gonna wish I hadn't seen these pics" That sure makes me laugh so loud. I guess I convert you to be sick like everyone of us here. The name of our sickness is citroholic.

Toni: I tried to be as cheap as I can and as lazy as I can taking care of my citrus. So far I have not use any Christmas tree lights but I am preferred to use them if the tempt outside will deep to 34 degrees or lower. I saved my clear plastic last year and I bought Christmas lights at 75% off at Sears after Christmas.
All of my plants are now outside except some that are too heavy to move like wine barrels.
I bought maybe half of my citrus at Menlo growers not too far from my place. I did some electrical work for the owner and I got discounts plus paid me for my work. Could you imagine the wife asked me some pointers how to take care of their dying citrus when I was there? To me that's something. They have acres of citrus plants to take care of . And their plants are so georgous (sp). Even the husband listened attentively to me while I was telling. I don't think that they listen though because their methods are commercial way which I don't know anything about but they have problelms with their electrical controls and wires that I fixed.
So none actually is immune to deseases of citrus. You'll lose some and you'll gain some. If I havesome problem with my citrus I'd try to cure them but if I cannot, I'd try again. Sometimetimes just let them go and ignore them. sometimes they'd come back to life again with new life and new leaves.

bencelest:

Thats just what I was planning to do free materials to practice with.
One of my goals is to have a multi-grafted tree like Joe, his trees are
AWESOME!!

Im feeling somewhat guilty; I left my potted mango outside
the temps dropped below 30 for a few hours and ZAP!! Not one
single leaf left. The trunk is still green so I hoping for miracle. But still it hurts. Gina

Gina:
I have multiple grafted trees too like Joe has but not as many different kinds. I confined myself to what I really like like after I tasted a fruit and I like it so much then I graft it. But many times if I like a fruit so much I usually go overboard, I would graft so many of them in one tree in many branches so that I don't know which is the mother tree anymore. But I get what I want- I taste my favorite fruits. So in a nut shell- practice,practice.
But lately I am having second thought about grafting.
Sometimes, it takes "forever" to taste your fruit. Imagine just one branch will bear fruit the next year or so so perhaps you will only get 10 fruits whereas if you have the entire plant planted and in a couple of years you have the entire tree full of your favorite fruits and as the years go by the fruits will multiply. I am now in the process of planting my plants in the ground but since I have a limited space I am planting them close together about 5 feet away from each other. I will see what happens. .

sorry to stray from topic, but how do you post a pic in your message?

Toni: I noticed that my Honey tangerine are turning really red also so I took a picture today. Here it is. I also harvested some of my Fuji, Satsuma Chandler ans Eureka lemon.
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Fuji apple, Satsuma, Chandler pomello & Eurekka lemon
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same fruits as above

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Zip, I'll answer your Q when the CG let me in again. OK?

Zip:
Ok,
1. Go on line and search for "photobucket.com".
2. Be a member.
3. Now you upload your picture there. It is self explanatory and very easy. It will tell you how.
4. Once you see your picture, look at the bottom and highlight(copy) the one that says

5. then go to the citrus forum and paste it.
   That's it.
   6. go to Preview Message. If you are successful, you'll see your pic pasted.
   7. Then click submit.

Dancy Tangerine 12jan06
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Ben, wow, look at all those fruit, and they look so healthy..no spots like I get when buying fruit at the store.
The colors are sooo vibrant. What do you do w/all the fruit? Make juice? That's what I'd do..S
Even your Amaryllis looks pretty, and that window!! How deep does is it?
Ben, you've done a wonderful job with your citrus. Whatever you're doing continue to do so. How nice..Toni

Your the citrus god. Too bad i live in WI :(

Franktank:
"Your the citrus god."
That's a new twist. I was never called that way before. You made me choke Frank.And to think that I neglect my citrus. But thank you for your kind words.

Toni:
Yes, because the fruits are too much for us, I juice them. I just invented a Citrus Punch last night. It was so good my kids and my wife ask for seconds.
Thanks again for your nice praise Toni.

Benny's fruit Punch
10 Satsumas
1 Algerian Orange
1 cup of ice
1 cup of fresh grapes seeds included.
1 cup mango juice (canned)
1/2 of a banana
10 Fuji apples (peels included)
Put all in a blender and blend slow at first until ice melts and 1 minute on high
This is good for 5 people. Makes 5 tall glasses but my kids (3) and wife wants seconds so only good for 3 people.(lol)
I was thinking of adding a slice of a fresh pineapple but I didn't have one handy.

Ben,
All that and you don't have a pineapple tree??
LOL.. Let me know if ya want to change that.. I have a few pineapple seedlings I might exchange for some bud wood.. ;o)
Gina *BabyBlue*

Gina:
Thank you for your nice offer but I will decline it as of now because I think it is bound to fail for both of us. First even if I send you some budwoods it is not the time of the year to graft them. Second the budwood may just get rotten in the mail just what happened when I sent them to Mr. Buddiman a while back. Bt the way, I forgot to mention his name he was one who of the nice people here who helped me understand grafting and budding.
Third I shy away again taking care of tropical plants. I made up my mind I will just take care of plants that will live naturally in zone 9. I graduated myself making artificial environment to my plants.
This year I am letting most of my plants take care of themselves except those that are less than 3 years old, then I'll use the Christmas 3 lights for them. Even my guavas which are on the border line I am letting them alone by themselves. So far they are making it.
So thanks Gina for the offer .
Regards,
Benny

Ben,
Could you tell me sizes of those pots. I live in tx and want to grow citrus. I don't have enough place to grow. Can I grow them in big pot, and what kind of potting soil I'm suppose to use?
I really like your trees pictures, that is the one reason I want to have those trees. thanks
kalpana

great pictures really really nice i planted some lemon seeds somewhere around may and they are growing nicely nice to see your plants

Ben, why do you keep the seeds of grapes in your juice? Do they break up? It's a very healthy healthy drink for sure. Toni

Kalpana:
Most of my citrus bearing trees in the pictures are in 7 and 15 gallon pots and the wine barrel is approx. 25 gallons.
I also have 1 gal and 5 gallons but those are for small trees like pencil size trunk and 1/2".
Your best bet to know the right size of pot you want to use is go to plant nurseries and you base the size of your tree to what they are using. Don't use a much bigger pots to a small tree because your tree will not be happy wiith it. You transplant your plant to the next bigger size when you start seeing roots are coming out of the bottom. When transplanting, try not to bother the roots as much as you can. They will be under stress as it is.
As Millet said:" The biggest mistake many people make is usually not in the type of container but by using too large a container. People think that they are doing the plant a favor by giving it a lot of room. But if the plant doesn't grow fast enough to use all of the space, trouble can occur. An oversized container can become waterlogged easily, and then the plant can suffer from lack of air (yes, roots need to breath too). The soil also becomes sour and the soluble salts build up. Bencelest is correct. Planting a small tree into a large barrel was a mistake. He is correct in stating that the moisture below the top 3 or 4 inches is almost solely removed from the soil by the roots of the tree that is planted in the barrel. In a large over sized container the roots of such a small tree can only remove the moisture near the center of the barrel. With each successive watering additional soluble salts are added to the soil that are not being removed by the tree's roots system. In approximately 6 months to a year, depending on the mineral content of the irrigation water and the amount of fertilizer that you applied the salt level develops to a toxic level and the tree languishes and eventually dies. You need to transplant the tree into a container of the correct size. Flushing such a large barrel will not work. Millet " I hope Millet did not copyright this. I did not ask his perlission-(lol).
Alicia: Thanks for responding and your nice comment. I am happy that some of you take the time responding on my post. Thank you so much. I really enjoy it.
Toni:
The seeds the peels everything break up when you put them in the blender.
I saw a demo on a Vita Mix mixer at the Costco store and they put even the leaves of strawberries, they only peel the yellow part of oranges and include the white part, they include the peel and the seeds of apples and the stuff that they made is so delicious. And they claimed that the seeds and the peelings are where all the vitamins and minerals needed by our body so it is a very healthy drink- all fresh and all fruits no sugar or milk added. And you owe to taste them. They even make a hot soup by just turning it on high. And they are so good. Guaranteed for 7 years. I've been using it for over a year now and I am satisfied with it. Only drawback- quiete exppensive. But I figure I am willing to spend 50 bucks a year for it.

I have taken more pics of my citrus on 1/28/06. Here's more:

Page Mandarin
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Another Satsuma

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Shasta Gold
Its first fruit

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Ben they're really nice..how many citrus do u have in all? Did u ever count them? Do u grow any in the house?
I bet you always have fruit juice, right? Looks yummy..LOL

Do you have any citrus growing in the ground or are all in pots? What's the largest pot they're set in? the smallest?
How often do you feed again? I can't keep track of everyone's schedules.LOL..What do u feed? what type of food?
I do cut back in winter but now that new leaves are sprouting that's telling me it's time for dinner. I'm just worried it's going to remain cloudy like it's been out here..Since Nov, we've only had 5 days w/sun..and that wasn't all that much. So, you can understand how difficult it is growing high-light plants here in IL. Toni