Hey, Mike, John, and Kris!
Mike, we'll chat soon, buddy. Work has been so busy...new classes, new curriculum, and I'm doing extra stuff after school for the Drama program next semester. The good news...I'm finally making some decent money. Anyhow, my plants haven't gotten much attention lately.

Two days ago, my Citrus were really dry! I watered as soon as I caught the error - a light watering, followed by a more thorough watering the following day. Overnight, however, my trees dropped a few dried leaves. Not a big deal....but not something I want to make a habit.

My Meyer and pink Lemon are flowering, and the Meyer looks like it's setting fruit. As for the Moro, I have exactly one fruit left. I ate one yesterday, Mike, and it was a perfect balance of sugar and acid - so I'm making a note to myself that late January is when they're probably going to be their best in my growing conditions.

Josh

Heck of a winter you all are having in the Midwest and East, I feel for all of you. All I can say is I am SO glad we had to opportunity to move back home to California, I count my blessings every day. I am so glad my snow shoveling years are over. Hang in there, Mike. And, as far as Punxsutawney Phil - he only gets it right about 39% of the time, so, hopefully this will pass for everyone, and Spring can show up soon!

Patty S.

POXATONY PHILL Did not see his shadow, despite what the humans said. He has been blind for 6 years caused by old age so we may have warmth around the corner.

Positively Steve

We have had bruiser. I feel for you guys up north. We have set cold records here in NC.

Ryan....Thank you..I can't believe how cold it has been there. That's not good news for us here( since out warmth comes from the south.

Steve, much too funny..I got a chuckle out of that!

Patty...I had to drive to work during the hight of the storm and it took me over an hour and a half when it usually takes 20 minutes...It was grueling...They let me out at 4 just to come home to a foot and a half os snow and plowed even higher to prevent me from parking at my house...Oh, I was so discouraged!
You know what though? As I was shoveling I was ever so grateful and thought to myself I would rather have this than suffer with months of no rain...I feel so bad for you!
How are your trees faring?
By the way.....I was cleaning my greenhouse the day before yesterday when it was 50 out and stumbled across some very ripe Meyer Lemons! You know the one I planted in the ground..It's still very happy even with temps just outside that greenhouse in the below 0 range for days..Yahoo..lol

Josh...I have had that happen to me...It's horrible, right? I always loose tons of leaves and have to wait for a tree to come back for weeks after a drought..It stinks...Sometimes I even lose branches after just one episode...
I see your busy...No problem Josh.

John...You always do that to me..lol I wish I lived there and could never have to face another winter!

Kris, [pray for spring for the sakes of us and spring, please..It's getting old! I am just grateful the sun is getting stronger!

Mike

Hi gentlemen and ladies:

I feel for the cold and all the blizzards you and I have gotten in our GDGW environment. But if you think things have been hard on us, I have caught wind that there is a group of northerners trying to grow citrus trees. Now don't laugh, they have it so much harder than any of us can ever imagine.

Steve

Mike, I've got everything on a drip system, but having to pay an $800 every other month water bill is a little staggering. So, trying to shut everything down as much as possible during the winter. It's tough . I anticipate we'll be on water rationing very soon, definitely before summer hits. We are getting smidgens of rain this week. But, the good news is N. Calif. is getting quite a bit more precipitation and snow pack in the mountains, so that helps 1/2 of our water source (Feather River). We're still way, way behind, but it's better than nothing. And great to have some lovely Meyer lemons, I love your experiment with an in-ground tree!

Patty S.

Yes, we should have some more rain tonight or tomorrow...and more snow in the mountains! Cross your fingers!

Josh

Rained all night, and is still raining right now.
Really a welcome respite from the dry winter weather!

Josh

Finally able to get back on line. Power came back on this morning, cable is still out. We got about half an inch of ice. The local power company had more than 600,000 customers out of power. We lost a lot of limbs in our backyard. Many of our large white pines were severely damaged. Thankfully we were on generator backup so we had heat, but a few of our friends are still in the dark.
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These pics are just the tip of the iceberg, no pun intended. Spring cannot get here soon enough!

Kris

You got the freezing rain, we had wet snow, then sleet, then rain. So tired of shoveling this wet, HEAVY stuff. Must have shoveled tons in the last week. It is beyond ridiculous. There are mountains of snow, ice and slush here now.no place for more. I really wish we could get some of it out to California, where they need it. I dread the thaw and rains of March. Major flooding coming soon. Stand by! But as mush as I hate the cold, I hate dry and drought more.

We do choose our demons in the end.

This post was edited by njoasis on Thu, Feb 6, 14 at 21:46

Meyermike, I live in southern zone 8 you would not want to be here in the months of June,July, August any outside work has to be completed by 10:30 am after our daly pm shower it gets like a Sauna I formely lived up north I do miss the seasons except winter.i believe there is no perfect climate
Tom

Mine haven't missed a beat. Well my smaller meyer dropped more leaves than I expected. I kicked up the heat, fertilized and all of them are blooming like mad. Should have a good harvest.

The cold is getting to be annoying. Well below averages.

Mike

Our part of zone 8 has set several record lows. The past few years most of the trees did great in the unheated greenhouse. Usually cold here is a few nights in the upper 20's. We have had weeks of lows in the mid lower teens. Due to the excessive cold I have had to keep all my potted trees inside. Last year I just kept a Meyer and line inside. This year I have about 14 inside and have less than ideal spaces for that many. They have all been inside for two weeks straight and are starting to show signs of being real unhappy (as is my wife). All the satsuma and blood oranges are in bloom in my dining room but I am not confident in fruit set. I am hoping to get them healthy in a few weeks and maybe get a second bloom. they are experiencing a lot if leaf drop st the moment and pretty sure one of the small Meyers is in bad shape and that the cold got my first satsuma that I kept in ground.

We had two ice storms in the last two weeks. We missed a third straight ice storm this week, but my son went down south of Alice in deep South Texas yesterday and had his truck covered.

I went to check on my trees today and sure enough there are blossom and growth buds on the two trees not on standard trifoliate close to my house. One is a Wekiwa on sour orange Which I bought from Bill Thompson in Weslaco, Tx. The other is a Golden grapefruit I grafted onto a Swingle Citrumelo. It was in the low twenties last week. I have a bad feeling this is not going to turn out well. Neither tree set very heavy last year because of the cold. Maybe they will re-bloom if they get hit soon.

The fact that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow means that in Cincinnati, Winter will break in 4 days and the predicted temps will allow me to plant my Broccoli, brussel-sprouts, cabbage, collards, kale, turnips spinach and beats plant start along with snap pea seed in my double glazed 300 sq-ft solar heated roof top greenhouse. Since all 3 of my kumquat trees are dormant, they can go up as well.

Steve

My trees are totally tired of winter. Here is Oregon we get mostly rain in the winter and there is hardly any sun. :-/ We did get a couple of big snowstorms so we got over a foot of snow. It is now melting and we are getting freezing rain occasionally. Oddly enough, the snow is helping my trees because it is reflecting what little light that is coming through the clouds off the roofs of one of the houses and into the window in my room.

My tress look pretty pathetic though. They have lost tons of leaves and the blood orange on the left has had many of the branches die. It used to have alot of smaller branches at the top of the tree now there are just a few straggly branches left. The satsuma on the right is pretty bald. The clementine in the middle has done the best indoors.
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Mike, it's been cold in the south too. We haven't had the cold you get but it's been a rough winter on outdoor citrus. We had several nights in the teens and lots of nights in the 20s.
Here is my poor lime. I fertilized with horse manure this weekend. I may be a tad early but it won't hit the roots until it rains.

Krismatt! My goodness....I hope you didn't loose any trees depsite that..I feel for anyone with a greenhouse that looses their heat source running on power...Hoping all is better by now.

Josh..Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain..lol..Maybe some of that water will run down south and help Patty out..Speaking of Patty..

Patty..My goodness..That much money for water? i must say that is a valuable reource there for you. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get some much needed moisture soon..

John, me goodness..I am glad that you are not one of them people that panic once your leaves fall off! Goes to show it is just natural at time..No worries of pest at this time, right?
So once your days start getting much warmer, I can only imagine that tree filling out so nice for you..Please keep us updated..

Aaorise..I must say that your trees are looking a whole lot better than you think depsite all odds..Great work! Just think, it will be soon when they will be loving the great outdoors agin. Thanks for sharing.
Love the light set-up.

Steve, I hope your right! My groundhog is blind too..lol

Hey, Mike!
The rain stopped sometime last night, leaving us with over 8 inches of rain for the weekend. Areas nearby had anywhere from 12 - 15.5 inches. Really a terrific storm system :-) I took my trees outside this morning, and watered them all with rain water.

Josh

They've lost a lot of leaves in the past 2 - 4 weeks, but they should pull through. This is always a hard time of year. The Meyer is finished blooming; the pink Eureka lemon is starting to bloom; and I harvested last of the Moro blood oranges this morning before watering.

Josh

Josh....No kidding! I heard you gots lots of rain..Did that stream swell up in your yard? Now if only we can get rain for poor Patty's area!

I am so happy your trees seem to be pulling through ok...They will be just fine once the weather warms up and they can stay outside.
How did your Moro tatse? As sweet as they say?

Your trees are lovely....

I hear another 15 inches of snow this Thursday and see no 40's in sight for the next 10 days..This is just rotten when average highs are SUPPOSE to be in teh low 40's..
It's also costing me a pretty penny using all these space heaters...Sheesh..At least the greenhouse warms up much hotter and faster now with the intensity of the sun picking up!

Mike

My best wishes go out to y'all growing Citrus back East during your cold weather.

You could always move out here to Tucson, It is supposed to be 80+ today and Saturday about 88 (to set a new high temp record). There are a lot of good deals on houses still :-)

Just fertilized my trees and my Lemons and Lime tree are blooming away (as are my Almonds).

Best of luck to you all!

Peter

John.... actually horse manure is a very poor fertilizer; and you won't have any benefit for about 18 months; it takes that long to break down. On the positive side horse manure adds a lot of organic material to the soil.

IMHO the best animal derived fert for lemons is cow manure.

What we got

Thanks Mike! That is definitely a nice compliment. Especially since it came from you. :-) Now that the days are getting a little longer my trees aren't dropping so many leaves even though we haven't been getting any sun so I am pretty happy right now. :-)

Mike, I'm so sorry for all the horrible weather you've been getting as well as all the bad weather my neighbors are having in central Indiana. My husband decided we were leaving for Florida to visit friends and relatives shortly after Christmas. Well, due to the crazy weather, we didn't get out until mid-January. We've been sitting down here in Ft. Myers pretty much ever since. I did bring my first Improved Meyer Lemon that had a full sized fruit turning yellow and I didn't want to miss it. It now has a baby about half and inch or so long and has been blooming like crazy. It has a place of honor sitting on the leather dash of our motorhome. I've tried hand pollinating the blooms hoping something will come of it.

I left my other Improved Meyer Lemon at home and asked my friend to go up to get it as well as my thyme tree and another plant I had. Well, nobody can get to my house so they are all surely dead. In the meantime, I hope to pick up another Improved Meyer Lemon, a lime and an orange tree to take back home.

Heard from a weatherman yesterday that it was the time of the year that the jet stream starts heading north again so I hope your weather gets better soon. In the meantime, I'm really enjoying temps in the 70s during the day and in the 60s at night and envying the people where I am that have all kinds of small fruit trees.

I've been telling my husband that the trees are telling me they can't wait for spring...but another 8 inches in the forecast today :(

You know? What I don't get is why our summers can't be as hot and as long as our winter are cold a extra long!!?

I think I live to close to the Anartic, that's all..lol

Today we are getting another foot of snao and my favorite Orange tree is dropping green leaves left and right for no reason!!I am also losoing branches...I think it has had enough of these dreadfully long dark days too_0(

Veggie..I sympathize..lol

Bcsky...Thank you for that...God what I would do to be stuck and lost in Florida! What I would do if I could just hall my miserable plants down there and stick them in sunshine along side of me...I could only wish....Enjoy it while you can...It no wonder your trees love it there, right? That's what happens to me when I step off a plane there or hit the beach..My whole being changes..

Saorise..No problem and thank you!.Just beautiful..:-)

Tcamp..YUK right? Although it does look kind of nice...from here that is.

John..Hello from Siberia!

Please excuse the spelling..NO time to edit:-(

Mike - - I am concerned for your orange tree. You might have a soil problem in that there are massive dry spots despite thorough watering. This can be a result of the soil being too light and fast draining. Some people like small pot with light soil for carrying in and out side. Your soil may be breaking down and need re-potting this spring. The soil I use is
1) - 1 Part crushed brick 1/4 inch too 3/4 inch in size.

2) - 3 parts coarse sand from 1/16 --3/8 inch angular

3) - 1 Part pine bark fines.

4) - 0 to 4 parts filler, I use totally rotted leaves and decayed wood
- - - from stumps. Your weather will determine what is best for you

Others may use peat moss or periite. The dynamics of water are such that once any media drys, surface tension prevent the re-wetting and can leave large area of compromised roots.

Best of luck and yes when you live on the north pole Ice sheet you get short cold summers.

Steve

Thanks Steve..I'll have to make sure of that..

Stay warm and pray for warmer times ahead!

MIke

Really makes me miss living in california hey steve how are your kumquats you havnt posted pics in a bit.

Bcskye

Don't let anyone know you brought a citrus plant into florida from out of state, unless it was inspected it was illegal for you to bring it into the state and you could get into a little trouble. Just a heads up.

Kristopher

Tc - - My kumquat have no new growth. This is the latest picture of the tree.

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Meiwa from seed is now in the window getting hardened for spring. She/he will spend time in sun starting in about 2 weeks.

Mike - My 4 sweetlee trees went with out water with dry soil spots. The smallest had enough moisture, but the other 3 have root damage, The 3 with root damage have about 1/3 leaf area brown and crippy but are doing well now. The other sweetlee is growing like a weed just 2 week later.

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Sweetlee #1 from seed is growing 8 new shoots with the largest shoot at 4 inches per week. I dunked all of my trees in a bucket of water and let them sit for an hour, then took them out and drained them well. I also use a vacuum cleaner to pull more excess water out, but this is because my tree are in pots too big for their development.

Steve

You see....This weather is killing me...I am so tired of it and so are my trees...I have no energy at night to post anymore and that is why I do during the day lately...Now this coming weeks spells more doom and gloom for us..Highs are suppose to be in the 40's and we are stuck in teh single numbers at night and teens by day....ARG!

On the bright side...Patty...My inground Meyer Lemon is doing GREAT! This dreadful cold just a foot ot two away from my plant outside has no affect on it..I am so thrilled...I should make my whole yard a greenhouse and just inground plant..lol

Kris...I was thinking the same thing...I' m glad you mentioned something about that here.

Steve I can honestly say that the severe leaf drop was due to a fast rise in temps in my plant room..I mentioned it on another thread and I think you missed that..Thanks for your concern though!

It's 70 degrees here today with full sun and no wind. I put my small citrus trees out to catch some rays. They get full sun on the enclosed porch several hours a day and I've had them outside a few times already so they're hardened off. The rest of the week is going to be miserable so today is just a cruel joke. We're expecting highs in the mid 40's and lows in the upper twenties for the rest of the week. The maple trees are starting to bud out here so It gives some hope that spring is around the corner.

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1 year old calamondin from seed.

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Centennial kumquat via Home Depot.

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Month old key limes.

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My cold ravaged satsuma, lest we forget.

Mike you said a mouth full its a huge full time job taking care of citrus in cold area in the winter. When i live in sacramento I just left them out all year and they where fine. But In Atlanta OMG so much work making sure mites are gone, they get enough sun they dont get to dry but not to wet lol. I could go on and on but when you smell the sweet blooms in the spring. Or you bite into a orange you grew thats sweeter than any store could dream of. Its all worth it lol I think anyway. Steve your tree look good you had a really really bad winter up there. I know your tired to steve lol Spring is almost here thank god LOL.

Sooooo tired of winter! But according to my calculations, winter is 73% over now, and we've gained over an hour of evening light! One more vortex hit and I think Spring will engage winter in battle. My indoor trees were blooming and leafing out some weeks ago...never expected that.
I have (2) 1-yr. old Fukushu kumquats that I hoped to transplant into gritty mix before they woke up from winter, but I was too slow. Besides, I can't sift the components outside anyway, it's too cold! Soon, very soon.....

Manderin..ME TOO!! How's the Rosemary oils holding up for you this year?
You certainly have a positive take on this...I just looked at the next TEN DAYS and I don't even see a temp above 32 and all I see is snow...I feel like I am living in Siberia dn my fuel costs are skyrocking!...I hate this winter with a passion..It's the worst since I can remember..
My pond full of Koi won't be able to be seen until all the snow melts off of it, if it ever does before May.

Tcamp..How could you leave Sacramento? One of the nicest places to live on earth..lol
You are right! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOmuch work to keep them happy..By the time they can go outside, they all look like they are about to croak..

Beachbums...I lOVE that name..That is about what I would like to be right about now..I see a palm tree in your pics...Looks like you will be getting warmer weather a lot fast and earlier than me..I am so jealous..Love your trees..Beautiful..

I just realized my tree really don't care about this cold weather. They seem to like it where they are. As for me, it doesn't affect me either The trees can't go out any earlier anyway. Tonight's low is suppose to go down to 4 degrees Rankine. I hope I survive.

Steve

Left Sacramento because my brother died of cancer and mom went nut house so had to move back to help her. Don't like Atlanta near as much its ok here lol.

Tcamp..I am so sorry to hear you had to leave for that reason...I wish you well and hope you find comfort in the trees you bring up there....They will help along with caring family and friends...

MIke_)

Our average high temp this time of year is 54 degrees and our average low temp is 37. This year has been unusual not just for the lows we've hit, but the duration of subfreezing temps. At least twice we've gone over 72 hours below freezing. This was a zone 7b winter for us.

Here in cincinnati

Thanks Mike I moved back in 2008 im fine now but it was hard. Trees give me peace always they are just so hard to look after here. Im getting greenhouse next year so will be easier I have about 25 trees lol so its work.

To hot for citrus in Cincinnati Steve lol I'm glad it's not that cold here your heating bill must've $$$$$.

Hi Mike and everyone,

Been away awhile, but badly needed a Citrus Forum "fix" during this historic winter! When I checked in, the first post I saw was a "name this pest" sort of question, and I said "That's CLM!" Lol, when I first came to this forum, I didn't know what a kumquat was...or a perched water table. This is a great place....

The rosemary oil is great! I have a key lime that the spider mites just won't give up the ship though. Even so, their occasional attempts to re-appear are feeble at best :-). I love the rosemary oil aroma, and I'm not concerned about spraying it in the house during winter if that became necessary. If you remember, I tried never putting my trees outside and it's been working for me, so far. SO....More snow on the way! I always said what "sold" me on citrus was seeing a ripe kishu mandarin hanging on my own tree, in my own window with snowdrifts in the background. Wow, I was sold! And sounds like I'll be re-creating that image with a key lime on Monday...

Regards,
Mary

Hi Manderin..How have you been?

Sounds like a great idea and it is pleasing to have trees like that indoors...The Rosemary Oil smells great and does a wonderful job..Thank you

The weather here felt like summer for just one day..It was 50 and no winds...I could here all the spring birds around my greenhouse and the sky had beautiful sun and clouds..So nice...Back to the mid thirties tomorrow and a snow storm this coming Wednesday! I'll be smelling the buds on mine at that time.

No bugs this year thank goodness!

Mike

All my trees have been removed from my grow/light box and are spending days outside for sun acclimation. I am disassembling the box and the tree will stay out during the daylight hours. Since the trees are loaded with new growth spurts I need to bring the trees in during the dark of night and into the morning until it is above 40 degrees F. It is amassing how much abuse the sweetlee tangerine trees take and sill lose no leaves while the kumquat trees loose leaves if I look at them wrong.

Beach_bums I hope your satsuma come back above the graft line. If it does it should grow quite fast. Good luck.

TC My house is super insulated with the walls about r-35, The attic R- 100, and the basement about R-200 as my compost pile covers the walls on all side 5 feet thick. My transistor radio puts out enough heat to heat my basement. I used about $200 in gas this winter as of this writing and the solar angle is great enough than most of my heat come from solar heating. Thanks for caring.

Steve

Cool Steve love your trees