very nice trees

That was very enjoyable!
Thanks!

Thanks, folks. I am trying to take seasonal photos, so I can watch the tree growth year to year. We've been in our house since the fall of 2009, and looking back at those photos, it is amazing how much our landscaping has matured and grown. The trees are coming along, and nearly all have recovered from the Phytophthora in my soil except two. So, we'll see it treating them with Agri-Fos will revive them, or if I'm just going to have to replace with same cultivars on C35 rootstock.

Patty S.

Patty, nice collection. You should have year round citrus allowing for some long standing varieties. I must say that your well mulched trees seem to look healthier.

Do you have a Washington Navel or did I somehow miss it? I tend to gravitate to the proven performers, and Washington Navel is really outstanding across the board. It's also a historical piece of fruit in that it launched the citrus industry in earnest in the United States back in 1875. Back then citrus growers were paying as much as $5 per bud for propagation material.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Citrus in the Ground: Mulches

really great trees

Yahooooooo!!!! Finally Patty!

Now, if I only had access to teh photos here at work:0(

Oh, I can't wait to take a walk amoung your yard, that's for sure. Thank you so much for thinking of me!

Mike

They're all mulched essentially the same, mrclint. I had cleared some of the mulch around a few trees to remove snails and slugs, I think that might have been what you saw in some of the photos. The mulch on that hillside is minimum 3" deep, and up to 6" deep in some areas. My tradeoff with mulch is I battle slugs and snails, which like to live in the moist mulch. Mulching isn't the common denominator for the trees that were struggling. For me, it was clearly susceptible rootstock. And compounding the Carizzo rootstock problems, were those pummelo/pummelo hybrids on Carizzo, which struggled more than any other variety. It was 100% of the time. Very clear cut for me. In fact, here it a perfect example. I actually did a test, as I was trying to find out if Volkameriana was going to be problematic for me. It appreas to also be problematic in my soil. The first pic is a Cocktail pummelo hybrid on Volkameriana (often used to help impart a bit more vigor to a Cocktail, which tends to be a slower growing cultivar):
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Two weeks later, it looked like this (serious decline):
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Planted the exact same day, about 5 feet away, a Moro orange on C35:
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Same size tree, both had about the same sized canopy. Both planted the same day, right next to each other, fertilized the same, watered the same. The only difference, besides being different cultivars, is the rootstock. I am going to go to Clausen's this week and see if I can get a Cocktail on C35. I'm done with susceptible rootstocks, just hard to get a tree past it, and flourishing. My only exceptions are cultivars that have scion graft incompatibilities (like Fukumoto, and some mandarins & lemons).

You are very observant. No, no Washington Navel :-) I have a Fukumoto navel and a Cara Cara navel, both of which I like a bit better. The Cara Cara is a sport of the Washington Navel orange. Both of these navels also tend to sport variegated branches, so I made the conscious decision to grow these two navel cultivars over the Parent Washington. And yes, I grew up in Orange County and Riverside County, and know the story well. I lived in Moreno Valley for many years, which is right next to the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection, and about 15 minutes from the original Parent Washington Navel orange tree that still resides in Riverside :-)

Patty S.

John, it's funny, my soil doesn't look so good, but citrus, avocados, mangos, guavas and even papayas love it out here. We are in "citrus country", and we do very little to amend our soils. I put down compost when I remember, and of course I do mulch, mainly for water conservation, but also to eventually return more organic matter to my DG soil. All these citrus for the most part (except the Mexican Thornless Lime) are on a gentle south-facing slope. So the citrus and avos are very, very happy, along with my guavas, mangos and papayas. The little lime tree is across the driveway from all the other citrus (I wanted that guy just steps from the front door, for magarita purposes, of course.) I just fertilize 4 times a year, and turn my drip system up in the summer (and pretty much off in the winter if we get regular rains). They do exceptionally well, and the only real pests I deal with are Citrus Leafminer and snails/slugs. On rare occasion, I'll see a little thrip damage, and occasionally some aphids in the spring, which I just blast off with water, then go an an ant killing spree. Citrus and avocadoes are almost my least bothersome fruit tree, right behind figs and pomegranates. Of which I have 11 and 9 different varieties, respectively. Those fruit trees literally grow like weeds here.

Patty S.

Patty! I don't know what to say!!!!! I have no idea. I was so taken back with that walk in your yard. YOU HAVE EVERY CITRUS TREE ONE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE!

I felt like I was going on a tour and could take a jab at every tree. You should have a CitrusTasting party some day like they do Wine Tasting parties, and invite me while you are at it!

I wish I knew what you top, fragrant, most flowering and sweetest tasting tree was, or I would make that my next tree.

Now, your potted plants are to die for. You have been doing such a marvelous job and you did not at one time think you could. The pots are beautiful and full!
I love your set-up. to me, it's a citrus enthusiast dream. Oh, I would be so worried about bugs and disease. I hope they do well for you.

Thank you so much for sharing your yard with us. I also see that you have a Papaya! Has it fruited for you?
You say Mangos? Are you serious? Have you had fruit on that yet?

Mike

My Kishu Mandarins are starting to color up. Good snackin' is right around the corner. Your's looks to be coming along nicely with a bit of a growth flush happening.

I never bothered much with rootstocks for citrus, they seem almost bulletproof here. But then I do stick with tried and true citrus varieties -- nothing too terribly exotic for me. I do bother with mulch and a fair amount of Miracle-Gro Azalea formula while the trees are small. The lowering of soil pH and ample N seems to get them off to a good start.

Washington Navels can hold on the tree until June around here, and they just get better and better the longer they hold. I'm not sure how well the bud sports hold. One thing is for sure, if all goes well you will have a lot of citrus popping in the Washington Navel time frame.

Patty, I've got to ask why you don't have a Meyer Lemon in your collection as well? I know you will have a well thought out answer. :)

Oh, I have a Meyer lemon, mrclint. I have about 10 to 12 addtional citrus trees in the back of my yard. This is just the front slope citrus collection :-) In the back I have another Cocktail pummelo hybrid, a Rio Red grapefruit, a Palestine Lime, a Melogold pummelo hybrid, a Valencia orange, a Bearss Lime, a (huge & prolific) Meyer lemon, a Pixie mandarin, 2 Moro blood oranges (1 is new, and 1 just ID'ed last season, as it was one of several recovering citrus that got a wee bit neglected by the previous owner), an unknown Italian lemon, and an unknown (probably Rio Red) grapefruit that is also recovering. I had several citrus trees planted in this area by the previous homeowner. He never dripped them, and just hand watered them. So, I ended up digging wells and setting up a drip system for them, and was able to revive them all, plus added a few more. That's when I first noticed issues with some of my newer trees really struggling. It took me almost 2 years to finally narrow down the issue. I had never had issues previously in S. California with citrus. You just stick them in the ground and pretty much they grow :-) However, my housing development was built on an old avocado orchard. I had noticed than many of the avocados still left were in really bad shape. The developer (they live just up the street from me) had told me that the avocados had some sort of disease, and most were dying. It never occurred to me that it could be Phytothphora. It was, and come to find out, all the commercial avocado growers in my area know it's in the soil, don't even bother to test for it, but simply treat their trees. So, it was a no brainer at that point, after I starting tracking rootstocks on my trees, and noting which were failing. All were on Carrizo. None on C35 had issues. And, I forgot to mention I do also have another navel orange - Late Lane as well as my Fukumoto and Cara Cara navel orange. I mulch with compost (either 100% compost or Kellogg's GroMulch) on all my trees when they get planted. It does help with establishment. I continue to mulch with one or the other for the next 3 years or so, until they really get going. So, plenty of navels here. Plus, several of my neighbors have a Washington Navel, so I have lots to choose from :-)

Patty S.

Patty,

The most common "Italian" lemon is the Villafranca; the fruit looks very much like one of the ELB's (Eureka, Lisbon, Berna). Have you had fruit from your Pixie? It is the only mandarin I have; and with all the heat at my lemon farm, it is sooooo sweet.

John

Great collection as always, Patty ;-)

Josh

Patty, no tango tangerine?

Yup. Have a tango, is it not in my photo lineup? I'll check and add it if not. Absolutely have a Tango. They are quite excellent. In fact, it's right between the Gold Nugget and the Page, down close to my driveway (i.e., quick and easy to get to because they're so good!)

And Mike! My gosh, how did I miss your post! I put my garden up just for you, and somehow I missed your post! Enjoy my friend. After you sent those incredible photos of Longwood, I am going to try to put some benches up on my slope, so as my trees get bigger, there will be some nice spots to sit under or next to a pretty citrus tree.

Patty S.

Okay, added the Tango. It got missed because it's sort of tucked behind a Melogold. So, you'll see the Tango, and then a photo of the Gold Nugget, Tango and Page in a row, with the Melogold in front of the Tango. I wanted to have those right up close. Unfortunately, I added my very favorite mandarin a little later, the Seedless Kishu, and it is a bit further up, and being swallowed up by one of my drought tolerant plants I have to continually cut back, away from the poor little Kishu.

Patty S.