They are all so beautiful! So cool that you have a greenhouse. What's the bubble wrap for?

Very nice Mike. Mine have even got small fruits on them despite having no roots.

Regards
Nick

RealLife

Some people use bubble wrap in greenhouses as an additional insulator without sacrificing to much light. I have it on mine but just on the sides that get the strongest winter winds.

Mike

In fact, yes MIKE is right. You wouldn't believe the difference when I stick my hand behind that bubble wrap.

In stead of trying to figure a way to put some inside my greenhouse, I decided to purchase a 'Solar Cover' that you use for pools and gift wrap my house to keep the chill out while keeping the warmth in. It is clear letting sunlight in which encourages and even warmer atmosphere in there all the while cutting down on electricity! I love it!
I only have one space heater going at the moment compared to two, keeping the temps in there very warm, even though it's frigid out. The plants seem very happy and thriving. Here is some more cuttings that I started of figs and things. Also pics of the amount of light inside at 9am and the cover over the greenhouse.

Thanks Nick, Mike, and Reallife.

I am hoping to have just a few more citrus plants without the cost of having to order or purchase more that fruit and flower right away.

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Awesome, Mike! Citrus heaven!
Look at those figs in the last pic! ;-)

Josh

That's cool, had no idea how all this greenhouse stuff works.

I am fortunate to live in a greenhouse; orchids, anthuriums, bromeliads, ferns, heliconia grow outside in the garden.

I've never grown a citrus from a cutting; sort of a tour de force. One of the fun things you can do in a greenhouse, but the product is pretty much restricted to container growing, as the root is generally not very vigorous or resistant.

If you treat your plants like MeyerMike, you will be successful, no matter what the rootstock.

What is rootstock? I get that is something you graft something else to, but I'm not really sure what grafting is even after I googled it!

Real

Rootstock is a general term for the lower portion of the grafted tree. Many commercial growers will use a particular type of rootstock but the term means any part of the tree below the graft line.

grafting is taking a seedling tree and sticking a desired tree or even trees on top. Its a way to insure that we make identical clones of the trees we want. Grafting is also a way to give a cloned tree an ideal root system, whether its to give it increased vigor or pest and disease resistance and sometimes even limit the size. The other way of cloning is what Meyer mike does by rooting a cutting of a tree. Typically as John mentioned rooted citrus cuttings tend to not have as good of a root systems as a grafted tree.

Mike

Mike, your cuttings are doing wonderful. Think how well and fast they'll grow once spring/summer returns.. :)

A question. In the past, 'prior to online ordering,' I started citrus cuttings and sown seeds.

They developed roots, grew, but every single citrus, cutting/seedling had thorns. Similiar to that of rootstock.
Are your citrus cuttings thorny, and if so, do you pluck them off?

Real, in addition to Mike/MkSmith's reasons for grafting, grafted plants produce fruit much faster than non-grafted trees.

Ungrafted citrus can take 7-14 years before flowering/fruiting opposed to grafted 1.5 year olds that bloom and fruit.

Also, as I explained to Mike, un-grafted citrus from seeds/cuttings have thorns as large as 4".

PS: Mike, your variegated Hoya is beautiful and so big. Toni

Hello Toni!

I never get thorns on my cuttings! In fact, many of my fruit producing trees are from cutting of mature fruiting trees.
I learned this technique from Logee's. This is the way they grow and sells their which can grow pretty tall and flower and fruit within weeks of rooting.:-)

I am not concerned about grafts because all my trees will stay in pots and I will never want them to get so big that I can't keep them inside anyway. I love them at just the right height, flowering dramatically filling the air with perfume!

Goodness, who knows how many citrus I would be able to keep indoors if they all turned to tall trees.

Thanks for noticing the Hoya! I love that plant.

Toni: Hope for a very warm winter, will you? It was 65 today after the warmest November on record! The more warm days means less COLD days!

Thanks Toni for being here.

Mike

Cuttings are clones of the parent and should be exactly as the parent, including the age, which is why cuttings often produce fruit quickly. Citrus seedlings, however, are a different animal; and every citrus I have seen grown from seed has big thorns and takes a long time to fruit...even the Meyer.
Some years ago I grew 500 Meyers from seed; the trees varied from bushes to big trees; they all had giant thorns; and in the first 5 years did not produce a single flower, while my grafted Improved Meyer Lemons made flowers and fruit in one year. More than that, I lost a lot of the seedlings from too much rain; because the root of a Meyer (being a hybrid) is often weak, and completely unpredictable. BTW, I finally gave up on the seedling trees, the farm was sold to sugar cane growers and everything was bulldozed. That was when I started my current project, with 5 years of experience learning what doesn't work; and a few things that do work.

Thanks for the explanation, Mike! Much appreciated!

Real,

Anytime. That is what we are here for. Good success with your trees:-)

Thanks John!

meyermike, glad to see your success, I just took cuttings from two mandarins and hope to duplicate your success. My biggest concern is the small size of the cuttings that were available. Any tips to insure success; I probably need a stronger rooting hormone but I used what was available.
Dan

Your cuttings should be fine even that size. I root them with just two leaves on the twig. The key is to ensure that they receive plenty of light and warmth. Make sure you're using a porous mix that stays moist not wet and lightly fertilize at every every watering, and then your golden. :)

I may have goofed, I stripped the leaves off completely. Fortunately I can take another 2-3 from each tree. Do I need to keep them enclosed with the humidity up? Were yours grown in open air?
Dan

If your not using a greenhouse or a very humid room, I would. That will certainly help. Just make sure you let some air in with a couple of small holes or crack the bag open just a bit. Good thinking. :)
Use a large bag to make a dome or another idea just so the bag is not touching the leaves.

Mike!
Everything looks wonderful and seems to be enjoying the greenhouse! I bet it makes this winter a breeze!
Glad to see things are going good after all with your foot. :-)
JoJo

Jojo!

Thank you so much. Thanks for stopping by and just know you are always appreciated when you do. Thank you for the encouragement on the foot too. It has been a rough road, but maybe I will be able to run and snow board soon again:-)

Mike

Hey Mike, I love the idea of the pool cover helping keep my greenhouse from losing so much heat. I searched for the pool covers and they have them ranging from 5mil to 16mil so i was wondering what thickness is working so well for you. Do you remember how many mils?

Nevermind Mike.... I looked at yours and others' posts in the various forums and found out what to order. Thanks for the idea

Logan, no problem!

Get the clear one at about 14mil. It works great and it feels so good to sit back inside and not have to worry while it's frigid outside and seeing teh temps remain very warm with less work from my heaters. LOVE it!

Today this am it was 20 degrees outside and only 1 space heater kept it at a whopping 57 degrees by the am.

Mike

I have no luck rooting but keep trying

The way I rooted some cuttings was using a plastic drinks bottle, cut in half. Cut some fresh looking shoots about 6in long and put them in the soil with about an inch poking out, no leaves. Put the 'lid' back on and leave in a bright spot (but not too bright).

They can take a while (mine took months) but sooner or later they'll either brown off and die or they'll stay green. Remove any obviously rotting one.

I'm sure others have their own methods too.

Don't be tempted to remove them until you've got signs of a growth flush and a decent root, and even then I'd leave them in the bottle for a while. Periodically moisten the soil and unscrew the cap to let in some air.

Hope that helps
Regards
Nick