Citrus and Peach trees

by JJ » Thu 04 Feb 2010, 20:42:31

Oh, I can't cover the trees, they are WAY too big...

by **strider3700** » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 02:36:11

My meyer lemon that I decided to plant in the front yard to dare winter to be cold took a beating back in december on one cold night. All of it's leaves have dropped and the outer tips are dead. The main branches still are green when I scratch them with a finger nail though so I have hopes that it will return when spring finally gets here. It dropped to -12C 10F one night and I just had it in a small plastic green house affair. The forecast was for -6 and that should have been good enough. The fig and olive tree both survived in the backyard though. The fig was out in the open and the olive tree had it's own mini green house. It must have been just that little bit warmer in the corner.

by **PeakOiler** » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 19:28:30

JJ wrote:Oh, I can't cover the trees, they are WAY too big...

How about covering some of the lower branches then? Or get one of HEB's chimeneas...
:wink:

by **PeakOiler** » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 19:33:18

strider3700 wrote:My meyer lemon that I decided to plant in the front yard to dare winter to be cold took a beating back in december on one cold night. All of it's leaves have dropped and the outer tips are dead. The main branches still are green when I scratch them with a finger nail though so I have hopes that it will return when spring finally gets here.

Ouch. Sorry to read that, Strider. Your lemon tree may survive, but it will be in poor condition to produce much fruit for another year...

by **PeakOiler** » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 20:21:25

The "I'm not quite dead, I'm getting better" potted grapefruit tree in the house is putting out some new leaves.

by JJ » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 20:22:29

PeakOiler wrote:The "I'm not quite dead, I'm getting better" potted grapefruit tree in the house is putting out some new leaves.

is that Monte Python?

by **PeakOiler** » Fri 05 Feb 2010, 20:45:50

JJ wrote:
PeakOiler wrote:The "I'm not quite dead, I'm getting better" potted grapefruit tree in the house is putting out some new leaves.
is that Monty Python?

Yes. From "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Here's a cropped pic of some of the new grapefruit leaves:

by **strider3700** » Sat 06 Feb 2010, 01:08:55

PeakOiler wrote:Ouch. Sorry to read that, Strider. Your lemon tree may survive, but it will be in poor condition to produce much fruit for another year...

It's just a baby anyways so I'm not shocked. I've considered digging it up and potting it again but I have faith with a little work and some global warming I can get lemons to grow outside. It started off as a walmart find in it's dead and dying discount section so it's had a hard life. I have faith.

by **PeakOiler** » Wed 10 Feb 2010, 07:20:21

Well, JJ, looks like the overnight freeze that was forecast a few days ago was wrong. Your fruit trees should be ok.

Still no pink showing on any of the peach tree buds here. Apparently the colder-than-average winter so far has delayed them a couple of weeks.

by **frankthetank** » Sat 13 Feb 2010, 09:58:19

Post subject: Re: Citrus and Peach trees PostPosted: Sun Nov 29, 2009 3:05 pm
U may need that protection this winter. A pretty smart weather guy that lives in Mexico just south of the Texas border was saying he expects his coldest winter in 20 years...i guess the storm track is going to be pushed further south then normal.
We look to go below 0F around the 10th of Dec... I'm going to bring the container peaches inside the garage this week and cover them with blankets? God knows if this is going to work, but we'll find out!

Not a bad call!

It hasn't been that cold up here (low temp -16F), so i think my peaches may come through fine. We have an easy foot of snow on the ground and that is a THICK, ICY foot... lots of water in it. Still might not hit 40F this month up here and will have a hard time hitting 32F. Lots of sun and blue skies lately, so i'll take it.

I won't be posting much/ if at all around here, i spend my time over on TOD now. I'll report back in spring and catch up. Stay warm.

by **PeakOiler** » Sat 13 Feb 2010, 15:28:10

frankthetank wrote:Not a bad call! It hasn't been that cold up here (low temp -16F), so i think my peaches may come through fine. We have an easy foot of snow on the ground and that is a THICK, ICY foot... lots of water in it. Still might not hit 40F this month up here and will have a hard time hitting 32F. Lots of sun and blue skies lately, so i'll take it.

Good luck with your peaches and other trees, ftt. Don't be too much of a stranger.

My peach tree buds are still asleep...which has been a good thing since overnight freezing lows are still in the forecast.

by **PeakOiler** » Tue 16 Feb 2010, 19:53:04

This evening I observed a few buds showing just a hint of pink on one of the 13 trees. There's still a few more weeks of possible overnight freezes. Tonight is one of them...

The black circles in the graph indicates record-setting temps.

The forecast is for above-freezing temps for the next week...

by **strider3700** » Wed 17 Feb 2010, 02:55:12

Does anyone have any suggestions on peach trees that are leaf curl resistant? I've got a set of concrete stairs that face full south and bake during the summer that I think would be a great location to plant a peach tree beside. It would be trained along the concrete wall and could get to 10 or 12 feet tall, maybe 6 feet wide. The only issue is it's not covered so our wet wet wet springs almost always lead to serious leaf curl on exposed peaches up here.

by **argyle** » Wed 17 Feb 2010, 07:25:11

Does anyone have a suggestion of 'breed' of lemon, citrius, peach trees that could be grown inside.. So that are/stay small enough to keep in a pot (even if they don't produce that much)

Or that could withstand colds up to -15 degrees celcius?

How do Kiwi plants fare in cold? Any recommendation regarding certain species, general, websites?

Thanks

by **rangerone314** » Wed 17 Feb 2010, 10:12:39

I expect my Arctic kiwi to be fine... they grow them in Russia...

by **strider3700** » Wed 17 Feb 2010, 11:26:55

Meyer Lemon is sold in pots up here with the intention that it stays inside. Mine was heavily damaged by 1 night of -12 so no way it will survive -15 without a lot of preventative measures.

by **argyle** » Thu 18 Feb 2010, 03:11:42

rangerone314 wrote:I expect my Arctic kiwi to be fine... they grow them in Russia...

is that Actinidia kolomikta?

How do you know you got the fruitbearing one? (those are prob. only the females) while you need male and female plants for polination (if I googled correctly)

by **Thralen** » Thu 18 Feb 2010, 03:41:14

A vote for a containerized improved meyer's lemon here. Mine is 2 years old, was setting lemons within a year of planting and has survived the abuses of my (now) 19 month old toddler. Just make sure the container is large enough for it and get a 'moisture meter' so you know when it actually needs watering.

Kiwi's would probably be fine with -15 C if you get the 'arctic kiwis" or some types of "hardy kiwis". Make sure to check the hardiness zone they list for the specific one you want. Also, from what I've read, their biggest problem is with mid-late spring frosts. So if you get those mid-late spring frosts, you'll need to find a sheltered area to plant it in or see if you can find a type that blooms late in spring. Issai kiwi is a hardy kiwi that is self-pollinating. I don't remember the hardiness zone for it offhand though so can't say if -15 C is too much for it or not (just checked, Issai is listed at zones 4-9 so -15 C should be at the low extreme of its capability to withstand).

Thralen

by **PeakOiler** » Thu 18 Feb 2010, 21:01:20

This weekend I plan to move one or two of the potted citrus trees (a Meyers lemon and a Persian lime) from inside the house onto the front deck/porch. I'll cover them with blankets if another frost comes through. There are immature fruits on them, and the trees need more light now, more than what comes through the windows...

Most of the peach tree buds are still not showing any pink. That's good (at this time, for this place.)

by **PeakOiler** » Sun 21 Feb 2010, 17:04:35

I decided to wait one more week before moving some of the indoor potted citrus trees onto the front porch.

Meanwhile, some of the peach tree buds are showing more pink. No fully-open blossoms yet...

Some pear tree buds are beginning to open.

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