Citrus and Peach trees

[strider3700]

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.

[argyle]

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)

[Thralen]

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

[PeakOiler]

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.)

[PeakOiler]

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.

[JJ]

tried to post this a minute ago. hope it doesn't double post. here's my plum tree.

[PeakOiler]

JJ, Don't plum trees flower over a few weeks time? Any early blossoms may be hurt by the overnight freezing temps over the next couple of nights, but if the tree hasn't finished blossoming, you still may get some fruit.

[JJ]

JJ, Don't plum trees flower over a few weeks time? Any early blossoms may be hurt by the overnight freezing temps over the next couple of nights, but if the tree hasn't finished blossoming, you still may get some fruit.

oh, hope you're right (I'm sure you are)

[PeakOiler]

Shown below are some of the peach trees in the front yard experiencing this rare snow event:



Time to re-seal the plastic sheet on the mini hoophouse over the citrus on the front porch/deck... again.

Edit: Since it's still snowing, I think I'll go put on my snow skies and see if I can still get around on them. Sometimes I miss skiing in Colorado... No mountains here, just some "green" slopes...LOL

[frankthetank]

You lived in Colorado? I loved it out there when we went to visit. I didn't care for the traffic in Denver, but once you got into up and out of the city it was gorgeous. Drove all the way to the top of Mt. Evans. 14,000 feet in July and the temp during the middle of the day was about 40F

You are never going to get rid of winter down in Texas this year The AO does not want to go positive (basically allowing any cold air in Canada a free pass to visit the south)... We haven't hit 40F since Dec 1st! but it hasn't been peach killer cold, so i might be ok for fruit this year again. My peach trees are still buried in about 4ft of glacier. I'm going to take cuttings this week and pot them up with some bottom heat...see if i can get some to root. I figure i better get some seedlings if i end up ripping out the mature trees !

I have seedlings of apricots, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, oaks, and all kinds of other stuff.

I also ordered a greenhouse, just a 6x10 plastic one, but the covering is suppose to last 5 years or more...

[JJ]

You lived in Colorado? I loved it out there when we went to visit. I didn't care for the traffic in Denver, but once you got into up and out of the city it was gorgeous. Drove all the way to the top of Mt. Evans. 14,000 feet in July and the temp during the middle of the day was about 40F

You are never going to get rid of winter down in Texas this year The AO does not want to go positive (basically allowing any cold air in Canada a free pass to visit the south)... We haven't hit 40F since Dec 1st! but it hasn't been peach killer cold, so i might be ok for fruit this year again. My peach trees are still buried in about 4ft of glacier. I'm going to take cuttings this week and pot them up with some bottom heat...see if i can get some to root. I figure i better get some seedlings if i end up ripping out the mature trees !

I have seedlings of apricots, apples, pears, peaches, cherries, oaks, and all kinds of other stuff.

I also ordered a greenhouse, just a 6x10 plastic one, but the covering is suppose to last 5 years or more...

my sister lives in Pagosa Springs; never misses the opportunity to brag to us they are off the grid, if things ever get bad. whatever.

[PeakOiler]

Today I moved the oldest potted Meyer lemon tree onto the front deck from inside the house. It was needing more sunlight since many immature fruits have begun forming and the tree needs more energy/sun-hours. I'll cover it with blankets when/if the next light overnight freeze occurs over the next four weeks. The lemon blossoms on the tree attracted a number of bees soon after I moved it outside.

It's almost time to begin assembling some 3/4" pvc pipe together again for netting framework around some of the peach trees.

[PeakOiler]

You lived in Colorado?

Yes, for 23 months. Probably the most beautiful state in this country, but too cold for me.

Worked in Broomfield, lived in Federal Heights. I was synthesizing a lot of semiconductor precursor materials, including many pyrophoric chemicals such as trimethyl aluminum and trimethyl gallium.
Wow! That was fun!

Meanwhile, only a few peach blossoms have opened here. But the buds are swelling...

[PeakOiler]

It's getting pink around here:



The peaches have a good chance of doing very well this year. Most of the buds have not opened yet. I'm hoping to break my 2009 record harvest of 483 peaches.

The 10-day forecast indicates no freezing temperatures, but a light frost is still possible over the next three weeks according to historical data.

[PeakOiler]

Yesterday I moved one of the two potted lime trees from inside the house out onto the front deck. It has formed many baby fruit, is still blossoming, and needs more sun hours now. The bees were fighting over the blossoms.

Six citrus trees are still in the house as well as six pineapple plants.

[PeakOiler]

Now that there's less of one big cedar tree south of the house, I get a better view of the sky from the front porch:



The strong line of t-storms this evening missed me. That's ok, my rainwater tanks are full.

As you can see, most of the peach blossoms have not opened yet.

[JJ]

we got a torrential rain here from the line...
white fleshed nectarine

plum tree, above the roof line...

peach tree...

[PeakOiler]

JJ: Looks great! Your plum tree is much bigger than my young trees. When did you plant it again? I don't expect to get any fruit from my plums for a few more years until they're older. How many nectarines has your tree produced on average each year?

All 13 of my peach trees are old enough to produce.

btw folks, that rainbow was so cool yesterday when the storms came by. It was almost a semicircle. (Perhaps 160 degrees out of 180? I couldn't get the entire rainbow in one frame with the camera.) There was a good lightning show as well, but I didn't capture any with the camera.

[JJ]

PO'r, this is the trees sixth year. Three years ago, I got bushels of plums from it. The last two years, two plums. We are hoping this year wil be better...

Third spring for the white fleshed nectarine, never even had a flower. Sure looks different this year....

edited for fruit error.

[frankthetank]

My peaches look horrible. The snow was so heavy that a bunch of branches broke. There is going to be a lot of dieback and i'm seeing oozing or something from wounds. I might see if they flower, if nothing then chainsaw the 3 of them. These winters are pretty hard on peaches. Keep the 4 seed grown trees i have in the ground plus all the container grown trees, one of which is a "red gold" nectarine that *should* flower, since it did have a few flowers last year.

JJ-
Last year i bought a lot of the white fleshed nectarines/peaches. I really should order one... they were very different (sweeter?) then the normal peaches/nectarines. I don't think they come true to seed?