On Sep 6, 8:14*pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 9/6/11 5:59 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:









On Sep 5, 3:17 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 9/5/11 11:28 AM, Higgs Boson wrote:

I put in two very young fruit trees about 4-5 months ago. *Both are
doing well. *However, there are suckers appearing from the bases. *At
least I THINK that's what they are.

Any advice on what to do?

This is So. Calif coastal.

TIA

HB

What kind of fruit trees?

Were they grafted? *If so, can you see the graft?

It looks like they were. *I can see the graft.

The one in question is a Santa Rosa Plum.

I also noticed what looks like suckers on a Dwarf Washington Orange,
about 3-4 years old, that bore last year for the first time.

If they are from below the graft, remove them. *Do NOT cut them.
Instead, try to pull them. *You might have to dig down a bit and break
them from the root or base of the trunk. *Cutting a sucker generally
guarantees that it will sprout again with more shoots.

This advice applies equally to the Plum and to the Dwarf Orange??

HB

I have a dwarf 'Robertson' navel orange, which differs from the
'Washington' primarily by ripening a few weeks earlier. *I've had it
since about 1992. *It bore fruit sporadically, sometimes going 2-3 years
without any oranges at all. *Last year, however, it had a nice crop
following a crop in 2009 -- the first time it had fruit two years in a
row. *This year, there are a few oranges (still quite green).

The problem with dwarf oranges is that they do not have a large enough
crop. *I could eat twice as many as my little tree produces. *On the
other hand, even a dwarf lemon tree produces far more lemons than anyone
can use. *See my http://www.rossde.com/cooking/lemon_marmalade.html
for a recipe for lemon marmalade. *Last year, I had enough lemons for
this recipe, lemons to give away, and lemons to juice for my wife to use
in cooking. *We also have a large plastic bag of lemon zest in the
freezer.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: *California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary