On 9/7/13 2:17 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
Last year my beloved little tree finally bore TWELVE heavenly oranges - taste out of this world!

This year it has only TWO! Gardener thinks it's one year on, one year off.
But does he *know?*

Any experience out there? I tried a Web search, but the only thing I found was that it needs to be pollinated. Thanks a lot!

I guess those two new fruits got pollinated somehow; I didn't notice. Just found ONE new bloom.

So is it annual or biennial? If annual, what am I doing wrong? I'm giving it adequate food, water and She is giving it sunshine.

If biennial, why those 2-1/2 volunteers?

This is So. Calif coastal.

Thanks for any enlightenment.

HB


My dwarf 'Robertson' navel orange had fruit in alternating years until
about two years ago. That was about 18 years after I planted it. Now
it has fruit every year, but not enough.

On the other hand, my dwarf 'Eureka' lemon and my kumquat have always
had fruit every year (more lemons than anyone can use and more kumquats
than I can eat). I planted them about 7 years ago.

My dwarf 'Mineola' tangelo was also planted about 7 years ago. It had
three tangelos last year, which was the first time it ever had fruit.
This year: nothing.

All of my dwarf citrus get the same care, the same fertilizer and
irrigation. Of course, they share the same climate.

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