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Old 09-12-2006, 08:03 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default lemon and mandarin trees

Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..

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Old 09-12-2006, 08:14 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default lemon and mandarin trees

On 8 Dec 2006 23:03:45 -0800, "Ivan" wrote:

Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..



You can prune citrus any time you want, any way you want. Cut them
back to get them into shape.

Where I worked they just used urea for fertilizer, they just need
nitrogen.

Too much water can kill citrus, be careful of that. They do need
some, the rancher used to water every six weeks.
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Old 09-12-2006, 11:34 AM posted to rec.gardens
Jen Jen is offline
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Posts: 85
Default lemon and mandarin trees


"Ivan" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..



They like to be kept moist, mulching would help, but keep it away from the
trunk. Best time to prune is spring, but it shouldn't matter too much,
remove the snapped branch straight away. Chook manure or citrus food are
best. Probably a good idea to remove all the fruit for a couple of years.
I have a mandarin that keeps giving too much fruit, but they're always too
small, so I'm going to have to remove all, or most of the fruit for a while
too.


Jen


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Old 09-12-2006, 05:21 PM posted to rec.gardens
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Default lemon and mandarin trees

Ivan wrote:
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..


If the mandarin is leafless, it might be dead. With a fingernail, nick
the bark of a main branch near the trunk. If it's not green under the
bark, remove it. If it is indeed green, prune severely, water
thoroughly, and feed lightly in that order. (Never feed when the soil
is dry.) Then let the top 2-4 cm of the soil dry before watering again.
Mulching is good for keeping the soil cool, but don't water enough to
keep the surface constantly moist. Don't feed again until there is new
growth.

For the lemon, corrective pruning in the summer is good. Just don't
prune in the late fall if frost is possible within the next month.

For both, fertilizer should be acidic and contain abundant nitrogen and
some iron. Zinc is also necessary, but few fertilizers contain it. You
might have to special-order zinc sulfate, of which each tree should get
about a half-handful 3-4 times from early spring through the summer.

Note that, while some citrus will bear fruit for 100 years or more, some
are not long-lived. I sadly discovered that dwarf varieties generally
live only 25-30 years. My much-cherished dwarf 'Eureka' lemon has
apparently died after more than 35 years. I just replaced a dwarf
kumquat after about 35 years. The fact that they both lived so long
surprised all the nurseries where I inquired.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/
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Old 11-12-2006, 12:17 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default lemon and mandarin trees


Ivan wrote:
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..




Hi all..

Thanks for your messages.

Here's some updated information:

The mandarin tree does have leaves -- only that they're brown/yellow
and they are scarce.
The fruit is very orange, however as I said before, it's very small..
(about .5" in diameter), and has been that size since I've moved in
three weeks ago.

The lemon tree, upon further inspection, looks like it has plenty of
lemons that are growing.. Two or three are ready to be picked (they're
yellow). The rest are small-ish and somewhat green still, but they look
plump and healthy.

The broken bit of the lemon tree is its trunk.. Which is why it's being
held up with a plank of wood.. It's unfortunate, really. I thought
about tying it up with some wire and a post to hold it up against..


The trees are in my back yard, and they are surrounded by a rubber
fence of about 6-7" high, and run aroudn the trunk of each tree. It has
a diameter of about 3-4 foot..

I can't see the soil used, by the looks of things it is covered in hay,
and on top of the hay there is chicken wire..

Not sure why this is the case..

I guess to stop the hay from flying around..

I recylce water and use a lot of my washing water to water the grass..
Will this also work for my fruit trees, or will the soap kill it?



Thanks to all for your assistance..
I'll hopefully be having some plump mandarins before the summer ends..

When do they normally come out?
We'll be having a really hot and dry summer this year.



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Old 11-12-2006, 03:24 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Posts: 585
Default lemon and mandarin trees

Ivan wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..




Hi all..

Thanks for your messages.

Here's some updated information:

The mandarin tree does have leaves -- only that they're brown/yellow
and they are scarce.
The fruit is very orange, however as I said before, it's very small..
(about .5" in diameter), and has been that size since I've moved in
three weeks ago.


Abundant but small fruit is apparently the last gasp of a dying citrus
tree. Citrus remains fresh on the tree for quite a long while, even on
a dying tree.


The lemon tree, upon further inspection, looks like it has plenty of
lemons that are growing.. Two or three are ready to be picked (they're
yellow). The rest are small-ish and somewhat green still, but they look
plump and healthy.


Oranges, mandarins, and most other citrus are seasonal, flowering at
specified seasons and ripening at other specified seasons. Not so with
lemons, which are everbearing. That means you may find flowers, tiny
green lemons, larger green lemons, and ripe lemons all at the same time.


The broken bit of the lemon tree is its trunk.. Which is why it's being
held up with a plank of wood.. It's unfortunate, really. I thought
about tying it up with some wire and a post to hold it up against..


You really need an arborist to fix this tree. If it's split down the
trunk, the trunk may have to be drilled and then bolted together. If
the break is across the trunk, the tree may have to be cut, which would
be effective only if it's above the graft point; a break below the graft
point is generally hopeless. If the tree is cut, the time of year may
be very important in order to ensure new growth will occur. All this
requires a professional, who might also assess whether the mandarin can
be saved.

When I mention an arborist, I do not mean a tree service. The former
can help save a tree that is in trouble. The latter specializes in
trimming and even removing trees.


The trees are in my back yard, and they are surrounded by a rubber
fence of about 6-7" high, and run aroudn the trunk of each tree. It has
a diameter of about 3-4 foot..


The fences might be protection against animals that gnaw on the bark of
the trunks. I have seen smaller fences -- only about a foot high -- to
protect the trunks from lawn care equipment.


I can't see the soil used, by the looks of things it is covered in hay,
and on top of the hay there is chicken wire..

Not sure why this is the case..

I guess to stop the hay from flying around..


I use chicken wire to hold a leaf mulch in place around my camelias.
Otherwise, the Santa Anna winds would remove all mulch. (See my garden
Web site for a description of these winds, which are common under
various names in most Mediterranean climates, including possibly Australia.)


I recylce water and use a lot of my washing water to water the grass..
Will this also work for my fruit trees, or will the soap kill it?


Laundry "gray" water tends to be alkaline from the soap or detergents
used in washing. Grass might not be affected. However, citrus requires
an acidic soil. Thus, "gray" water will cause the leaves to yellow or
become chlorotic. Eventually, the trees will stop fruiting and decline
in vigor.


Thanks to all for your assistance..
I'll hopefully be having some plump mandarins before the summer ends..


If they are already orange, they will not get any larger.


--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my http://www.rossde.com/PGP/

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/
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Old 11-12-2006, 03:41 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Posts: 44
Default lemon and mandarin trees


David E. Ross wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..




Hi all..

Thanks for your messages.

Here's some updated information:

The mandarin tree does have leaves -- only that they're brown/yellow
and they are scarce.
The fruit is very orange, however as I said before, it's very small..
(about .5" in diameter), and has been that size since I've moved in
three weeks ago.


Abundant but small fruit is apparently the last gasp of a dying citrus
tree. Citrus remains fresh on the tree for quite a long while, even on
a dying tree.


The lemon tree, upon further inspection, looks like it has plenty of
lemons that are growing.. Two or three are ready to be picked (they're
yellow). The rest are small-ish and somewhat green still, but they look
plump and healthy.


Oranges, mandarins, and most other citrus are seasonal, flowering at
specified seasons and ripening at other specified seasons. Not so with
lemons, which are everbearing. That means you may find flowers, tiny
green lemons, larger green lemons, and ripe lemons all at the same time.


The broken bit of the lemon tree is its trunk.. Which is why it's being
held up with a plank of wood.. It's unfortunate, really. I thought
about tying it up with some wire and a post to hold it up against..


You really need an arborist to fix this tree. If it's split down the
trunk, the trunk may have to be drilled and then bolted together. If
the break is across the trunk, the tree may have to be cut, which would
be effective only if it's above the graft point; a break below the graft
point is generally hopeless. If the tree is cut, the time of year may
be very important in order to ensure new growth will occur. All this
requires a professional, who might also assess whether the mandarin can
be saved.

When I mention an arborist, I do not mean a tree service. The former
can help save a tree that is in trouble. The latter specializes in
trimming and even removing trees.


The trees are in my back yard, and they are surrounded by a rubber
fence of about 6-7" high, and run aroudn the trunk of each tree. It has
a diameter of about 3-4 foot..


The fences might be protection against animals that gnaw on the bark of
the trunks. I have seen smaller fences -- only about a foot high -- to
protect the trunks from lawn care equipment.


I can't see the soil used, by the looks of things it is covered in hay,
and on top of the hay there is chicken wire..

Not sure why this is the case..

I guess to stop the hay from flying around..


I use chicken wire to hold a leaf mulch in place around my camelias.
Otherwise, the Santa Anna winds would remove all mulch. (See my garden
Web site for a description of these winds, which are common under
various names in most Mediterranean climates, including possibly Australia.)


I recylce water and use a lot of my washing water to water the grass..
Will this also work for my fruit trees, or will the soap kill it?


Laundry "gray" water tends to be alkaline from the soap or detergents
used in washing. Grass might not be affected. However, citrus requires
an acidic soil. Thus, "gray" water will cause the leaves to yellow or
become chlorotic. Eventually, the trees will stop fruiting and decline
in vigor.


Thanks to all for your assistance..
I'll hopefully be having some plump mandarins before the summer ends..


If they are already orange, they will not get any larger.


--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Concerned about someone (e.g., Pres. Bush) snooping
into your E-mail? Use PGP.
See my http://www.rossde.com/PGP/

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/



Hi there..

It sounds as if though there isn't much hope for my trees.. =(
I'll buy some scissors and start prunning the mandarin tree, as well as
being able to determine where the break is on the lemon's trunk..

The fence around the trees is only 6 to 7 inches high, not feet.. I
must have gotten the ' and " mixed up.. We have the metric system here.
:P

Should I remove all the mandarines from the tree?
Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?

I'll also be buying some citrus fertilizer at the store in the next few
days and start feeding them.. Hopefully will be able to bring them back
to life..

The tree next door has many bright, yellow lemons..
Mine has about three bright and yellow ones.. The rest are green and
not developed yet..

I hope this doesn't mean that my tree is dying..

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Old 12-12-2006, 02:12 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Posts: 585
Default lemon and mandarin trees

Ivan wrote:
David E. Ross wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Ivan wrote:
Hi all.


I recently bought a house and in the back yard I have a mandarin tree
and a lemon tree..

It seems as if though the previous owners were somewhat neglectful of
these though, and they are not in the best of shapes..

The mandarin trees has no leaves at all, and is full of the smallest
fruits you could imagine.. The lemon tree seems to have snapped during
its life, and it has a plank of wood holding it up.. Its leaves are
green, and it has a few lemons in it, though perhaps about three lemons
on the whole tree..

In Australia it is summer right now, and we're having dry heats coming
in..

It looks like either tree has never been pruned.. When is the best time
to do this?
What should I feed them?
I'd love for these trees to prosper..

I can take some pictures and post them somewhere if it'll help you all
diagnose the problems of my new trees..


Thanks..



Hi all..

Thanks for your messages.

Here's some updated information:

The mandarin tree does have leaves -- only that they're brown/yellow
and they are scarce.
The fruit is very orange, however as I said before, it's very small..
(about .5" in diameter), and has been that size since I've moved in
three weeks ago.


Abundant but small fruit is apparently the last gasp of a dying citrus
tree. Citrus remains fresh on the tree for quite a long while, even on
a dying tree.


The lemon tree, upon further inspection, looks like it has plenty of
lemons that are growing.. Two or three are ready to be picked (they're
yellow). The rest are small-ish and somewhat green still, but they look
plump and healthy.


Oranges, mandarins, and most other citrus are seasonal, flowering at
specified seasons and ripening at other specified seasons. Not so with
lemons, which are everbearing. That means you may find flowers, tiny
green lemons, larger green lemons, and ripe lemons all at the same time.


The broken bit of the lemon tree is its trunk.. Which is why it's being
held up with a plank of wood.. It's unfortunate, really. I thought
about tying it up with some wire and a post to hold it up against..


You really need an arborist to fix this tree. If it's split down the
trunk, the trunk may have to be drilled and then bolted together. If
the break is across the trunk, the tree may have to be cut, which would
be effective only if it's above the graft point; a break below the graft
point is generally hopeless. If the tree is cut, the time of year may
be very important in order to ensure new growth will occur. All this
requires a professional, who might also assess whether the mandarin can
be saved.

When I mention an arborist, I do not mean a tree service. The former
can help save a tree that is in trouble. The latter specializes in
trimming and even removing trees.


The trees are in my back yard, and they are surrounded by a rubber
fence of about 6-7" high, and run aroudn the trunk of each tree. It has
a diameter of about 3-4 foot..


The fences might be protection against animals that gnaw on the bark of
the trunks. I have seen smaller fences -- only about a foot high -- to
protect the trunks from lawn care equipment.


I can't see the soil used, by the looks of things it is covered in hay,
and on top of the hay there is chicken wire..

Not sure why this is the case..

I guess to stop the hay from flying around..


I use chicken wire to hold a leaf mulch in place around my camelias.
Otherwise, the Santa Anna winds would remove all mulch. (See my garden
Web site for a description of these winds, which are common under
various names in most Mediterranean climates, including possibly Australia.)


I recylce water and use a lot of my washing water to water the grass..
Will this also work for my fruit trees, or will the soap kill it?


Laundry "gray" water tends to be alkaline from the soap or detergents
used in washing. Grass might not be affected. However, citrus requires
an acidic soil. Thus, "gray" water will cause the leaves to yellow or
become chlorotic. Eventually, the trees will stop fruiting and decline
in vigor.


Thanks to all for your assistance..
I'll hopefully be having some plump mandarins before the summer ends..


If they are already orange, they will not get any larger.




Hi there..

It sounds as if though there isn't much hope for my trees.. =(
I'll buy some scissors and start prunning the mandarin tree, as well as
being able to determine where the break is on the lemon's trunk..

The fence around the trees is only 6 to 7 inches high, not feet.. I
must have gotten the ' and " mixed up.. We have the metric system here.
:P

Should I remove all the mandarines from the tree?
Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?

I'll also be buying some citrus fertilizer at the store in the next few
days and start feeding them.. Hopefully will be able to bring them back
to life..

The tree next door has many bright, yellow lemons..
Mine has about three bright and yellow ones.. The rest are green and
not developed yet..

I hope this doesn't mean that my tree is dying..


The mandarins are edible, even if the tree is totally dead.

As I indicated, lemon trees are everbearing. That means that you should
indeed find small green, larger green, and ripe lemons on your tree all
at the same time. Unless you had frost recently, you should also find
lemon blossoms and blossom buds. (Lemons are generally more hardy than
most other citrus except for kumquats. That doesn't mean they can take
truly freezing weather, but an occasional overnight frost with daytime
temperatures above freezing shouldn't really harm a lemon tree.)

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use SeaMonkey as my Web browser because I want
a browser that complies with Web standards. See
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/.
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Old 12-12-2006, 09:35 AM posted to rec.gardens
Jen Jen is offline
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Posts: 85
Default lemon and mandarin trees



The mandarin tree does have leaves -- only that they're brown/yellow
and they are scarce.
The fruit is very orange, however as I said before, it's very small..
(about .5" in diameter), and has been that size since I've moved in
three weeks ago.


Abundant but small fruit is apparently the last gasp of a dying citrus
tree. Citrus remains fresh on the tree for quite a long while, even on a
dying tree.


Not necessarily true at all!! I have a very healthy, young mandarin tree.
It gets tonnes of fruit, but all small. I need to remove most, if not all
the fruit for a couple of years, till it's more mature.

Jen


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Old 12-12-2006, 09:41 AM posted to rec.gardens
Jen Jen is offline
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Posts: 85
Default lemon and mandarin trees


"Ivan" wrote in message
ups.com...

It sounds as if though there isn't much hope for my trees.. =(
I'll buy some scissors and start prunning the mandarin tree, as well as
being able to determine where the break is on the lemon's trunk..


I disagree. I'm from Victoria, it's very hot here at the moment, all the
plants are suffering. Only prune off damaged parts, prune properly in Spring
next year.


Should I remove all the mandarines from the tree?


Absolutely.

Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?


More a matter of thinning it out, to let the light get to all parts of the
tree.


I'll also be buying some citrus fertilizer at the store in the next few
days and start feeding them.. Hopefully will be able to bring them back
to life..


It may be too dry and hot to fertilize at the moment. I would wait till
Autumn. Also fertilising sick plants, can definitely kill them.


The tree next door has many bright, yellow lemons..
Mine has about three bright and yellow ones.. The rest are green and
not developed yet..

I hope this doesn't mean that my tree is dying..


Don't think so. Keep them mulched to cool the roots, and keep them damp,
but not wet, and see how they are come Autumn.


Jen





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Old 13-12-2006, 03:01 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Posts: 585
Default lemon and mandarin trees

Ivan wrote [in part]:
Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?


Unlike stone or pome fruits, citrus is never pruned to promote fruiting.
Citrus is pruned to remove deadwood and branches that interfere with
each other. Some commercial growers also prune to keep the branch ends
from touching the ground (to reduce the access to the tree by ants and
snails). In a home garden, you might prune to improve the aesthetics of
the tree or to keep the tree low enough to pick fruit without a ladder.

For my dwarf citrus in containers, I prune to keep the top growth
proportional to the confined root system so that the foliage does not
place an impossible demand for moisture and nutrients on the roots.
This is a constant nipping and pinching throughout the growing season,
not the concerted pruning effort I will soon start for my peach tree.

Lack of pruning for your mandarin should not be a concern.

--

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

I use SeaMonkey as my Web browser because I want
a browser that complies with Web standards. See
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey/.
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Old 13-12-2006, 03:09 AM posted to rec.gardens
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Default lemon and mandarin trees

Jen wrote [in part]:
"Ivan" wrote [also in part]:
Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?


More a matter of thinning it out, to let the light get to all parts of the
tree.


Be careful about letting light into the center of the tree. Citrus bark
is easily damaged by sunburn. Commercial growers near my home leave a
lot of foliage to shade the trunks of their citrus orchards.

I'll also be buying some citrus fertilizer at the store in the next few
days and start feeding them.. Hopefully will be able to bring them back
to life..


It may be too dry and hot to fertilize at the moment. I would wait till
Autumn. Also fertilising sick plants, can definitely kill them.


On this, I must disagree. Citrus does better with frequent light
feedings throughout the growing season than with a single annual
feeding. Further, if there is any chance of winter frost in your area,
stop feeding about two months before the expected first frost and don't
start again until about two weeks before the expected last frost. Thus,
a significant fall feeding might be very wrong. (Of course, I don't
know if you are in a climate that is entirely frost-free. I live in a
part of southern California that remains a prime citrus growing area --
especially lemons -- and we get light, overnight frosts every winter.)

When you feed, water thoroughly about 1-2 days before. Feed and then
water thoroughly again. You can kill a citrus tree by feeding in dry
soil and then watering, which burns the roots.

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Old 13-12-2006, 05:59 AM posted to rec.gardens
Jen Jen is offline
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Posts: 85
Default lemon and mandarin trees


"David E. Ross" wrote in message
...
Jen wrote [in part]:
"Ivan" wrote [also in part]:
Also, it looks as if though the mandarin tree has never been prunned --
Is there a guide I should follow when doing so?


More a matter of thinning it out, to let the light get to all parts of
the
tree.


Be careful about letting light into the center of the tree. Citrus bark
is easily damaged by sunburn. Commercial growers near my home leave a
lot of foliage to shade the trunks of their citrus orchards.

I'll also be buying some citrus fertilizer at the store in the next few
days and start feeding them.. Hopefully will be able to bring them back
to life..


It may be too dry and hot to fertilize at the moment. I would wait till
Autumn. Also fertilising sick plants, can definitely kill them.


On this, I must disagree. Citrus does better with frequent light
feedings throughout the growing season than with a single annual
feeding. Further, if there is any chance of winter frost in your area,
stop feeding about two months before the expected first frost and don't
start again until about two weeks before the expected last frost. Thus,
a significant fall feeding might be very wrong. (Of course, I don't
know if you are in a climate that is entirely frost-free. I live in a
part of southern California that remains a prime citrus growing area --
especially lemons -- and we get light, overnight frosts every winter.)



Here, in Australia, we're in the middle of a "very" hot and "very" dry
summer. So although I can understand what you mean, I think fertilising it
now might not be a good idea. There are bushfires everywhere because
everything is so dry. I guess my point is to wait till the worst heat/dry
weather is over. There's a bit of time here in Autumn before the frosts
start, or, at least, late summer. Some areas in Australia are frost-free as
well.


Jen


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