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I had a shrub years ago called "flowering almond", gorgeous double pink blossoms.
But it suckered like mad, finally got rid of it.
Worse than lilac.

That almond would make it at your place, Tim.

Congrats on the Yuzu and Swingles.

Barb

Those flowering almonds are nice. Ive seen a few planted here but not many. My grandma has one and Ive tried a few times to get cuttings... all failed.

another hardy Citrus type is germinating......Citrange 'Rusk'.

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 2f5adc.jpg>

Awesome! How many citrus species is this now Tim?

Well done Tim.

Yeah, how many varieties?

Barb

Not that many Citrus species.....just Yuzu, Citrange and Citrumelo. Only time will tell which will be the hardiest!

Great work, Tim! They're all fairly comparable in hardiness.

By the way, the "citrus fellow" says he will join us later on, but he's been very busy.

The Kumquats started this winter are in a community pot, growing like mad.
Anybody know if those roots are sensitive to transplanting?

Or can I just rip 'n tear them apart?

Which of your three, Tim, do you think will be the hardiest?

Barb

Not sure Barb......a Yucca grower in Germany said his 6ft tall Citrange survived last winter while his 6'tall Citrumelo died. I don't hear much about Yuzu but I've read it's hardy to at least 10F. Plant many and select the hardiest!

Plant many and select the hardiest!

Yup, continually thinning the herd.

Germany's recent huge snowfall would keep his Citrange covered.

Barb

the Citrumelos are doing well.............I transplanted them today.

Before:
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 6ce50c.jpg>

After:
<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 3f447f.jpg>

THey are going to do well Tim. They are growing faster then my lemon or lime seedlings did.

So they don't need to go into bigger pots?
I was wondering about that after the community pot for my Kumquats.

Barb

yes, these Citrumelos seem too easy!

Those 'pots' are 16oz or 18oz plastic cups.......they are pretty big.

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... 649802.jpg>

Thanks for the explanation Tim.
Beer cups.
Got lots of those

Barb

Great work! Those leaves are really trifoliate-like

I've been germinating a few more species recently. I now have around 20 large Jubaea seedlings that have emerged, and hopefully more to come. I've also received 16 types of hardy citrus, and have germinated at least a dozen types so far. Some other species of tree fern have finally started to sprout after being in germination containers for at least a year

What types of citrus? Im assuming there are kumquots and trifolata?

Canadianplant, there are 16 types that I am trying to germinate. Some of them aren't so hardy (Ujukitsu sweet lemon, etc), and others won't come true to seed, and will instead be some other cross (Panzarella lemon and Panzarella orange, etc).

Some of the hardier types include the Glen Citrangedin, SanCitChang, Liudmila Ichandarin, Yuzu, Yuzvange, Yuko, Tai x Tri Hybrid, (Clem x Tri) x Clem, etc

20 large Jubaea seedlings that have emerged,

Congratulations Cameron.
It's so exciting to finally get Jubaeas up...

Look forward to a pic update soon.

Barb

Here are the 20 or so J. chilensis seedlings (sorry for the poor quality):


And here are some germinated Clem-Yuz 2-2 (a Clementine x Yuzu hybrid) seedlings:

Wow, Cameron, your Jubaeas are taller than mine, germinated last summer!
Obviously your good care did that.

I've got some Kumquats still in a community pot.
Congrats on all your Citrus germination success.
Will be great to watch how they do.

Barb

Here are some S. minor "McCurtain" seedlings. You can see that there's one near the back which seems to lack chlorophyll:


And here are some Y. aloifolia seedlings, grown from seed that Damir sent me:

Musa sp. "Helen's Hybrid", seed from canadianplant:


Musa itinerans with a pup, seed also from canadianplant:


TaiTri Citrus hybrid. This is a cross which I'm pretty hopeful about. It's a cross between Citrus taiwanica (which is already hardy to at least -12 C) and Poncirus (Citrus) trifoliata (which is hardy to close to -30 C). I'm hoping that the resulting hardiness is somewhere in the middle, around -20 C. A further stretch is to hope that the fruit produced is semi-edible, or at least useful in citrus-ade drinks! I believe this hybrid is true to seed, as it's polyembryonic :


And here is another polyembryonic germinating citrus, the Glen Citrangedin:

Nice Cam!

I had one helens hybrid seed pop, and i left it in the sun.......... it didnt last more then a few hours I also still have 2 itinerians, no pups on mine though, Im jealous! You werent kidding about the plethora of citrus either

How are your orchids going?

Thanks, canadianplant!

I also had a few "Helen's Hybrid" seedling die, and this was the only survivor. The orchids are doing well; I kept two Phalaenopsis sp. amabilis, and they've at least doubled in size since I got them.

that TaiTri Citrus hybrid sounds like a great test for northern climates. I'm impressed with Citrumelo 'Dustan' since it survived last winter and our power went out for 35 hours and we dropped to -2.9F (-19.3C). I didn't loose any branches at all! I'm thinking that all we need to do is keep the wind off the Citrus and they survive my climate?

How'd your Loquats and other plants fair this past winter?

Tim, I'm pretty hopeful about it! It's great to hear about the survival of your Dunstan Citrumelo.

The winter in my area was the worst for many years. Temperatures were close to -22 C (-5 F), and I did lose a few plants. Even though I had a few feet of straw over the loquats, it's likely that at least two of them are dead. The other two completely defoliated, so I'm waiting to see if new leaves start emerging. It really was an awful winter with a combination of extreme lows and long durations of low temps.

Hey Cam, where did you get your citrus seeds from? Since I bought a Meyer Lemon and Mandarin tree, ive been bitten by the citrus bug LOL. There dont see to be many places with a google search...

You should check out the forum citrus.forumup.org . I know Tim is a member there as well

This is one of the first years that I've seen citrus varieties for sale in box stores here. Last week I saw a Meyer Lemon and some cultivars of kumquats at one. However, since I have so many seedlings, there's no room for any other plants! I also saw a hardy Kniphofia sp. at a hardware store today, which is very unusual for this area.

Let e guess Cameron..... Homedepot? The one here had a few limes meyer lemom, kumquat, cara cara and moro blood oranges.... Yay Patio plants!

Thanks for the link as well!

Yes, it was Home Depot

Hi Cameron,

let us know if the Loquats come back to life. I planted my Loquat a couple weeks ago.....I hope it takes off this season.

This is one of the first years that I've seen citrus varieties for sale in box stores here

My local nursery (Art Knapps) had tons of citrus the other day when I stopped in.
Was able to leave without one...easier on the wallet.
(some were $89).

Barb

left the store withOUT a citrus.........come-on Barb.......are you feeling sick?

Yeah, I guess, Tim.
Prices have REALLY spiked.
And I thought things were expensive last year

I'm still hoping my 5-foot tall Grapefruit will eventually have a flower.
That'd make up for all those 1-inch thorns that scrape my face every time I move it.



Barb

no blooms on your 5-yr old Grapefruit? I spotted a couple blooms on my 1-yr old grapefruit the other day......can I pollenate them?

<img src=http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c309/ ... c36c15.jpg>

1-yr old grapefruit

your 1 year old is blooming?
Jeez...what am I doing wrong.
This bugger will scrape the ceiling before I get a flower.

Yes you can polllinate it..with a child's little paint brush.
I used to do that with my little Calamondin Orange trees.
A little kinky but it works, I had little oranges on it before both plants gave up the ghost.
Really sour though.
Had never seen H's face twisted like that.


Good luck with yours.
Look forward to hearing it's got fruit.
Pucker up.

Barb

I'll have to check up on the Grapefruit since it's been non stop rain/drizzle the past couple days......it finally cleared up this afternoon. I think a fruit on my tree would be real funny looking!

Barb, because Grapefruit is thought to be a sweet orange pommello cross, there is a high probability of infertile plants, if it was seed grown. Sweet orange seedlings are less prone to this, but from what ive read grapefruit is really bad for doing this...

Also, damn citrus and their finickyness. My meyer lemon keeps dropping leaves