Cultivating my ORANGE TREE in ARIZONA....
Mike
would like to have it looking and tasting nice for the winter months,
what do you recommend that i do to have plump oranges growing on the
tree.
ps--right now there are oranges, but they are shriveled, small, and
hard, and some are starting to fall off.
pps--last year it grew oranges during the winter, but i know they can
be better.
would you please email me directly, if possible, at
<shagg...@aol.com>
thanks--
--michael
Otis Cribblecoblis
I just bought a copy of a wonderful book; found it at COSTCO for $10.00.
It's called: "Extreme Gardening...How To Grow Organic in the Hostile
Deserts", by Dave Owens, "The Garden Guy".
You don't have to be an organic gardener to appreciate the book. Great
tips of growing fruit & citrus.
jc
news:529e6867.02101...@posting.google.com...
First you might try to identify the variety. The most common are the
Arizona Sweets like Hamlin, Diller, Marrs and Trovita. Marrs is the
earliest and is harvested from about November 1 through mid February. All
of the others are harvested in December and January - dates vary a bit.
There also a number of navel types, the most common is Washington navel.
The navels often will not produce reliably for the first 6 years or so and
many will produce on alternate years. The various Valencia varieties are
the latest and are harvested from mid February through May.
Citrus trees should be deep-watered at the edge of the canopy. Water basins
with a 6 inch berm or depression plus berm work pretty well. I use a 1/2
inch drip line with inline emitters and irrigate over night twice each month
in the summer and once/month in the winter. Many people water more
frequently. Water should be reduced in October so as not to force too much
new growth which can get zapped in cool winters although it has not been a
serious problem for the past 5 years. A tree with a 10 foot canopy
typically needs 250 gallons/month in July and 150 gallon/month in the
winter. Larger trees need more. Citrus needs lots of scarce water and is
not well suited to the desert environment but can produce very well if
enough water is applied. To little water is on of the most common causes
of small fruit. Using lots of mulch slows evaporation.
Mature citrus trees need about 1 - 3 pounds of nitrogen per year divided
equally in three applications. The first is February to support the new
growth in March. The second in May after blossom/fruit drop. The
blossom/fruit drop is a normal thinning process, often called "June drop",
but here it occurs in May. The May fertilizer application also helps get
the trees and fruit through the hot summer. The last fertilizer application
is in September - this has more to do with the sizing of the fruit. It
needs to occur early so as not to force new growth too late in the fall.
Ammonium sulfate is the most common source of nitrogen fertilizer for
cirrus. Phosphorous is sometimes required. There is no need to add
potassium which is abundant in a useable form in our desert soil. The other
macro nutrients and the minor nutrients are sometimes added in commercial
orchards but are seldom needed by backyard citrus trees. I usually inject
Miracle Gro through the drip system. My biggest problems are pocket
gophers in the understory and Bermudagrass along the dripline.
"
Lost Wages
>Orange trees are tropical and need a lot of water.
I imagine those grove owners in El Centro, Imperial County CA
will be surprised to hear they live in a "tropical" zone.
http://www.wunderground.com/forecasts/IPL.html
Citrus
Lance Walheim
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
112 pp. / 100 color photos,
40 illus / 8 3/8 x 10 7/8
Paper (0-8165-0962823643) $17.95
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For anyone who grows citrus or wants to begin, this book offers a
complete and up-to-date guide to selecting and growing more than one
hundred varieties of oranges, mandarins, lemons, limes, grapefruit,
and kumquats, as well as exotic citrus. Lance Walheim has tailored his
book to growers in California, Arizona, Texas, the Gulf Coast, and
Florida, and tells also how to grow successfully in cold-winter areas.
Lost Wages
Tsu Dho Nimh
>i live in phoenix, arizona and have an orange tree in my backyard. I
>would like to have it looking and tasting nice for the winter months,
>what do you recommend that i do to have plump oranges growing on the
>tree.
http://www.commspeed.net/tfcox/Citrus.htm has directions for
Phoenix care, including a calendar.
Oranges take a full year to develop,and take uniformly excellent
care to develop well, so your chances of having anything tasty
this winter are about zero.
>ps--right now there are oranges, but they are shriveled, small, and
>hard, and some are starting to fall off.
Not enough water, not enough water at the right times (REGULAR
soakings), and a way too hot summer. Start caring for it now and
maybe next year this time you will have a nice fat crop of green
fruit starting to turn color.
Tsu Dho Nimh
It is my job to completely create professional technology
in order that we may seamlessly supply competitive data.
Otis Cribblecoblis
gophers in the understory and Bermudagrass along the dripline."
Sorry JC, I can't help you with the bermuda grass, but if you wish to rid your
area of pocket gophers, try a trap called "The Black Hole". I've got 3+ acres
and are getting close to keeping them away from my native plant garden with this
trap.
Alain in Southern California
Lost Wages
>On Fri, 11 Oct 2002 00:20:55 GMT, Lost Wages <noth...@noneforme.com> wrote:
>
>>I imagine those grove owners in El Centro, Imperial County CA
>>will be surprised to hear they live in a "tropical" zone.
>
>Uh, are you trying to tell me that orange trees are not grown in the tropics
>because they are tender to heavy frost? Are you saying you can grow an orange
>grove in the mid-section with no problems caused by frost? What? What are you
>saying? I'm sorry, I didn't say: orange trees are grown in the tropics and
>sub-tropics. They are not hardy plants.
no I'm saying they are not grown only in the tropics as you posted!
Lost Wages
>On Fri, 11 Oct 2002 00:20:55 GMT, Lost Wages <noth...@noneforme.com> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 10 Oct 2002 22:26:05 GMT, animaux <ani...@w8foif.biz> wrote:
>>
>>>Orange trees are tropical and need a lot of water.
>>
>>
>>I imagine those grove owners in El Centro, Imperial County CA
>>will be surprised to hear they live in a "tropical" zone.
>>
>>http://www.wunderground.com/forecasts/IPL.html
>
>Did you even LOOK at the site above? Clearly their average low temps are above
>40 degrees F.
it is NOT a "tropical" zone!
Tom Jaszewski
"animaux" <ani...@w8foif.biz> wrote in message
news:c2qequ4ffsm6o8aao...@4ax.com...
< Go read a book once in a while.
Oh now I get it, you read it! More book gardening......BTW Texas isn't the
center of the universe!
Lar
@news2.west.cox.net>, none...@thanks.com says...
:) ......BTW Texas isn't the
:) center of the universe!
:)
:)
Maybe not the center, but just being one of the better
places of the universe is good enough.
--
Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!
Tom Jaszewski
Judging by the size of the gators it certainly must be the center for them!
:>)
tomj
"Lar" <lar...@attbiBUGS.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.181136ff4...@netnews.attbi.com...
Lost Wages
> You take care of house
> plants for a living...
Please, you only continue to spew mindless crap. You haven't a clue as to my
experience. The man asked a question about oranges in Phoenix, the
desert.....not in your drug ravaged delusional brain.
Lar
ani...@w8foif.biz says...
:) The gators?
:)
:)
I had http://www.geocities.com/larflu/texasgator.jpg
in past signatures that was of a pic a little Gulf Coast
critter.
Lost Wages
> I had http://www.geocities.com/larflu/texasgator.jpg
>in past signatures that was of a pic a little Gulf Coast
>critter.
If it's available to rent I've a little water garden in Austin......