None of the pictures seem to be showing up for me so I can't see anything that you are talking about. One thing you mentioned was blossom end rot. Just so you know, this isn't a disease. Blossom end rot happens when something keeps calcium from getting to the developing fruit fast enough. It is a calcium deficiency but don't let it trick you into thinking that your soil is deficient. It seems more common on earily fruit and plants often grow out of it. It is sometimes due to irratic moisture or letting the roots get dried out which impairs their ability to take up the calcium that is in the soil. There are some sprays out there that can help keep developing fruits from suffering the problem though once a fruit has the rotted blossom end, there is no cure for that particular fruit, you might as well pull it. You noted that this is your first year trying organic gardening. Hang in there, most people seem to think it takes 3 years to really get the soil improved. You also mentioned that you think it isn't just your yard. The weather will play a huge roll in certain maladies. In some areas this year it was powdery mildew (dry weather mold which I had back in the dry spring.) Wet humid weather will bring on a whole different set of problems, (as it starts pour down rain here as I type.) Don't be too quick to blame your troubles on organic gardening when the weather is at fault. Especially if this is your first season. It does take a while to transition from chemicals to organic methods. Some of our tomato plants look a bit strange. The ones we grew back in the spring did too. They still produced some good tomatoes but probably not as many as they could have. What the tomato looks like is not so important as long as they taste good, unless you are into competitions or selling them. Have you had soil tests done? Your local extension office should be able to tell you more about soil testing, it doesn't cost very much. It is possible that you could be adding something that is throwing things out of whack. You mentioned using vinegar, if your soil is already on the acidic side, the vinegar could be causing the pH to get out of the ideal range for many of your plants. On the other hand, many people add lime just because it seems to be the thing to do. Problem is, pH greatly affects what nutrients are available from the soil. Also, an over abundance of some nutrients may make other nutrients unavailable to the plants. Getting the right balance for your soil, climate, situation, and plants can take a while. Building up a micro-herd of soil microbes takes time. Composting takes time. Even adding tons of soil enhancements to your dirt will take time before they produce the desired results. I am new to organic gardening too. I used to use lots of Miracle Grow. This first season my soil is still basically sand. Most of my veggies are growing in "raised" beds (my few layers version of lasagna gardening.) My verson for most of them this season was a layer or two of cardboard with a mound of mushroom compost on top with a thick layer of wood chip mulch over it all. This is working well for squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and pumpkins so far. The tomatoes were planted into the ground where the sand had mushroom compost mixed into it. I've also planted into cardboard boxes filled with the free compost from our county. This makes a quick raised bed that will last a season, when it's done just pull the sides of the cardboard box away, spread the compost around and hoe out any weeds. I've had pretty good (not perfect) luck with these methods for my first couple seasons. It takes a very large amount of organic matter to properly amend sandy soil in hot humid climates since the microbes break the stuff down very quickly and much of the nutrients will leach away fast through the sand. Sorry I'm not of much help on your specific problems but I wish you luck and I hope you will hang with it for a couple more seasons before you say it doesn't work.

hey dano.. i got so wound up on you telling him to surgically repair it.. i missed your caveat ... lol torn.. the inside wood is dead.. it will NEVER heal.. like a bone might ... at best.. you are allowing the 'skin' to heal.. no one argues that point.. but without the interior structure.. what are you left with.. well?? .. frankly a limb that will break.. when the structure get larger than the 'fix' can hold.. the 'appearance' of a fix.. does not mean it will ever be structurally sound ... its sorta like staking.. you stake to the prevailing wind ... so all devious planning aside.. what the heck happens when ma nature blows from the other direction.. well.. you are screwed.. just like the tree that has been 'repaired' ... and where are you then.. back to PROPERLY PRUNING IT ... and the base issue is peeps who think a tree is static ... when really.. its shape and form 'evolve' .. and one way they do that is thru ma nature ripping them apart.. and another way is thru pruning.. to avoid ma natures fury ... IMHO.. the best advice.. is properly prune off the damage.. give it a year or two to recover.. and then decide if its OK to your eye.. and if not.. get rid of it .. NOTHING LASTS FOREVER ... and if its NOT OK to your eye.. meaning it will bug the heck out of you.. then just be done with it ... please .. step down from the soapbox .. and shut the heck up.. lol ... [thats the voice in my head.. talking to itself.. lol] ken

first you give us some pix of the leaves and flowers that we can focus on ... so as to ID it .. and if not here.. then the name that plant forum ... which would them lead us to research whether it can be rejuvenated ... i suspect it might actually be a shrub... rather than a tree... and if so.. there are things that can be done . as you see it.. it wont be any more ... but it does not.. necessarily follow.. that it is dying... and i would probably start.. after ID.. by cutting the back part to about 3 inches.. and seeing how the plant responds ... but lets see what it is ken ps: if its an ornamental pear ... just be done with it... lol .. i just cant tell in that one pic ... does it smell horrible??? .. like wet dirty gym socks???

I'm assuming these are regular oranges. Sooner or later the cold is going to get them. January 13, 1982 we had a heavy ice storm. You may want to Google: Air Florida and Potomac to read about a plane that went down in the ice storm in D.C. to get an idea about the size of the storm and severity. The TODAY show reported that day there were snow flurries in Miami. There was snow and ice from Dallas to the northeast USA. The satsuma groves along the north Gulf Coast from Texas to Jacksonville were devastated and satsumas are usually more freeze tolerant than oranges. I would prune the dead stems and cover them now with a garbage can full of leaves. If they survive the next 5 weeks, let them grow this summer and pot them before next winter.