How long have you been trying to "root" these cuttings? I've never seen anything like this! My advise to you is to google you county extension agent and inquire as to what citrus grow best in your area. I would think grapefruit would be a good choice as they like heat-and lots of it! Oranges that grow well in the hot-humid parts of Florida should do well. I'm surprised about the lemons tree with a "thousand" lemons, as I always thougt they didn't do so well in hot/humid climates. Perhaps your area gets chilly in winter? Another advice to you if I may: Go ahead and purchase grafted citrus at a quality plant store; that way you know what you are getting, will get fruit sooner, and won't have to waaaaaaiiiiitttt for the cuttings to root and start growing...if they even will root. I suppose you could do both- just do the grafting as a "side" experiment. Good luck.

That was my 1st day. I have since read a bunch of different methods. Baggies ,misting, soil with hormone etc. I just like to propagate stuff. I will buy some when the bring the citrus up from the valley. I always assumed the fruit was bitter up here as that was what I had seen. The guy I got them from sells me feed for my livestock, He has 4 trees and across the street at his fathers house he has 6-8 trees and the neighbor has 2. They all are so heavily loaded with fruit that the limbs are touching the ground and fruit falling off. They are the greatest lemons I have ever tasted. The trees are 20+ feet tall. He says he does nothing but plant it and throw a little fertilizer on it. Yes we get temps close to freezing or a light frost for maybe a day or two.

He told me these lemons will come true to form from cuttings and the oranges must be on grafted rootstock. I have had such good luck rooting everything else this way I thought it was worth a try. As I knew nothing of citrus. I may build a misting propagator in the future if I need too.

I just figured there would be an old hat that knew all the tricks and types that could guide me in the right direction. I have unlimited access to cuttings so I will continue with my bubble propagator and chop some up to go into a rooting dome with rooting hormone. I do not mind waiting a year as long as I have others I can purchase that will bear fruit sooner. I only need so much fruit but do like the tree form and the bonus of fruit is a kicker.

Jim

Hi Jeep,
Regarding varieties of citrus for your area, Satsuma always did pretty good for me in S. Louisiana and is frost tolerant. Kumquats are very hardy as well. Lemons are fairly hardy. Limes will grow good there but you may need to protect them if it freezes. Cool idea for rooting the cuttings. I look forward to knowing if they will root that way. Please let me know. I did the bucket of brug thing for my brugs before and it worked well - be good if I could root everything that way :) I usually rooted my citrus in spring outdoors by putting a cutting in straight perlite in a small pot, place in filtered sun (like under another plant, deck etc.), and put a milk gallon jug (cut off the bottom) over the whole thing secure the milk jug by sticking pieces of bamboo or sticks on all sides of the milk jug to keep the wind from blowing it off . Mist the leaves and a little around the perlite every few days. Have had good results that way.
Some citrus sellers sell rooted cuttings that fruit in a year or two. You can try to keep them on thier own rootstock or graft yours later to another tree, and even put many types on the same tree if desired. If you keep them on thier own root stock they wont be as hardy so you will need to watch for rot or disease setting in. Good luck and let us know how they are doing :)
~SJN

OOps I forgot to mention that I do use rooting hormone before placing in perlite ( I like the rootone because it has a fungicide in it) but you can use whichever you have. There used to be a hardware store called Steins that carried that brand around the Lake Charles area of sw LA, so they may carry it near the TX coast too.~SJN