Patty: More than helping with my trees, I thank you for your expertise and encouragement with my condition lately. You actually gave me a reason to smile this am and even a more reason to consider you a friend. I really appreciate you around these parts. Today is much better. I think it was a side effect of PT yesterday and it never occured to me that the Achilles's was going to cause this, me a Massage Therapist. Thanks for your advice:-) Yes, that is one awesome tree to say the least! I wish my Oro Blanco had come loaded with fruit like that.lol I actually had a bit of the fruit the last time my other tree provided me a few fruit and it did not bother me at all:-) Yes, no worries, you have plenty more where that fruit came from. Patty: FYI. Did you know that Four Winds has that contest every month? Yes, I think you could win one:-) Here is there number and ask Kerri to explain. She will fill you in:-) 1(877) 449-4637 then press 1 Andrew, nice surprise! Lol..I can't imagine you being a mad scientist, but you have on occasion chopped the limbs off of trees, ripped off the heads of a few bugs,tossed a sickly tree out in the dump, and certainly decapitated all the fruit on your Lemon trees.. Do you have a MG end sprayer? I usually fill one of those things up half way with FE, and let that container do the job. Once it fills with water from the hose, both the FE and water come out in a perfect ratio. Now is the time to spray Andrew. You need to treat at least 3-4 times every couple of days before they come inside. If your mite problem is very bad, you may have to take more desperate measures. But I think you will be ok if you start this weekend. Don't forget to drench especially under the leaves and the soil mix. You are SOOOOO right about the scent and flowers of the Oro! One huge flower open will fill the house and yard with fragrance, especially on a very humid morning or evening! Have you even considered a flowering plant like a Brunfelsia? Ok, we will not even go there..lol Mike

Hi all, I just read the responses...talk about being late...thanks for the advice. The Oro Blanco is still in it's pot, and I'm trying to find the sunniest spot for it (Oak trees and a large fir tree block a lot of sunlight...some judicious pruning is in progress). tc, I've been collecting oak leaves but I read that they take forever to breakdown so I'm trying to shred them with a shovel. I'm glad to hear that they are good for mulch, I have 3 large oaks and lots of leaves. In Malibu I always grew tomatoes and green peppers through the winter, so I'm trying same up here. Also bananas, plumeria(they'll come inside), cherimoya, and will be trying a Sir Prize avocado soon. jc

Thanks, reefisher. I went to Clausen's and picked up a Mellowgold, which is almost the identical same tree as the Oro Blanco, as well as a Cocktail and a Rio. The Rio is really going to be an experiment, so I'm trying to figure out exactly what spot in our yard will be the very hottest, and that's where the Rio will go. the Mellowgold and the Cocktail are spotted up on the north slope (which faces south). We have a rat problem, too - they ate all my Anna apples this year - so I'm going to talk with Berrett Pest Control to see what kinds of control we can put into place to try to control the rats and keep them out of my trees. I bought a Moro Blood Orange, a Pixie Tangerine and an Algerian Tangerine, too, so they will all be targets for the rats. They leave the lemon trees and usually leave the Kumquats alone (although not always with the Kumquats), so hopefully, I can get traps set and try to keep the population down. We back an 80 acre abandoned orange orchard (very sad story), so they come in through the back fence, even though I've got 3' snake fencing up against the wrought iron. They're sneaky devils. No fence will really keep them out. Patty S.

LOL Hobby...yeah, you already do enough damage with the varieties you get up there! They did have some interesting trees....and they were definitely a good size. The cocktail grapefruit is still bent a bit, but I am sure she will straighten out. I potted the other two, but am going to put the grapefruit in a bigger pot from the start since they need more room. I'll finish it up tomorrow.