Hi Mike, What else can I explain to you because you seem to understand. I think the concept need's to be taken within reason. Total number of nodes or perhaps total number of contiguous nodes which would amount to a certain vegetative size or mass likely has to be fulfilled too. I think that idea of contiguous branching is the missing element in pushing a juvenile into fruiting. That could explain why some seedling citrus become vegetative giants in a tropical greenhouse without going mature. They have many contiguous nodes from unstressed growth but little contiguous branching from unstressed growth. Start stressing a highly vegetative tropical greehouse juvenile with some repeated droughts and it will often go fruiting. The drought stress kills the tip and new growth will be contiguous branching which seem's to follow a idea of contiguous branching being a factor. All I have ever read on the subject is that abstract which I found in a Google search several years ago. However it made perfect sense and my first trial a contiguous branching pruning seemed to work. I welcome you to buy that article and read it.

Toni, I've been growing key limes from seeds for well over 10 years. My biggest problem was that in the Spring, as the sun rises higher in the sky, I couldn't get enough sunlight far enough into my rooms through south windows to keep them growing before it became warm enough to put them outside, at least during the day. So I wound up killing off the trees as they became large, but not before I was able to harvest at least some fruit. As of last July, I finally have a greenhouse. It's only about 8' x 15', but it's attached to the south side of my house so heating costs aren't as bad as freestanding versions. I now hope to develop some 8' high trees that will bear fruit on a more consistent basis. I have always put the trees outside in the summer, after uppotting in the Spring if necessary (I NEVER uppot in the fall). I'm not sure what I'll do this year. I currently have 10 trees growing in 4" to 10" clay pots. I may put half of them outside and keep the others in the greenhouse during the summer to see what happens. BTW, the largest tree actually has 6 flower buds with 2 open. I think I have successfully fertilized one so far. However, since the tree is still a bit less than 3 years old, I don't know if it will actually produce mature fruit. Bob

Hey all! (I apologize if this should be on a new thread?) I am trying so hard not to be annoying, but I find myself doubting almost every decision that I am making through this soil mixing process and could use a little bit more advice. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me so far. I attempted to post on the container forum to give you guys a break, and because I noticed that there are many conversations there about soil mixing, but my post went unanswered so far. I was hoping to mix some soil yesterday, but didn't dare move forward without any validation. So I have just a few more questions about my materials, if you all don't mind giving a little more input. I am wondering about the pine fines - So far I have opened two bags of material and sifted through them. The first bag is mountain magic premium grind bark mulch. It is made of Western fir and pine bark. The mix seems to be too big in general, with a lot of woody material. I am wondering if it is at all useable or if it should be mixed with the product below this one to create a mix with different sized bark pieces... Here is a picture after I ran it through a 1/2 inch grate and then screened out the tiny particles. I also attempted to pick out the woody material for a few hours, but as you can see, there is still a lot of it left. The second product I have tried is Soil Pep, also by Mountain Magic. It is Western Fir and Pine Bark plus composted forest materials. I would say that it is half really small particles and half good bark. It looks almost like soil right out of the bag but after I sift it to remove a lot of the small particles it looks pretty good. Almost no pieces that are too big, and not too much sapwood that I found. I am thinking it is probably the best option that I have. However, it takes forever to sift!!! I am about 2/3 way through the bag right now and I have spent about 8 hours on the sifting. It's killing me. There is no way that I can sift through a bag of this again. And I think that by the end of this bag there will only be enough for 2 of my trees. (I need to pot 4-5) Do you think it should be mixed with the bark above this which is made of bigger materials? Here is a picture of it after sifting. Then I have all of the tiny pieces and particles that came off during the sifting process. They may be able to be substituted for the peat moss I believe? Or is the moss better? I am thinking that maybe I can mix like 4 parts of the sifted bark in the second picture with 2 parts of the unsifted bark (not pictured.) Then I would only have the perlite and lime left to add in, which brings me to my next question. Should I try to substitute in Napa Floor Dry or Ultra Dri (yes I bought both after reading about them on the forums) for the perlite to help with water retention? I have read about people subbing in DE for the peat moss, which I could do if I used all sifted bark, thought I think that would end up like more of a gritty mix. Or I could sub it in for the perlite to aid in water retention since we are in the desert... I have already been needing to water some of my trees every day (and they are in super thick nursery soil.) THANK YOU for any advice you may have. I don't know why I am so petrified to take the next step and mix. I am terrified of doing something wrong, and I have spent so much money on these plants and all of the supplies that I just want to do things right. It will be a very costly mistake if I fail! To end on a happy note, this beautiful butterfly found my Meyer Lemon today. I love all of the new bees and butterflies who have been coming around! And the smell of the trees in bloom is so amazing! Emily

Vladimir, the hard part will be maintaining even growth rates. It is possible to graft all those varieties to one tree, but the slower-growing varieties (like kumquats) could easily be overtaken by the more vigorous varieties, like the lemons and limes. If I were to grow a cocktail tree, I'd pair up vigorous scions with vigorous scions to make it more evenly-matched. Generally speaking (after doing some research), incompatibilities don't manifest until the tree is significantly older. Age-wise, I've grafted an oro blanco onto a mature eureka lemon branch that ended up making fruit, so I don't think that matters a lot. Either way, it makes a cool experiment! -Tom