Garn, I don't understand..are you satified or not with your new trees? LOL
Since Gurney's, (Jung's and Henry's) are not nurseries that specialize in citrus, you may not be a happy camper. I know, I recently bought a fig from one of the above nurseries and an not at all happy.
One thing about Gurney's, their citrus are not grown as a standard, upright tree..These are sold at citrus nurseries. Good luck w/your new trees..Toni

for $30, Im accepting that I cant gripe. much. :-)

Since I got them to be scion wood for my FD rootstock seedlings, im not too upset that theyre "bushes". I probably wont keep them around after Ive kept a graft or 2 off of them.

I did get a Nana Pomegranate from a less-than-known-for-fruit nursery, at an end-of-the-year sale, and shes finally fruiting and looking really good (and was under $10)

Garn, the Nana's are nice Pome's..I've one on order from Mellingers.com It won't be delivered until spring for some reason..Congrats on your Pom..how tall? Toni

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I got this dwarf cara cara at a whim at HomeDepot
It is from LaVerne Nursery which does deal in citrus

I took off a few straggler branches and I think I can get those 2 branches to be close to vertical but they are growing out to the side.

Does she look like a good tree

I was looking at other dwarf trees for maybe 5 or $10 more
and I don't want a bush as most dwarfs are

It says this one will be about 6 to 8 feet

The dwark root stock is a bit odd as it look like it has 3 knuckles on the bottom

close up of trunk
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I can take it back to HD so I guess I'm asking whether it looks like a good healthy tree

Thanks

I tried citrus about 2 years ago
had a few trees in containers and they all got root rot and some brown dyback on stems

So I am a bit concerned and figured the $20 Dwarf Cara
would be good to try

Looks great for a $20 tree! I agree with you about branchy little bushes, I am not averse to something being branched, but I think stubby low plants are a little less desirable looking.

Have you read what can cause root rot? Keeping the plant too wet (and im guessing its easier to over water in the winter/indoors) Wide/shallow planters are less desireable than thinner/deeper.

The soil looks a bit thirsty (but make sure its not still wet at the bottom)

My mystery orange has just had a huge flush of growth. looks like mine will muddle through.

Thanks

I guess its better to try with a $20 tree than a $30
Most dwarfs aren't the best shape
but I was thinking of maybe seeing if I could find a nicer one
but heck its cute
love its toes
LOLI too like the look at least on a min tree with some stem
This one has a small stem then 2 v branches
could be worse I guess
and it does look healthy

I used a water meter on this one
its reading pretty wet under the top
I just got it Friday and didn't water it
Not sure of what size to go up to
probably do a conservative repot
esp since it is winter

last time I went from 5 to 15

The mix is sandy
sand does stay pretty wet
and its true mine pretty much always read wet
guess the root ball didn't get much sun but the tops did
as the balcony wall shades the bottom at times of the year

I do love them though and the cara cara is quite tasty
and has nice dark green leaves

Dwarf rootstock(flying dragon) dwarfs about 40%. So instead of 30 feet tall, the tree gets 24 feet tall. Citrus dwarfs aren't true dwarfs like dwarf apples.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

Here's a link to an article that says Flying Dragon dwarfs by 75%.

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_6_211/ai_111354238

Here is a link that might be useful: article from Sunset

Is there a good book that a vaguely science educated person can understand? I would like to know more about what these trees need and are capable of. Id consider buying a book soonish (I probably wont buy any large trees until we move to a more permanent house and I can have a greenhouse or large coldframe)

Is there a general chart on how dwarfing certain rootstocks are? How many summer-heat-hours "marginal" citrus like Key lime need?

Ive searched on a general science journal search, and I usually get genetics or virus research. I dont need that much detail ;-)

I'm not sure if the rootstock is flying dragon
How would you ID FD?

I know Atrmstrong sells ntra dwarfs
It does say the tree will be a bush 6 to 8 feet

I prefer the look of a standard
and been tempted to get one as they say it will be dwarfed if grown in container
I've heard that is so
but saw a 6 foot standard in a 3 gal yesterday with fruit
Very tempting when I look at my little guy
but mine has healthy green leaves and the one I saw yesterday had yellow leaves and was stressed in the small pot laden with fruit.

I wonder if a tree like that would be a problem coming back
Would think it would more likely be nutrient diffiency than overwater considering the small pot.

What I don't like abut mine is the chopped branch at the graft line which I assume is the original seedling it was grafted too.

I've seen some really nice seamless grafts
and to me it just lookes better

Garn, I've three citrus books purchased at Amazon.com
'Citrus,' by Lance Walheim.. The second book is 'All About Citrus, and Subtropical Fruits,' by Ortho...the third is 'Sunset Citrus.' by Sunset.

Each book has about 6 pages regarding growing citrus in containers, but they give backgrounds, growing environments.. They are detailed to replicate citrus natural growing habitats. Great pictures, description and pics of citrus/fruits. Soils, watering, sun, temp, humiidy, etc etc.
You don't have to be a scientist to understand these books..each are user-friendly reading. Toni

Garnetmoth - Unfortunately, I don't know of any book like that, and my library of citrus books and research articles rivals anyone that I know of. If there is anything specific that you would like to know (without going through all the Latin stuff, LOL) I'll gladly look it up for you.

Thanks muchly for all your advice!

I think Ill try to find those books in the store before buying them Toni, thanks! Ive read most of the fact sheets from Coop Extensions I can find online.

Im mostly wondering what types of things are too frustrating from seed, I understand Key Lime are a great choice, short juvenility. Mandarin, bad choice. Which of the stranger citrus are nucellar/true? (Im looking for Kaffir fruit this season for another seedling!)

Also, if Key Lime is marginal in cooler summer locations, will they produce OK in Nashville (90+ most of the summer, but now its pretty cool/dry, indoors)? I understand the concept of chilling hours, but is there an analagous warming hours for picky citrus?

Take Care, happy citrusing everyone! I took Latin in high school. I think I can still read it, but botanical names are a bit far for me! Especially citrus, but I have printed out a few things about sweet/ trifolate/ fortunella and am wrapping my brain around some distinctions.

I washed all the pld soil off sandy and it was wet for too long
Home depot was on the way to root rot

Hope she likes my mix
She is a flying fdragon
least I;'m pretty sure the way that root was contorted and bent kind on cute

She was very well rooted almost whole 5 gal but was starting to get mushy roots on bottom from being so wet

I gave her 3 or so inches under her and 3 inches wider
Think that should be ok
To tell you the truth I think she looks better already

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