Because we have taken them out of their natural habitat and changed the natural selection process by creating hybrids, we are already "playing God" to a certain extent. The trick now becomes "playing God" with responsibility and care. The first thoughts should be... what growing environment do I have to offer these bulbs, and how much time and effort do I want to devote to them? Protecting them from extreme stresses is a very good piece of advice. The growing environment you offer may have extremes that will require protecting from, or adapting to... such as harsh outdoor conditions, or indoor conditions that require supplement. Hippeastrum bulbs are extremely forgiving, and as long as a few very basic rules are followed, their culture is relatively easy... do not allow the bulbs to freeze, do not over water them, give them plenty of light, and allow them an annual rest period, whether of their choosing or forced. It has recently come to my attention that Hippeastrum bulbs not only shed their leaves before resting, they may also shed some of their roots. A portion of the root system may die off annually as the bulb rests, and may be replaced by new roots as active growth ensues. Due to the lack of a balanced micro-organism system within a container, it may be important to re-pot the bulbs annually in order to rid the medium of the excess dead root matter which will otherwise rest under the bulb, possibly causing fungal and rotting issues. One piece of information I haven't seen yet is what zones these are hardy in... I believe them to be hardy to zone 8, with protection. Hippeastrums are considered tender amaryllids.

Key Limes would be one of the quickest to bear fruits from seeds. There are others trifoliate types which can also bear much fruits even earlier than key limes but they are used as rootstocks or ornamentals but not for palatable fruit use. Fortunella hybrids that include hybrids of kumquats such as Calamondins, limequats, lemonquats, mandarinquats, sunquats would often come true to type from seeds and they also bear fruit early. Perhaps the longest to bear fruit from seeds are the pummelos and their hybrids like the grapefruits. The oranges come intermediate when it comes to bearing fruits from seeds. Grafted or not, but very often, the first few fruits from your citrus tree would be lousy tasting and of poor quality. It usually improves with tree age, with the quality starting to peak and stabilize after about three to four seasons from first fruiting. So don't chop off your tree when the first fruits do not compare with the ones you buy from the stores. The vigorous sour orange most probably came from rootstocks used way back in 1872. Here's short history: Before 1880's, most of California Citrus groves were composed of seedling trees. Most popular are lemons and oranges planted in the missions and haciendas of Southern California. Around 1872, the almost seedless Washington navels became so popular that there were not enough seeds to plant more navel trees, and so rootstocks became a necessity. First rootstock used was sweet orange (C. sinensis) and used until the 1940's. The next more popular rootstock starting around 1890's was the sour orange (C. aurantium) which tolerated phyhtopthora gummoosis and produced high-quality fruit. Then the rough lemon (C. jambhiri) was introduced around 1900's as rootstock for lemons and grapefruits where it achieved high yields even in sandy desert areas, but alas, due to poor fruit quality and susceptibility to cold limited its use. Then Cleopatra mandarin (C. reticulata) was used when trying to find tristeza-tolerant rootstocks. Its value was discovered in saline soils. It produced excellent quality grapefruits, but alas, it is susceptible to foot rot and also lost its popularity. All the above rootstocks were popularly used in commercial citrus industry of California until the 1940's. Around the 1940's a big event happened in California. Tristeza virus was discovered to be causing devastation of most citrus groves on sour orange rootstocks. This has lead to various works on rootstock development and changed the rootstock usage in California todate. Thus it ended the use of sour oranges and the hybrids of Sweet x Trifoliate oranges (Troyer and Carrizo) were introduced. Lately, there is a resurgence Citrus Tristeza Virus in Southern California which could mean that citruses on sour orange rootstocks and the sour oranges themselves would face another bout of devastation. As to the ultimate multi-grafted citrus, I currently have a 61-n-1 citrus tree. Tomorrow, I'm grafting 4 more cultivars unto it. Here's the tree when it was still 50-n-1: Fruits from 50-n-1 citrus tree And here's the best technique to add a cultivar when your tree is already mature. Budding is good for younger trees, but bark grafting have better success rates when multi-grafting to a mature tree. Citrus Bark Grafting Demo Here is a link that might be useful: Citrus Rootstock History

Just like no 2 snowflakes look a like no 2 potting jobs are identical no matter how hard we try . Sometimes the soil settles differently at the bottom of the pot . Sometimes we add more soil and compact it down more than another. Sometimes the holes get blocked at the bottom .Sometimes just the way we place the roots can make a difference. There are many different reasons why one plant might do better than another. If it was mine I would be very curious to see what was going on below the soil line. It sounds to me you have nothing to loose if you feel your going to loose your tree. Brian

The word tangerine came about when early shipments of mandarins into the USA were first being sent from Tangiers. Because they came from Tangiers people began calling them tangerines. The name "tangerine" has no validity what so ever, nor is it recognized nor listed in the taxonomic register of citrus names. - Sillica