Very nice pictures. it is nice to see someone else's yard is waking Up. I hope your orange turns out to be a Trovita. Is it from seed (8 years)? I have access to citrus on Macrophilia if I order from Ediblelandscaping.com. I now have my quota on citrus trees filled.

My basement kept Cuban Shaddock is putting out wave after wave of flower buds. some are just beginning to bloom and others will take at least 2 to 3 more months to mature.

The snow missed us by 50 miles to the south. They got 18 inches and cars were stuck on I75 to sleep over night. I miss the growing season but then again I don't like the sun and heat of the south west.

Steve

Hey Steve, my orange tree is grafted, not from seed. Grafted trees are easy to get here and they're high quality so no need to seed grow. It came with the house so I'm not sure what variety it is. I'm leaning towards a Valencia because this poor tree has struggled over the years and valencias do not do that well in my desert climate. My trovita that I planted last year in my yard is a prolific grower, another clue that this other tree is a Valencia. However, once any citrus tree in my yard starts to produce fruit they seem to set heavier crops with each season so I'm hoping this orange will start producing more fruit. I saw the story about the stranded motorists on I-75 this morning, makes me appreciate my sunny 70 degree weather that much more. If you need more citrus id suggest getting them on macrophylla it is a great rootstock.

Evan

Beautiful trees. I have 2 variagated Eureka trees and my new leaves don't look anything like yours :( my flower buds are pink though.

Hi Evan, your tress are looking good. So nice to see trees starting to wake up for spring. We have 23 inches of snow so far today in northern NJ and a couple more hours to go. My trees in the greenhouse were blooming a lot about a month ago but they seem to be sleeping now and dropping just a few leaves. I'm fighting the scale as usual. I may have it under control, but it will be back I am sure. Thanks for showing us your puctures.

Cory

Cory, I used to live in Ramsey, NJ. (my brother is still in Tinton Falls) While I'm glad we don't have 2 feet of snow to shovel we do have 1 - 2 inches of solid ice in Raleigh. I can't wait for spring so I can get my trees and Hoyas outside! Stay safe and warm out there!

Awesome! They look great. Most of mine are still on my patio under it's roof keeping out of any last frosts. I'm loving all the rain we're getting this year up in Norcal! Is Socal getting the same?

Love the purple color of new citrus growth!

Hi Monica, I am in Nutley and my cousin is in Tinton Falls. His daughter got married in Cape May yesterday and they had to move the wedding to another location because the first place flooded. Everything went well though and most guests made it to the wedding despite the storm. I too can't wait for the spring so all my plants and trees can go back outside. Careful of that ice! It is very slippery here too. Only the plows seemed to be able to navigate safely as any cars and lighter trucks that dared to be out in my neighborhood were slip sliding all over the road. Here is a picture of my Shiranui/Dekopon/ Sumo and the greenhouse last night.

Cory

Monica, thanks! Your Var. eureka will probably color up once you get them outside in full sun in spring.

Cory, thanks, that's why I post these types of threads, so people can somewhat enjoy my warm climate from afar. I was watching the news and they said potentially 30" of snow total over the weekend. That is a lot of snow!!! I'd go dormant if I lived there, haha! The leaves are probably dropping because we've passed the shortest day of the year and the sun getting higher in the sky. Once that happens my trees shed some of their older leaves in prep for warmer sunny days and making leaves better suited to more sun. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Sorry about the scale, just keep up with the neem and spinosad to try and keep them at bay until you can move them back outside.

Barb, thank you. We did get a couple of days of good solid rain 2 weeks ago. Most of Socal has been getting rain just like NorCal. The difference being, where I live is surrounded by mountains and once the storms make it past the mountains they break up and we get no rain. So while 40-50 miles west of my area gets slammed by torrential down pours we are sunny and warm. It has its trade offs, mostly sunny all of the time, warm winters, fantastic citrus growing weather and some of the most beautiful sunrises, sunsets and monsoonal thunderstorms/ lightning storms in August and September.

Evan

Your stuff looks great as always Evan; nice job on the additional Tango. I thought you said Macrophylla made your Oro Blanco fruit dry though? Also do you have anything else on Volkamer Lemon? I know your Lime on it died and was replaced. My Meyer Lemon on Carrizo is quick to show leaf issues if I don't pH the water, the White Grapefruit on Volkamer is much more forgiving and seems to grow fine in higher pH conditions. Perhaps Macrophylla deals with higher pH better than Carrizo too? Also what do you do for the leaf miners? All mine are potted.

We've had an interesting season; recently is has been very cold which is normal for this time of year, but also we have had ridiculous amounts of rain which is very unseasonal. We had 2.98" on Friday and 2.6" the previous week's Friday, with more rain inbetween, and forecasted for two more days of rain starting Wednesday. Most mangoes and avocadoes haven't bloomed since they need dormancy from the dry season to flower, hopefully the cold moves them along.

Our forecast:

Meyer Lemon loaded with buds; literally has not put out a leaf from last summer till now because it's been fruiting and flowering so much, finally putting out some leafs:

White Grapefruit flowering for the first time since I bought it last summer; very excited about this one although I'll only let it hold one at most. Not sure of variety but hoping for Marsh:

It's a good day for me too. You in ground citrusers will laugh but here is my triumph- my 3rd ever home grown bearss lime. The first ever perfectly ripe one, the last 2 I picked too early- learning curve.

It's amazing how much more lively the zest is on fresh citrus- makes the store bought seem so sad and stale.

Hobby, nice looking lime, especially so far north! Great growing!

Cory

Cory, your greenhouse looks like a GEM or Diamond in that dark there. YOur trees look so amazing..You have it right. I would never know you had scale. Just a great job despite every thing thrown against you and I mean so much. My family sends our love and prayers. I will write you back soon since I have been sick again. Arg. I did read it though. Stay safe))0 Hugs!

Evan, WOWOWOWOW! That red color is to de for and so is your weather. It will take weeks before we get what you got and I am down right depressed over that. Such a good job with your trees and I always appreciate the time you spend here)

Hobby, NICE!

Bahama..You are so luck with that kind of forcast!! Arg Beautiful buds and all.

@bahamadan, thanks. As for my Oro blanco on Macrophylla I was told when I planted it that the rootstock would only give me dry fruits. The 3 I harvested this season were definitely dry and no good but I chocked that up to the trees age and this being its first season bearing fruit. Carrizo seems to really struggle in my high alkali soils and when reading through the citrus variety collection on tangos the Brix rating was only 1%-2% lower on macro than on Carrizo or trifoliate rootstock so I figured, hey why not give it a shot. As for leaf miners I use imadicloprid systemically 3 times per year. It's my only choice in the desert, I've tried spinosad and neem oil but it burns my leaves because when the leaf miners show up here it's already getting to the 100 degree mark. I stop using it a couple months before harvest so as to try and minimize mine and my families exposure to the chemical. I am also going to try pheromone traps this year and see if that helps, they're readily available online. Your trees look like they're doing well too.

@hobbyartisan, I envy those of you up north that can grow citrus in that type of climate. I tried to grow a satsuma in a pot in my climate and failed. It didn't even last one season before it shriveled up from lack of water or too much water or who knows what. I commend you on your lime!

@Cory I forgot to mention how cool I thought your greenhouse looked in the dark! It's like a spaceship nestled amidst a white snow blanket, too cool.

@Mike, how's it going buddy, glad to see you survived the great blizzard of 2016. I hope you see warmer weather soon and get out of that cold weather depression. Thanks for the kind words, I love hanging out in the citrus forum, there hasn't been much activity lately so I've been looking through older posts some 7-8 years old, many of which you wrote or participated in. It's crazy to read back that far and see the progression of yours and everyone's collection through the years.

Well I hope everyone has a good night and I'll talk soon.

Evan

Tom, thanks, that's a great photo of your trees on the balcony in the snow with 50 degree weather.

@Bahamadan, I missed your previous question about the volkameriana rootstock. Yes, I have a eureka lemon on volk that I planted last year and it seems like it's more disease resistant and vigorous than Carrizo in my soil. I just hope I didn't plant the tree too close to my neighbors wall, these trees can get get large on volk. There's a eureka lemon around the corner from me and it's 20'x20' at least. So yes, to answer your question I do believe volk is more tolerant of higher ph soils.

Evan

Tom, I do the very same thing!! I have had not a one issue with bugs because I bring them outside when it hit's 40 or higher..I love to clean the room too while I am at it..Kind of ironic that your trees are surrounded by snow...Love it and they all look so nice..Those temps look very nice..It is suppose to be very mild for hear for the next 15 days..Nothing under 32 for highs..Thank God. The closer we can get to March without snow or arctic air the happier I become)

Evan funny you should say that. I look back at older posts too..Wow how fast time has passed! I still have most of those tree from years back.lol I don't know how I do it, but I can tell you that for some reason, when I stick my trees in a warm sunny window, all the leaves fall off like no tomorrow so I put them back on my cold porch and the leaves stop falling immediately!! Crazy..They are all on my cold porch doing really well...Just crazy. Good to see such beauty around your place buddy.

Cory, been sick again...I was going to write you last night but fell right to sleep after I got home at 830..I will be writing you come my next day off Friday but been thinking of you and we send much love from here)

Hi Mike,

Sadly, I do (did) have a pest problem this winter, despite the frequent plant washes. With my two grow lights on, temps hover around the mid 80's in that room creating perfect conditions for exponential spider mite population growth. I eventually got tired of the war and hit them with abamectin last week. The results seem extremely encouraging, though I'm going to hit everything with neem this weekend just because I can. And because I *really* hate mites. This might be my trees' last weekend outside for some time since the models are all lining up to dump a good 16+" over Omaha early next week (largest snow event in years!).

You'll have to post some updates of your plants soon, because I'm anxious to see how the poor vinegar-doused tree is recovering. Hope you're on the mend too!

-Tom