Citrus Tree #3 -- Kishu Mandarin

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Tree #3 came home with me on July 30, but I only just got it re-potted yesterday. It was hard to choose a tree--they had quite a few--but one of the nurserymen helped me. I was tempted by some of the others that were fruiting, but I took this one, which has no fruit, because he explained that it had much better structure than the others. I think it's a really nice looking tree and hope I made a good decision. There are a few tiny flowers on it now, but I assume I won't be seeing any fruit for more than a year--sigh! Tree is as tall as I am--5'3".

Getting it bare-rooted was quite a bit of work. I was able to get most of it clean; I did quite a bit of root trimming and I sure hope it won't sulk too much. It seemed to be planted in a mix of mostly sand with peat--very heavy! But the roots looked very healthy and no signs of rot. I've been very careful with my watering.

Note to PersimmonBob: I took your advice and bought a #7 squat pot for this one instead of the regular shape.

Question: I forget--is it OK for me to begin feeding (Foliage Pro) and giving vinegar right away after re-potting, or should I wait?

Here's a pic just after potting up into 5-1-1:

And here are my three trees--citrus line-up! Left to right, Meyer lemon, calamansi, Kishu:

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Comments (4)

brettay
7 years ago
Looks great! You might want to keep it in a relatively shady area for a week or two after doing a bare-root potting. Many people say you should hold off on fertilizing after planting or re-potting however I personally don't think that is necessary. Perhaps do half dose for a week or two. Good luck!

-Brett
shebabee thanked brettay
Laura LaRosa (7b)
7 years ago
Beautiful trees! I agree with Brettay. Definitely be careful with the sun, but as far as feeding, I figure mine already have slow release fertilizer in the mix, so adding a little FP and vinegar does not hurt. Giving a half dose is a great idea. I have done that for all my trees and they have started growing usually within the week.
shebabee thanked Laura LaRosa (7b)
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Can you take some pics and post them for us to see? Can you differentiate between the Kishu foliage and any suckers (and thus fruit) that grew from below the graft point on the trunk? Chances are it would be one of the two scenarios: root-stock fruit or mislabeled tree (unlikely if purchased from a reputable nursery). A friend of mine, whom I usually consider fairly intelligent, insisted his orange tree had grown "weird hybrid sour fruit" because it was planted next to a lemon and was cross-pollinated and had shared roots. Upon investigation, it was very clear that several branches grew from below the graft and was producing Trifoliate (family) foliage and fruit.
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shebabee
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks, Brett and Laura. I opted to begin feeding lightly, and adding vinegar. There's no sun to speak of (temps here have been @51-63F, heavy cloud cover, our typical cold summer weather in S.F., and my tiny space is very sun-challenged anyway, even when we have sun in my neighborhood); and as the wind has been much gentler than usual, I opted just to leave Kishu with its sibling citrus. So far, no signs of shock or dismay, no leaf drop, etc. Maybe too soon for that--but I'm a bit surprised. I really went at that root ball, hacked away an awful lot of it, and I wasn't all that gentle, either. Will update in another week or two as to any progress or decline. Hoping for the best!
Laura LaRosa (7b)
7 years ago
I hope your new addition thrives in the new container and mix!

Citrus Tree #3 -- Kishu Mandarin

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brettay

Laura LaRosa (7b)

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Citrus Tree #3 -- Kishu Mandarin

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