And one last one of my sugar belle I’m reluctant to try one as it seems too green still has anyone picked any sugarbelles off their tree?

Jan that kiyomi looks sooooo delicious Yum . By your description and pic it sounds and looks out of this world. You know Amy and I are going to want one now lol. I would love to know if anyone else on the forum has one . They are big in Japan but not so much here I wonder why . Jan maybe try picking the next Tangelo in a week or two it doesn't look quit there yet but very close . My Tangelos are so perfect right now I would say a 60 40 sweet tart thing and you cannot peel them without making a huge mess . Funny thing about the Minneola they are supposed to have quit a few seeds and mine are seedless and by the look of yours the same . Jan your Sugar Belles are much further ahead of mine my Sugar Belles are just starting to turn color. They are supposed to be much sweeter than the minneola but I do like the hint of tart . Love the pics and description Jan thank you .

Brian

Jan, thank you for your kind words! I really love my greenhouse. Every time I step in it I feel like I have my own piece of summer. When the sun is out, the temperature can reach 30C even in December! I bought my pool cover at a local pool supplier (it’s called club piscine here) and it’s a 14 x 28 feet. I think that I paid around 130$ taxes included. I bought it bigger than my greenhouse so I can make a kind of front entrance shelter with it. Oh it was not easy to install but we made it my husband and I lolll!

Jan, I bought my starfruit in August from a local nursery and the variety is Kari. I didn’t do anything special with it and am very happy to see some flower buds. I hope that I can have a fruit or two this summer and will report back about how they taste. The tree is quite an easy going one and it’s still growing now even though I keep my greenhouse between 45 and 55F. I plan to try one if my okitsu mandarin this week end and will let you know how they taste. I doubt that they will be any good because it’s the first time that it produces something and the tree is still young.

Oh loll Jan! Thank you for asking around for the amoa8. Oh won’t it be wonderful if we can all have one tree this summer? It will always remind me of how connect we are Brian, you and me! Actually, there are a lot of trees in my collection that remind me of you and Brian. I wonder why... oh yes, because you are both verygood enablers lollll

Jan, your kiyomi looks amazing! I must confess that I was looking for one after you told me about how wonderful your tree is (see how I trust you!! loll) but was not able to find any.

Brian, it was not an easy task to put to pool cover on the greenhouse the first time. My husband helped me and we used a ladder. We didn’t fix it well enough the first time so it almost flied away when we had some strong winds!!!! Oh my god Brian! It’s not the first time that I see pictures of your trees and each time it takes my breath away! Oh your shiranui is loaded! I was happy to have 5 fruits on mine this year loll!! Brian, maybe I am a lucky girl but I don’t have any problem yet with my trees except for my starfruit. I always spray my trees with a mux of alcolhol, water and palmolive soap each fall but this year I skip the alcohol and go with palmolive and water. So far so good!

Lol don’t worry brian Amy I got you both covered I’ll send you both cuttings as soon as it’s big enough to clip! ;) Brian I’ll wait a couple more weeks then for the minneola I can’t wait! It’s funny there are someyears that the fruit taste sort of watered down the kiyomi is so juicy I picked another one but I remember the flavour being more intense in the smaller one I cut yesterday I wonder if it’s the watering. Brian I can’t wait to see what the sugarbelle tastes like I am so excited I’ll report back on the Cara Cara too it’ll be my first one even though the tree is the size of one of yours it only gave me two fruits still green a little bigger than golf ball size lol. I think I’ll do a thinning of trees like bob did and give away some that I’m not so crazy about lol how will I do that it seems like an impossible task! Ooh Brian I saw on the weather report that you guys are getting some flurries brrr take care my friend and bundle up don’t let that flu get the best of you!

amy! Your greenhouse looks immaculate lol as I’ve been swamped at work my greenhouse is a mess I haven’t tidy up in there at all! Amy I hear it’s Getting cold where you and Brian are but you’re so lucky you don’t have to spend much on heating! My greenhouse since it’s all glass one of the heater kicks on every night to keep it at around 5 degrees when it’s maybe 3 outside so a few degrees warmer in there I suppose. lol Amy that greenhouse of yours looks like a neat little present it’s so nicely wrapped I was just going to throw it on like a tarp and pray it doesn’t fly away! Lol Amy if they have a phyto sanitary certification I can pay for I can actually ship it to point Roberts near Seattle and pick it up there since I’m so close to the border it’ll take me maybe 20 minutes drive if it’s a possibility I’ll get one for both you and Brian as well along with a boukhobza and send it to you guys from here lol the lengths we’ll go through to get a rare citrus :) I know exactly what you mean Amy whenever I go into that greenhouse to check up on my babies I always think of you and Brian and how you guys are probably doing the same thing miles away and it gives me a warm feeling :) oooooh amy you must tell me how the star fruit is! If it can stand colder temps in the greenhouse I’m definitely getting one lol for some reason this year I have absolutely no self control! Amy please tell us how y9ur shiranui taste When you pick one I’m dying to see :)

Jan your such an amazingly generous friend sooo nice of you to offer we will all work out the payment of the trees and certificate . If you or Amy can't get the Boukhobza I will mail you both bud wood from my tree but my tree is still small so the pieces of bud wood will be small . Jan you should have been here a couple of hours ago we had such a heavy snow squall seriously couldn't see the hand in front of my face and the winds had to have been gusting to 80 kh . Jan that kiyomi looked delicious. Your minneolas will be the same I'm sure soon . Last year or the year before my minneolas had no tart just very sweet and seeds and one year they were watery I guess it all depends on the past summer weather . Jan I would love to see if your Cara Cara has that classic pink interior. I'm so excited to with the Sugar Belle it shouldn't be too long now . Jan you should see the growth coming out on my Tango and Page crazy I had to cut them severely to get them back in the greenhouse this fall . Jan I always wondered how you would heat a glass greenhouse great info Jan . Tonight is so cold I have a 1500 W and a 1000W and 700 W heater going and the temperature in there right now is 46 F . Jan you take care of yourself this week and don't forget your umbrella!!!!! P.s Jan how is your Shirauni doing ?

Amy I had a carambola or star fruit many years ago forgot about that tree. It flowered but didn't fruit don't know why . I had this tree before I had a greenhouse so it didn't do to well poor thing . Amy lol I can just see you and your husband placing the pool cover in the wind oh there must have been some words . You know how I know same thing happened to us I don't think we talked to each other for the rest of the day lol. You got it done so all is good . Are you going to leave it on during the summer ? Amy are your Shiranui fruit almost ready ? My Shiranui's this year are amazing but some branches are breaking from the weight . In the pic of my Shiranui above on the left side of the tree is a broken branch the leaves are all curled the branch is almost dead now . I rested most of the Shiranui fruit against the walls of the greenhouse for support but some branches couldn't be supported because of their location. Amy I sprayed and sprayed my trees the exact same way as you but I also added neem it worked fantastic!!!!!

Goodnight my citrisoholic friends.

Brian

Oh Jan thank you for going to all the trouble for me and Brian! Let us know how much the phyto paper will cost so we can all split it amongst us. Jan, on the tag attached to my starfruit it says that the tree is hardy to 24F. It does very well in my greenhouse and is still growing even though the temperature is around 7C but I am really not convinced that it can survive if the temperature drops to -4C like the tag says. They are supposed to be self fertile but I read somewhere that some varieties need cross pollination. Mine is a Kari so it’s supposed to be self fertile! Oh Jan, are you planning to give some trees away? May I ask you which one you don’t like and why? For me, if I ever find the heart to do it,I will let go one of my meyer (I don’t need 3 trees), my fukushu kumquat (too sour), my centennial kumquat (love the way it looks but not a huge fan of the taste) and my nules clementine (it doesn’t do anything since I bought it!). I ate two fruit from my shiranui last year. I left the first one a day or two on the counter and when I taste it it was like heaven. I can even hear angels singing in my ears! The second one I ate it right away after I picked it and it was ok. Not mind blowing like the first one. This year, I have five or six on my trees and will report back on how they taste.

Brian, you are right it wasn’t fun at all to put the pool cover back loll. I plan to keep it on until march and remove it for spring and summer. Don’t you use a pool cover anymore Brian? Did it make a difference for you? Oh Brian, I was driving when it started to snow. Every thing was fine and then suddenly we can’t see anything in front of us. Quite scary! Hmmm... interesting. Your fruits are in a more advanced stage than mine. Mines are still green. Do you think that’s because my trees are still young?

Thank you Brian that’s so sweet of you I hope I dont mess up on the grafting!! I’ll definitely try my best for the boukhobza for me and Amy lol Brian what fun would it be if I was the only one to get a tree! I wouldn’t be doing my job as an enabler :) I still haven’t heard back from Gary I think I’ll just ask one green world when the shipment comes in the spring if I can add to cart and put in the seattle address! I’ll let you guys know this spring how successful I am. Oooooh Brian how I wished it would snow here I am a sucker for a white Christmas lucky you give my hugs and kisses to sugar :) I’m imaginjng yiu guys by the fire with some cocoa and cookies watching the beautiful snow fall :) the last couple of years we did sort of get snow close to Christmas but this year it’s been just pouring rain the coldest it’ll get this December is 5 degrees looking at the long range forecast but atleast I can switch off all my heating lol it’ll save me a buck or two! I use a 750W heater and rarely will the other 1000W heater kick on out here in the tropics of Canada lol! Brian I just love your page and tango those trees are huge!!! However do you repot them Brian? That’s the one thing I fear of big trees is how I’ll repot them when they get too large I haven’t had the best success cutting roots off it terrifies me lol! Brian please let us know how your sugarbelles turn out in the coming weeks I can’t wait looks like mine is turning very slowly yellow I’ll report back! :) lol Brian my shiranui didn’t drop a leaf this year! I’m so happy It’s very green and lush and pushed out a lot of new growth over the summer but it hasn’t blossomed yet I’ll cross my fingers and that’s the one in your promix with no extra perlite and I love it! Im going to switch most of them to promix this summer I think!

Amy wish me luck! Lol I’m going to email one green world but if they don’t get back to me I’ll just add it to my cart come spring and see about getting that certification! :) imagine having the only Few amoa 8 blood orange in Canada lol and that description of the fruit you linked us too I can’t resist! oooooh I’d love to see the star fruit when it ripens Amy please update us darn lol now I’ve got star fruit on my Wish list of plants yiure really the best enabler lol! oh Amy you and me are sooo alike lol! I was just thinking of getting rid of my kumquats too!! I don’t like the taste truth be told ive just never liked eating fruit with the peel lol also I have two meyers as well and one is just not as productive and same for me the one tree that has not done a thing since two Summers ago is the vaniglia sanguino orange so I have room for three now! oh wait I’m planting my yuzu in ground this summer too so I’ve just opened up four spots whoohoo!!!Just can’t let any of the trees get much bigger lol!!! Ooooooh Amy! I’ll keep that in mind if my shiranui will ever blossom I’ll leave it on the counter over a couple days but I usuallu don’t have that much self control lol! Amy how are your miracle Fruit this year any fruits?

Hello Jan Happy Weekend!!!! I hope that you have the weekend off , 48hrs of relaxing time . Jan I'm wishing for a White Christmas to . Our only hope by the looks of things is a little snow on Chrismas eve and night which would be Awesome. Tonight they are calling for freezing rain then heavy rain tomorrow with maybe a little snow tomorrow night . Jan it's so green there is absolutely no snow it just doesn't feel like Christmas. I would love it if just snowed in December then all melted away in January now that would be a perfect winter . Jan you never know there is a slight chance you might get snow I think that there might be cooler weather headed for tropical Vancouver sometime around Christmas I have all my fingers crossed for you my friend. Saskatchewan and Manitoba has been crazy cold I can't imagine their heating bills . Jan that's great for you 700W that's it I wish So it really doesn't cost you that much . Tonight I'm running one 700 W heater and its 43 F in the Greenhouse but it's mild out . The sun is on my GH around 8.00 am so I shut down all the heaters to the GH at 7.30 am till 1.30 pm , between 7.00am and 11.00am the rates are double . Jan an Amoa8 looks and sounds very interesting not for eating out of hand but for making juice , red juice with a mandarin flavor Yum . I would love to have a Amoa8 so different . Glad to hear your Shiranui is growing nicely you should get some blooms next season . My Shiranui is still fairly small it would have been a lot larger but so many broken branches from large and heavy fruit . My New Zealand lemon has the exact same problem it produces to many limb breaking fruit . Jan never be afraid of root pruning so so easy but you might need help getting the trees out of the pot , your trees will love you for it . I have a few I have to root prune next spring so I will be able to walk you through it . Jan my friend have a nice glass of wine and just relax the night away . Have a fantastic weeken d my friend.

Hello Amy TGIF . Amy those snow squalls were wicked the other night I was thinking of the poor souls driving home from work scary stuff . Lots of water this weekend Amy no snow , wouldn't it be nice to press a button and the greenhouse roof opened up to let the rain on the trees . I'm only saying that because I have to water in there this weekend lol. Amy we would always take the tarp off the GH in the spring we grew veggies in there in the summer . Amy we don't cover up our new greenhouse it's just to big and it would be very difficult to cover up the north side . Our greenhouse does have very thick walls so it does retain heat fairly well . Big cold coming next week Amy it will put your pool cover to the test . It will give you an idea if you will need a third heater during the extreme cold events . Amy did onegreenworld get back to you Jan and I are going out of our heads to know lol.

Have a fantastic weekend my friend.

Brian

Brian!! I just picked one sad yuzu off my tree Yesterday lol so I made a yuzu kosho chilli Since I’m a sucker for spicy foods lol wish you and Amy lived close by I would share :) lol I wish I had the weekend off I’m working every single day up to Christmas sigh everyone’s getting sick so I’m covering for everyone and at the bakery of course it’s our busiest time of year! I often wonder if I’d miss it Brian all this chaos and mess once I retire but I think with cookie and the greenhouse by my side I won’t even notice I’m retired lol I can’t wait! Brian your greenhouse is so thick I’m guessing it’s cutting back a lot on your heating bills lucky you I didn’t know that the rates are different at different times of the day how interesting I wonder if it’s the same in Vancouver! Ooooh Brian if I don’t get a white Christmas and you do please send me pictures lol itll be like I’m there :) lol Brian that’s a high class problem my friend too much fruit! Oh I can’t wait to see your haul this year Brian next week I will pick my sugarbelles and share with you guys what it was like! I’m too excited!!! do You like your New Zealand lemon Brian for me theyre my slowest growing plant and so far I’ve only gotten two fruits. Brian oh please please do a walk through of how you root prune and Repott I think a lot of us would benefit from it learning from a pro like you :) well it’s almost 5:00 pm I’m off to bed if you can believe it I start work at 2:00 in the morning tomorrow I’m exhausted at a certain age my body just can’t shift between all these schedules anymore lol have a great weekend relaxing brian my dear friend :)

Jan

I have only gotten 5 fruits from my NZL in 3 years and 1 in the last 2 years so you are not alone.

It was sour with very little sweetness. Not as bad as a Meyer though.

Steve

Jan, if it wasn’t for Cookie and your greenhouse you have a harder time coping with the masses. As long you are staying healthy you can breeze along at a pretty good clip, no problem!

Steve your tree is beautiful and so large though! mine don’t look even like half the size of yours. Do you plan to keep it still Steve?! mine aren’t as tart though they are on the sweet side I can definitely eat one like an orange without puckering from the sour. it is very slow growing and stingy with the fruit though I wonder if it has something to do with our rootstock.

Lol thanks bob! I think having a hobby does help for sure don’t know if I’d ever retire without :)

HELLO JAN !!!!! Jan lol I wished we all lived close fresh baked treats YUM. Jan OMG poor you working everyday till Christmas and getting up at 2. 00 am ouch. I thought getting up at 4. 30 am to go to work was bad . Jan are you going to spoil cookie this Christmas? We always spoil Sugar actually Santa always spoils Sugar we can't even say the word Santa or he will go crazy. I will take a pic of him unwrapping the presents so cute. Jan I was in the greenhouse all afternoon watering and listening to music it was so beautiful I didn't want to get out. Looking forward to your report on the Sugar Belle I hope that they are yummy for you. I had a Shiranui today and it was a little more tart then the ones I have already had , it was very nice with the hint of tartness. Your Yuzu chili looks amazing, so how hot is it lol? I've been experimenting making Chinese dishes lately actually turning pretty good. Jan I so wish you get your White Christmas all fingersand toes crossed for you. Last night it poured until 7. 30 pm and by 7. 45 pm it was snowing like crazy and here is the result

So beautiful today picture perfect but so cold with crazy wind. Take good care of yourself my friend! !!!!!!! .P. S Retirement is real a good thing but you've been so go go and all those customers you now call friends Jan lol it might be a challenge sure hope not .

Brian

I will continue to hold on to it.

Steve

FYI, if your grow area doesn't get cold enough to give Valentines (or blood oranges) their pigmentation, a month in the fridge after picking does the trick.

Brian!!! Oooooh you just made my day :) that is such a beautiful snowy scene set amongst the Christmas lit bush! Thank you so much for that but it looks so cold make sure you bundle up Brian and careful of those pesky black ice I’ve fallen a few times last year! Lol Brian to tell you the truth I think I’ll bake even after retiring the problem is I’ll have to eat it all as nobody really lives close to me anymore all the relatives and family have packed up it is getting so expensive here buddy that I don’t even know what we’re still doing here then I see the weather everywhere else lol! Actually weve been contemplating downsizing from this 5 bedroom house with just two of us here now and with the extra money we could perhaps get a place somewhere warm in the states and be a couple of snowbirds lol! But then I think About all that airport and travel time and rethink things sigh lol! Oh I know it was brutal my sleep schedule is all a muck now with the getting up at 2:00 there’s just so much to do at work it’s like a beehive in there lol! Oh Brian I would so love to see a picture of sugar haven’t seen him for a good long while on here :) I bet the little rascal gets cuter by the year! Lol they’re so smart aren’t they I find I have to spell lots of things like C-H-I-C-K-E-N lol but then they figure out the meaning of the spelling itself lol we do the same thing Brian lol! We wrap these treats for her under the tree and let her loose on them come Christmas time :) I bet sugar can’t wait for Christmas I got cookie a New bed too this year I bet sugar gets more than one gift too lol ooooh Brian I bet you’re quite the cook!! I always love experimenting with all sorts of international Dishes And the first place I’m going after retirement is Thailand lol the spicier the better I used jalapeños in the yuzu chilli so as long as you can withstand that it should be ok :) I got Laura to try it as well since she had quite the harvest of yuzu so she made more than me I’m sure lucky her! Lol Brian thanks for crossing fingers and toes me too buddy me too! So far still warm and rainy lol will update you on the sugarbelles can’t wait :) off to bed now talk soon my friend :) I await sugars pictures!

Tom thats a very helpful tip! How do you find the valentine pomelo? I can’t wait to get mine big enough to bloom :)

Brian all that talk about being in your greenhouse made me want to go into mine lol so I picked a couple fruits Brian couldn’t stand not to! Finally picked a sugarbelles and another minneola! You’re right brian it’s just perfect now the minneola it’s perfect sweet and tart at the same time and the sugarbelles is more concentrated compared to the minneola I must say more sweet and more tart than the minneola it’s very very good both very juicy and the Perfect time to pick it! :) can’t wait until you pick yours Brian!

You can see the skin is much thinner on the sugarbelles which is on the right and the minneola on the left!

Finally took a picture of my shiranui can’t wait for fruit! The small bush underneath isn’t a citrus it’s a frost tolerant gardenia and the smell is incredible!! This is the first time I haven’t killed a gardenia lol!

Finally my Moro blood orange lol it’s such a tease every year it bLooms and fruits for me as soon as it gets to about a littke smaller than golf ball sized it drops with no warning! how were yours Brian did you finally get a moro did it color up?

Hello Jan !!!!!!! I sooooo love looking at your trees they are all so perfect , your doing such a fantastic job . The Sugar Belle looks so juicy and delicious by your description I know now that I'm going to love them . Jan lol your Moro looks great I'm so jealous of all those blooms . Lol last summer my Moro had one bloom and when trimming my tree to go back in the GH I made a bad cut and cut the branch with that one fruit , I was so mad at myself lol. Jan I thought I saw possibly a wet snowflake for you on Christmas Day I sure hope that it happens to be !!!!! 5 bedroom house lol Jan who does all the cleaning ? It's so expensive in Vancouver now I know why you've been working so hard . Jan when you do sell your house you will be able to do and go anywhere you want !!!!! Jan I heard that Thailand is gorgeous and have the best beaches in the world not to mention the food . Snowbirding sounds great my friend you lucky snowbird but you will have to come back to Canada for your White Christmas ' s lol. Jan lol our puppies do know how to spell they are so smart my friend. Don't forget to take puppy pictures Christmas morning I would love to see cookie opening the gifts lol. Enjoy your evening my friend !!!!!

Brian

Hi Brian!!! I finally got around To coming back to this forum it’s been hectic to say the least worked all through the holidays every single day overtime too I’m getting too old for this! lol Brian you must’ve been so cross with yourself I would be too if I cut my only blood orange! Hah! Brian unfortunately I do most of the cleaning if you can believe it it’s non stop and never ending with guests, all sorts of animals and one rascal of a pup lol Brian hope you and your family especially sugar had a very merry Christmas :) my cookie got a leg warmer that I knit her for the cold winter lol she broke her leg when she was just a wee a little thing so the specialist had to do a surgical steel Plate in her leg so the stainless steel plate in there gets cold on walks the poor thing! So as promised here we are cookies Christmas pictures she also Got a new bed lol can’t wait to see sugars Gifts :)

Excuse the mess! Lol take care dear friend it’s getting cold now! :)

Hello Jan my friend .Happy New Year's to you and your family!!!! Cookie is soooo adorable doesn't look at all like a rascal . I love the booty on Cookie great idea Jan, keeping that leg nice and warm will really help. Thats a incredible amount of over time Jan , with all the extra cash you might think about an extension for your GH you know we can never have enough citrus tree's. I see that your weather has been really ducky with all the rain ours is not much better we've had lot's of ice and snow a real winter wonderland today . I'm cooking a Prime Rib Roast this afternoon planning a little party this evening. Jan I wish you and your family a very special 2020 and hope that you have a nice relaxing day tomorrow.

Sugar has to be one of the best present unwrappers ever!!!

Brian

Brian, can you handle 3 or 4 more to joint the party, Amy and a few others, including a mystery guest. Looking forward. A friend in need, will never forget!

A buddy of yours.

Well Bob since you and Amy seem to be pushing the Valentine thing well I might just have to get one. Bob I really admire you , your
a great friend and man do you know how to grow citrus!!! Wishing you and yours the best New Year ever . Here is a Shasta Gold

A couple of Variegated Minneola which are now getting their orange stripes

Cheers

Brian

Same to you and family, including Sugar. Talking about growing citrus and everything thing else, you is the man! You just don’t know how much you means to this forum.

We are always waiting for your showing cool stuff! Good luck with your party!

Happy 2020 to all of you - Bob, Brian, Jan, Evan, Mike, Jodi, John (all of you), and many others here who I consider friends! May the new year bring all of you health, peace, love, and lots of citrus :).

I also wish evryone a happy new year.

Steve

Same to you Steve and your family.

Happy new year !

Happy New Years Everyone . Thankyou Laura for your New Year wishes to us all sooo beautiful .

Thankyou Bob your so kind . Your a very good friend!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS

Brian

Happy New Years everyone. Thanks for being forum friends and supporting each other! May your new year be ever so bountiful.

Evan

Happy New Year to all the citrus forum friends! Wishing you happiness, good health and bounty of fruit from your trees!

Happy New Year and wish you the best for the new decade!

Brian, your trees are beautifu! The variegated minneola is to dream for!!

Happy new year everybody!! So thankful for the friends I’ve made here :) here’s to many more years of friendships, advice and Successful harvests! :)

brian!! Oh dear that sugar is the sweetest lol! Had we lived close to each other I’m sure sugar and cookie would be fast friends! Brian thank you so much for sharing pictures those are gorgeous!!!! I can’t wait to see you cut into that variegated minneola :) your trees always put a smile on my face Brian hope to see many more Of your harvests in the new year :)

Happy New Year's Jan Yippee!!! Jan I know that Cookie and Sugar would be best pals. Sugar has so many friends on our street he loves to play with other pup's. Actually I'm very jealous of him he has more friends than I. Thanks Jan for your very kind words I'm also looking forward to see more pics of your Greenhouse and trees in 2020 !!!!

Amy my friend hope that you had a great New Years!!!! Soon it will be spring and your new trees will be arriving you must be excited. Working on the Valentine but the better half is having no part of it lol. It's going to take some major convincing that I need another tree. Wish me luck.

Brian

Lol Brian! isn’t it funny how dogs can get so many friends without words it seems like it’s two butt sniffs and they’re the best of friends lol Brian I want to show you all the new growth on the cara Cara I’m so excited about this tree it looks almost as good as one of yours! I’ll try to get a good picture soon when I get home before dark from work. I can’t wait to see all your beautiful trees too:) good luck Brian lol the valentine pomelo is just within reach I’m sure you can squeeze in one more tiny tree! Lol

Brian, lol, don’t worry about that I have some wonderful ideas for you! You can tell your better half that Valentine day is coming and oh there’s nothing more romantic than having a pummelo tree called Valentine (I know.. it’s kind of stretching it but lol it’s worth trying). If this is not working than you can still try to order your plant and pray very hard everyday that your love one is not home when you will receive it lolll! I just check and there’s only 4 left. Did you order yours? Hmmm I wonder if Jan has ordered some.

Jan, I am so happy that you have a couple days off! You are just in time for pre order season! As amatter of fact, I jyst order a few seeds for my vegetable garden. Here is a picture of my miracle fruit and if you still considered to have one I will suggest that you get a big one because they are very slow grower. As you can see, mine is still very small.

I tried my first okitsu and they are just ok... Nothing to write home about and I hope that it will improve a little bit because they were kind of watery

Amy, the first few miho wase mandarins I had were just ok - bland and watery. The last batch ( maybe two years later) were excellent. Give the tree time to grow up. I am sure the fruit will improve.

Wow amy! those are some beautiful trees! Has the miracle tree fruited yet? Lol now you and bob are getting me into other things like persimmons and jaboticaba and mIke with his orchids lol Amy I am seriously contemplating another greenhouse here with all the interest I have I don’t even know how I’ll fit my valentine tree this coming summer lol amy I am having trouble narrowing down all my choices of tomatoes I just got a huge seed catalogue sent to me by baker creek heirloom seeds and I wanted everything! Lol even though I have nowhere but pots to plant them in. Stay tuned I will update on tomatoes and chilli seeds that I planted this year :)

Hi Jan, you won’t believe what I did yesterday. I went through baker creek website and order some seeds lolll. oh we really must be connected because I also like to grow tomatoes and pepper. Did you ever try to grow shishito pepper? Oh they are so so productive and you only need one plant.

Jan for you. My Christmas gift this year lol

Laura, I just saw your comment! Thank you for your advice! I am glad that your miho has improved and I will definetly keep my okitsu for a few more years because fruitmentor’s review about this one was so amazing.

Hello everyone. Jan looking forward to seeing that Cara Cara of yours !!!! Jan lol its fun and very interesting how pups choose there friends lol . Poor you guys in tropical Vancouver it seems like yo guys have been enduring endless days of wind and rain but I guess still much better than us here in the east with all the frozen waste land . So excited for you and Amy I'm looking forward to see your new trees in the spring !!!!!!

Amy nice looking fruit. I have a Satsuma I don't know the variety and during the first 2 years it produced fantastic sweet fruit since then the fruit have been dry or watery go figure . Mighty fine suggestions Amy never thought of the Valentine gift idea lol oh your good . I was in the greenhouse this morning and sadly came to the decision no more trees so very sad nothing to look forward to in the spring:( . I looked around in there this morning and noticed I still have 8 very small trees that are going to grow I don't even know how I will fit them all back in the fall after a summers worth of growth . Maybe one day you or Jan can make me a cutting if the variety turns out to be a good one . Love your new garden machine weve been thinking of getting one please keep me updated on how well it works

Ps I soooo love to hear your and Jan's enthusiasm with citrus it seriously keeps me coming back for more love it love it love it .

Brian

Jan and Amy while watering my trees this afternoon I accidentally knocked off a Boukhobza blood orange. I was kind of upset with myself because the fruit was still mainly green on the outside. Well after watering I came in and cut it open. The color of the fruit was mainly orange there were a few hints of red through the fruit. I have to tell you that it was the best orange that I have ever eaten extremely sweet melting and juicy. It did have overtones of another sweet fruit but it didn't come to mind . You see I only got my hand on one slice as the fruit was divided into 4 eaten by 4 different people. Next one I am going to have to myself to figure out what that overtone was. This tree will be amazing as it gets older.

Terrible pics of a great fruit.

Brian

Don't worry about the camera quality Brian. A pictures only worth a thousand words. Its the fruit quality that counts.

Steve

Brian, don’t you ever worry! If you ever want of anything in my collection you just have to let me know and it’s yours! I bought two valentine pummelos so if you change your mind, I will gladly give one to you!

Oh my god! I am so happy that you like your boukhobza. It was very generous of you to share your first fruit. If it were me, I will probably hide in a closet to have it all by myself lolll!!

Brian, Costco carries a few models of aerogarden and I think some are on sale now. All my trees are in my greenhouse this year and my house feels empty so it’s fun to play with my new aerogarden. I will let you know if it’s worth it or not in a few weeks.

Hmm... I am thinking that we should learn how to root pruned our trees in order to manage them. If not, we will be in bug trouble in a coupke of years loll

Lol amy!! What a coincidence I was just looking at their whole seed catalog! I guess great minds think alike lol what did you get from baker creek Amy? Amy we are Literally twins lol I just planted my Shishito pepper yesterday!! unreal!! Lol it will be my first year and I must say I don’t know what to use it for since it’s not all that spicy how do you prepare it Amy? Amy i loooooove that aerogarden I’ve been thinking about getting one for the house as well but most of the ones I saw can’t use your own seeds you have to keep buying it from them and they don’t have a lot of variety this was years ago though when I looked into them Different company than yours by the looks of it. Let me know how it goes amy id love to see them all grown :)Amy my seed starters! Lol I got a yellow scorpion pepper too and a yellow cherry tomato and a carbon tomato amongst many others!

Brian lol not even the rain can dampen my mood tonight I just completed my last night of work until three weeks from now wooohoo!!! Lol it has been raining nonstop and it was so windy cookie my poor pup almost got swept away during our walk! Brian woooooow that boukhobza looks amazing!!!! I just love seeing your trees and fruits :) imagine what it will taste like next time it ripens completely! Is the Plant just huge now Brian? Lol Brian youre Too kind Sharing it into four I’d have no self control and devoured it whole lol Brian of course what’s mine is yours I also want to send you and Amy the kiyomi cutting! how big do those have to be since I’ve never sent one before you guys will have to talk me Through what size to cut and how to send it! :)

oops Amy it didn’t let me post this photo above! Amy how are your plants loving your greenhouse so far?

Brian I was just watering today after work and as promised this is the new growth on my cars cara I can’t believe it lol how will I fit it in next fall

My gold nugget perhaps I should thin them I bet yours are going gangbusters too!

The left side of my greenhouse lol I can barely squeeze in to water all of them

Hello Amy and Jan you both are soooooo kind thankyou so much. Your offer of sharing budwood is so generous!!!! . My turning down purchasing the Valentine and trust me I would love one darn it is because I'm running out of room. I will need space for my upcoming stars Shiranui, Boukhobza, Variegated Minneola, Nova X Lee, Gold Nuggets X2, Santa Teresa, New Zealand lemonade, Pixie and on and on lol. Lol Amy I still have about 7 Boukhobza fruit hanging on the tree and trust me they will never ever make it inside the house. Amy and Jan this fruit is incredible very sweet and flavorful no need for other trees if you have this one. Not only is the fruit incredible Boukhobza trees are prolific my tree doesn't even come up to my knee and it had 8 fruit hanging on it. Amy thankyou for the info on the aerogarden I will check out Costco's website this morning. Again I want to thank you and Jan for your very kind offer your very good friends!!!!!

WOW WOW WOW Jan your trees are beautiful!!!! I can't believe how well your Cara Cara and Gold Nugget are growing in the middle of winter just incredible. The blooms and growth on your Cara Cara WOW sure looks like a bumper crop this year. Jan your Gold Nugget has soooooo many fruit please let us know how they taste when they are ready. My Gold Nugget trees are a fair size now but with no fruit. My Gold Nugget trees for some reason bloom in the fall and then abort the fruit during the dark days of winter . I'm hoping they will both bloom this spring. Jan I was looking at Vancouver's long range forcast it looks like your heading into a very long stretch of winter weather with the possibility of lots of snow , that would be very strange for you tropical guy's out there. Cold and snowy here this morning with maybe a big storm this weekend the usual lol. Jan Yippee 3 weeks off now you so deserve the time off I'm so happy for you!!!!! Lot's and lot's of time in the GH? I can just picture you with Cookie on a walk lol and Cookie flying around in the air like a kite lol poor Cookie. Enjoy your time off today your going to love it.

Brian

Jan, your trees are incredibly healthy!! Well done sister! Oh your greenhouse is so beautiful and I am sure it’s qualified to be featured in a magazine. It looks so warm and inviting. No wonder you want to stay there all day!!! Jan, loll, I am seriously thinking of doing a blood test with you to see if we are related for real!!! We have so many things in commun and we also started our shishito peppers at the same time!! Lol! Last summer, my plant was so productive that I have to put them everywhere:

• In my tacos
• Stir fry with salt and pepper
• In my crispy noodle, etc, etc

Each year, I usually try a new variety of very hot peppers (ghost, scorpion and habanero) for the fun of it but lack the strength to try them so they just sit in my freezer for now loll.

Jan, you can buy empty pods and use your own seeds so you can grow whatever you want in your aerogarden. Amazon carries those empty pods and they are 22$ for 50. You can also use rockwools instead of those pods which are less expensive. That’s what I am using for my tomatoes seed (the variety is tiny tim. I hope that the plant is tiny enough to fit in my aerogarden loll).

Oh, thank you for telling me about baker creek heirloom seeds! They have a lot of unusual varieties and the shipping is free which is great! Here is what I ordered:

• birdhouse gourd
• Scarlet kale (nutritious kales with anti oxydant which is wonderful!!)
• Purple lady bok choy (because we can’t have too much anti oxydant right?)
• Little gem lettuce to fit in my aerogarden
• Tom Thumb lettuce same reason
• Watercress which will be perfect to grow in my aerogarden too!!

Brian, another solution is to start grafting new varieties on your trees like sunshine’s friendship tree and Bob’s Amy tree! Thia way you don’t have to worry about them taking too much space! Isn’t perfect? Brian, I saw some miracle gro fertilizer on sale at Rona. Do you have a store near where you live?

Here is the link

https://www.rona.ca/en/all-purpose-plant-fertilizer-342-kg

4.40$ for 3.42kg. Not a bad deal right?