Denise is on her way to Raleigh, NC about now but stupidlazydog - your 2nd & 3rd pics look like what she had for all of the branches on her tree. Am wondering about the amount of sun effect on the branches too (depending on where they were originally positioned and growing at the nursery). I have seen variegated plants respond in all sorts of ways in sun. I have a variegated hibiscus that seems to go almost all-white in more sun. When I overwinter inside in much less light, it darkens (although maintains some variegation). Then of course you get that leaf to leaf variation too and the "sport" effect.

Variegation is so interesting. In some plants temperature can be a factor, too. I have a variegated African violet that has more white on the leaves in cool weather, and new leaves are less variegated, more green, in warm weather.

Here she is pruned and potted. Had a really massive dense root system :-)

That's a honkin' rootstock there! Will be interesting to see if it tries to send out some new shoots after that pruning before you have to bring it in for overwintering.

Stupidlazydog, look at that! You are into citrus now. I love it!! Nice pot too. As Jenny said, I'm curious too as to whether it sends out lots of new growth. Nice looking color.

The roots wouldn't fit in the pot I was intending to use, so I ran on down to Ocean State Job Lot. They didn't have many pots left, but did have this one :-)

Looking good stupidlazydog, Think about repotting when the time comes. That pot shape will make it very difficult to take the plant out without a major surgery on the roots.

stupidlazydog, that's an awesome looking plant! I just got back last night. I went to check out the local farmer's market in Raleigh. There were some vendors selling plants and found a couple of citrus trees, but they both were Meyers. I don't understand why everybody sells them. There are so many other citrus to choose from that customers would like to have. Meyers are so finicky when they are brought inside for the winter.

Welcome back Denise! Hope that things went well for your daughter. I think other than the taste of the fruit, I expect meyers "sell" for foliage too, much like places that keep selling those ficus benjaminas, which are just as crazy with the leaf drop if you change any of their conditions!

Tropicofcancer, I know the pot shape will make it hard to remove the plant, but the pot was cheap, so if I have to I can smash it :-)

jenny, I have a F. benjamina that I've had for about 35 years, Every year it goes outside for the summer (quite a production, since it's about 10' tall) and comes back in in September. It does like to drop leaves when it comes back in, although not too bad if I remember to get it in before temps cool down too much :-)

stupidlazydog - When I was living at home, we had one for many years and mainly kept it by an east-facing corner window in the dining room. It never got moved outside. But a few times, my mom tried moving it to the living room to give it more space (it was starting to hit the 7ft drop-down ceiling in that spot) and ack!

Ha, yeah, I've had to wack that baby back many times :-) It does get a bit messy when it drops leaves, but now it's an old friend!

HA! My mother was always a good pruner outside (we had all sorts of shrubs out there) but I don't recall if she ever pruned the indoor plants that much like the ficus.

jenny, other than the fruit, a Meyer lemon tree looks like any other citrus tree imo. lol. The time spent with my daughter moving was fine. It was the last 1 1/2 hours of the trip home that was horrible. Imagine driving at night on a curvy 2-lane country road during a lightning storm. The rain got so bad at times that I couldn't see the road. I thought for sure I was going to go over the edge or be hit from behind. I have never had a driving experience such as that. Roadwork on I-20 and I-95 made a simple 7 hour drive into 9 hour one.

Denise - I am glad you made it back in one piece! It's always bad to have to drive in pouring rain on those smaller roads (that are usually poorly lit) at night! And agree about the construction. It seems everywhere around here there is road work going on and you can only hope that you don't get a nail in your tires from some metal plate over a patch of road being worked on (been there done that).

stupidlazydog, could you please tell me what the tag says regarding the rootstock on your tree. Does it have on the bottom row towards the left SWL? Do you still have the shipping box too? I was wondering if the tree was drop shipped from Harris? Kelley wanted to know that as well.

Oh, speaking of nails. The parking garage which is part of my daughter's apartment complex had nails here and there. I picked up what I found (2 and some miscellaneous stuff) around my car and gave it to the manager of the complex myself. I told him if my car or daughter's car got a flat, he would be getting a repair bill. There is no excuse for poor college students having to deal with that expense. The ceilings were so low in the garage I cannot imagine a tow truck going all the way up to the 5th level to get a car.

You tell 'em Denise! And I hear you about those low ceilings in the parking garages. I have a SUV and get nervous about driving through some of those garages and it's crazy trying to park in them when they have a million columns between the parking spaces. My previous car had a regular radio antenna on the hood yet it sometimes scraped the ceilings of those low ceiling garages. The antenna on the roof of my current car is at least tilted back at an angle but I keep hoping it doesn't scrape a ceiling.

Thanks for the support. I thought I would be flamed for saying something. It's such an inconvenience to get a flat tire fixed.

Denise here's a pic of the tag

So I gather the rootstock is swingle?

I broke down the box, so don't have it anymore. It was tall with heavy cardboard braces reinforcing the corners.

You have the exact same tag as I do. Yes it Swingle. I just wanted to see if the Root98 Warehouse actually shipped the trees or Harris. Thank you for posting a pic. I am curious what the other information on the tag means.

I contacted Root98 about their inventory and they said their trees don't have the white markings on their trees. Your getting all the shades is great. You should change your screen name to Luckydog. lol.

Halyna, I took your advice and sent an email to Ruth yesterday asking either for a refund or allow me to wait for a new one from the next batch of variegated minneolas that they should have ready soon. So far no response by 4:30 pm.

Denise, any news? Did you get an email from Ruth? I have a similar experience with the different nursery. They replied to my first email and asked for pictures of the plant to see what's going on. I send them the pictures and no responce.

Halyna, Ruth was sent pictures immediately after receiving of the damaged tree. She said I would get a replacement tree, but then I had to have it held as I was going out of town the following week. I contacted my VISA department yesterday to learn about my options if I had to go down that route. I don't want to, but I didn't get what I ordered. I Googled variegated minneola and every photo I found had the white markings. I didn't get that and Harris Citrus Nursery is the supplier and drop ships for Root98 Warehouse. The picture on Root98 Warehouse shows a 3-tone tree. What's odd is that stupidlazydog got a 3-gallon tree with white markings from Root98 Warehouse so why can't I? It's from Harris Citrus Nursery to begin with. I sent Ruth another copy of the identical email that was sent just in case she didn't get it.

I got the email from the nursery I mentioned above and the replacement is on a way. Denise, did you hear from Harri's?

Halyna, sadly I have not received any communications from Harris Citrus Nursery after sending two emails. They were sent on Monday and Tuesday. I sent the 2nd just in case the first one was not received. I would like to send a third one, but I have adopted a wait and see attitude. My account says "in processing." So sooner or later, the nursery will have to do something to clear it up. I really want the white marked minneola. If the nursery cannot fulfill the order within a reasonable amount of time, then a refund should be given. I made it quite clear in my email that I want a variegated minneola with the white markings. I don't mind waiting for new inventory. I just would like to know what the status is one way or the other.

Edit: Later on this morning after this post, my account has been changed to "delivered." Not sure what that means at this point. Maybe a credit?

A tree will be forthcoming as Ruth responded to my inquiry about the change in status. Now I am nervous and praying for the right type to be delivered. If it's totally green again, I am not going to be a happy camper.

Fingers crossed, Denise.

I'll take it. THANK YOU! lol. I just want to get this over with and move on. My husband asked me this afternoon where I was going to put them all for the winter as well as my fig trees. lol. I have 2 trees waiting to be repotted and have been waiting for this replacement tree. OM gosh, where are they all going to go? lol. I have 3 months to figure it out.

LOL. You should see my collection of tropical and citrus trees. Will be packed house again. ))) I just hope the winter will be wormer this year. I have two greenhouses. One is smaller 6' by 8' but that helps a lot.

Denise, good luck, hope you get a good one. fingers and toes crossed for you :-)

Thank you. I will be crying if I don't. lol. That means I will have to take a chance with Root98 Warehouse and take a chance that it may happen again. lol.

stupidlazydog, my replacement tree came in but I am not happy with it. My tree is green on green on half of the tree and the other half has the 3 tones with the white markings. When I received both trees, the pots were not secured to the shipping box. The first tree had 1 screw attempting to hold the pot and the 2nd had none. I just lifted the pot out of the box after cutting the cardboard the length of the tree. I was not taking any chances the 2nd time around. Both trees had 4 screws going through the pot, but not through the cardboard. What a joke this whole situation has become which is why I have not posted. The 2nd tree had the main leader broken as well. I am so disgusted with Harris Citrus Nursery that I doubt I will ever order another tree from them.

Denise, I'm so sorry you got another messed up tree. It's just unbelievable. Could you try to post the picture of the tree here. Maybe we can figure out how to fix it, so you will have what you wanted. It will take some time, of course, but in the end you'll be happier with it.

Denise, I am so sorry you've had such bad luck with them. At least the 2nd one does have some of the white markings. Maybe with pruning, and some time, it will become closer to what you want?

At this point, I am done. My tree is almost like stupidlazydog's. I am going to let things go for now and see how both trees grow. I am tired of fighting for something I paid for and didn't get. What can you do except accept what you have been given? I cannot return them. I told and showed Ruth exactly what I wanted by enclosing a picture of a tree from a previous customer. To not receive what I asked for just shows how the customer service is. No description or explanation what is going on with the current trees available. Whoever heard of a green on green variegated minneola? Maybe the breaking of the first one was a gift because it wasn't what I expected. On the other hand, I should have asked for a picture of the 2nd one.

For the first time, I was actually depressed about growing citrus trees.

Halyna, how good is Just Fruit & Exotic trees? I am interested in ordering a fig tree from them. The variety I want is out of stock, but I know nothing of the nursery other than they have a great selection of trees.

Denise, they are very good. I ordered from them twice. The trees they sent were big and healthy. When I go to Pensacola I always try to swing by the nursery on the way back. Which fig you are looking for?

I am looking for a Black Jack. I am really new to the fig world and know very little about them other than the fruit is really small compared to citrus. Some pics of the Black Jack have impressed me so I am willing to give it a shot.

I checked my green on green variegated minneola this morning and I am seeing some budding of new growth on the branch that broke. I am excited and wondering if I should unwrap everything and see if it healed. I feel like a child wanting to snoop for Christmas presents and know better because it will spoil the surprise.

I checked the replacement tree and it also has some new growth. Growing variegated trees is like eating a box of mixed chocolates because you just don't know what you will end up with. I have a bottom branch that is green on green (see stupidlazydog's photo) which is about 24" long and there is a new growth on it is sprouting close to the trunk. It is about 6" and it's 3 toned: 2 different greens and white. I am just wondering what other surprises are in the future.

I am super curious how the fruit will turn out as I am getting blossoms on one of them.

I thought I would post up an update on the original tree with the broken branch. A lot of new growth is flushing out on the broken branch so I removed all the duct tape. It has healed 80%. The top part of the break (1/4") wasn't healed enough to my liking so I rewrapped it with some green vinyl garden tape. I wrapped it up really tight and gave it some extra support. I am hoping the last little bit will grow together better.

There were some small broken branches on the replacement tree which I had taped up as well. Those have healed to a degree, but not enough to support themselves in an upright position so I retaped those as well.

I marked the calendar to remove the taping at the end of October. We'll see how well they repair themselves. In a way, I can understand how those who graft feel. lol.

How awesome that is. Who would of thought they would turn out that Well. Good for you Thanks for keeping us updated. I’ve been wondering. Can’t wait to see more pics

Mike

Denise.....when you spoke of your broken branch in a different thread I mentioned the Yosemite Gold I'd recently received with a big broken branch as well. I'm still enough of a newbie I didn't realize I could try to repair it. I think it was Bob who encouraged me to do it, and you too. Amazingly the branch looks just fine now with some tape applied about 7-8 weeks ago and has some new growth. Thanks to you and Bob for the direction.

Nancy, if I had not repaired a tree 35 years ago at our first house when I was in my early 20s, I would not have known either. The tree that I learned from was a very young tree in the front yard which either broke from the wind or was just too top heavy. Whatever the cause, it was a major break just below the canopy. My husband came up with the idea to duct tape it to see what would happen. I do remember being amazed that it healed. We knew nothing about trees or gardening back then. lol.

I do wonder though how strong the repair will be over time with the original tree because it was a major break and part of the main structure. I didn't have the heart to cut it off because the tree would have been so ugly.

I have done "repairs" of all sorts of plants including a few small citrus branches (including some growing tips), using parafilm (or before I got the parafilm, i used some teflon tape). Have done it with 'maters too! It can work well assuming you don't keep accidentally knocking the repaired branch. lol

Hi Jenny and Denise- I used what I had and that was the silicone tape used to make pipe fittings fit tight. Oh well it worked.

Nancy - that works. I think the key is to keep the split pieces tight and held together long enough so that the plant can heal the join over. Plants are amazing things!

Denise, how is your tree doing? Mine is putting out new growth, and it's variegated with white... hooray!

The original green on green tree's break is almost completely healed. I have a slight gap at the top of the break so I am keeping it wrapped until I am completely satisfied that it won't break in the future. It is one of the MAIN limbs and it's going to be supporting a lot of weight as the tree matures. It'll probably remain that way until next spring. The broken branch's side has put out new growth which made me unwrap it to check on the healing process. I also have had a few blossoms and a few fruitlets form but I am not counting on them hanging on much longer as I brought it inside. I must say the tree intrigues me because the new growth has light coloring, almost a cream. I am not holding my breath that it stays light. lol.

The replacement tree is doing ok. It hasn't put out any new growth at all.

I am experiencing buyer's remorse as Harris is now offering the variegated minneola in the small size so I am wondering how long it will be until they offer the larger sizes. The one I received is not well shaped.

I hope the new leaves on your original tree stay light :-) My smaller tree looks fine, but hasn't put out any new growth yet.

For splicing broken branches I use chopstick or two as a splint so that it is centered on the break. For very curvy branches I substitute chopstick with thick gauge aluminum wire. Then tape it at three points: middle and the two ends. This mostly eliminates any possibility of breaking again due to wind and other external forces. If needed I may also put a stake next to it and tie the branch to the stake. Keep it for a full growing season at least. Grafting tape deteriorates in one season and also has a 'give'. Without that 'give' the branch will tend to have a unsightly bulge near the top of the tape as the branch thickens but the tape does not allow it to thicken where it is. Opaque tape if left long will also leave a mark on the branch - it will be lighter than the rest of the branch. If it is already woody it will be less apparent.