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Citrus Trees Arrive and so does Hail
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Greetings!
A hail storm is always fun and exciting, but can be devastating to a farmer or anyone growing plants outdoors. That was the most hail I've seen since I was a kid. My backyard was still white the following morning! It always takes a days or two for the damage to become evident. The leaves on some plants show white spots, some show purple spots, others look like they've been sliced and diced. Fortunately, it is early spring and new leaves will cover up the damage. It was also fortunate that most of our tender young plants were in our truck, protected from damage.
We received our shipment of Citrus trees. For the last several years our only source of Citrus have been wholesale growers that grow for commercial orchards. The trees they produce are not necessarily as pretty as specimens sold at garden centers and other retail outlets, but they do perform.
In past years I have ordered balled & burlapped (field-grown) trees. This is the traditional and original way that orchards were planted. The trees are grown at the nursery in the ground. When they reach a decent size, they are dug up, wrapped in burlap, and transported to the farmer's property and dropped back into the ground. Since real soil is heavy, each tree weighs about 30-40 pounds. Not only is this weight very taxing on my truck and my back, ball & burlapped trees are not meant to be constantly handled. We had to change our strategy for this year since we are currently a traveling store.
Just a few years ago our wholesale grower starting selling container-grown trees to orchards. These are different from the trees sold at typical retail outlets. The #5 containers that garden centers commonly sell are 10" wide and 12" high. The treepots that our supplier uses are 4-5" wide and 9-14" high. The trees in these pots are about 3' tall and ready for planting in the orchard. These slender pots offer great drainage and insures that after installation all the roots are within a inch or two of the native soil. This enables the tree to become established within a few weeks following installation. The trees are grown in a mix of peat moss and perlite, a soil mix I can recommend. This is far superior to the wood or bark compost that virtually every retail Citrus tree is grown in. In decent soil, these trees will grow 2-3' the first year and the orchard will be in full production within 4 years.
Unfortunately, not all the varieties of Citrus are currently available in treepots. I also received over 100, just grafted trees 12-24" tall that are still too young to plant in the garden. I will be growing and training them for at least 2 months before they are sold. Of course they will be in our perfect container soil (Laguna Hills Nursery TROPICAL POTTING SOIL) and will perform better than anything you can buy elsewhere.
I did order Citrus trees from another orchard supplier to try to fill the gaps. Unfortunately, the county where the grower is located just became a quarantine zone for Asian Citrus Psyllid (Orange County in 2008) and they are now not allowed to sell Citrus trees to another nursery.
CITRUS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK ($25 each)
Lisbon lemon, Bearss lime, Keiffer lime, Gold Nugget mandarin, Satsuma mandarin, Minneola tangelo CITRUS AVAILABLE THIS SUMMER Oro Blanco grapefruit, Rio Red grapefruit, Star Ruby grapefruit, Meiwa kumquat, Nagami kumquat, Meyer lemon, Variegated Pink Eureka lemon, Thornless Mexican lime, Seedless Kishu mandarin, Cara Cara navel orange, Washington navel orange, Valencia orange, Chandler pummelo, and Yuzu. |
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Veggie Availability
TOMATOES Better Boy, Big Beef, Black Cherry, Brandywine Red, Early Girl, Green Zebra, Marianna's Peace, Momotaro, Yellow Pear and many more.
PEPPERS a good assortment
EGGPLANT Japanese long
SQUASH Zucchini
CUCUMBER Japanese
HERBS Lots of Basil. Night temperatures are now warm enough to grow outdoors. Remember that Basil, as an herb, is only useful for a few months and you should acquire new plants every month or two to ensure a steady supply. You might also try the perennial African Blue basil, a long-lived sturdy hybrid that doesn't die after blooming. Its leaves have a basil/clove flavor.
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Notable Ornamentals
 We are pleased to have quart-sized specimens of this relatively new Cuphea hybrid from Germany called Vienco Burgundy. The flower size, color and garden impact is superior to other Cupheas to date. Vienco Burgundy will grow about 18" high and wide and bloom from now until frost. It should be situated in sun with ample water but is otherwise a no-maintenance bloomer.  Another no-maintennance bloomer available in quarts is Angelonia Angel Face Blue. This tender perennial grows about 20" tall and will bloom from now until frost with upright spikes of purple blue flowers. It is a snapdragon relative. Salvia Mystic Spires is now available in quarts as well as 2-gallon. Check out our blooming Hymenosporum flavum, SWEETSHADE trees. The hummmingbirds love the fragrant flowers. Also in bloom is the highly unusual Strelitzia juncea, the BLADELESS BIRD-OF-PARADISE. Last week we brought in some new succulents (Gasteria, Lithops, Haworthia and more) and a new shipment of pots. This week we have some new indoor plants including Easter cactus, Caladiums, Reiger begonias, Venus Flytraps and much more. |
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PALOMA BLUEBERRY
We've just received a few more Paloma blueberry plants from Michigan. Paloma was recently developed in Florida and is the only cultivar we can grow that is fully self-fertile. Normally, Paloma is the earliest to ripen, but these plants grown in Michigan are just now breaking dormancy. These are nice 1-gallon plants about 2' tall. ($18)
GARDEN MAINTENANCE
The third week of April is the start of our local powdery mildew season. Keep an eye on your roses. Roses can get mildew about 10 days before European grapes can catch it. We have some organic Neem seed oil RTU (ready-to-use) on hand.
It is also time for Flower Thrips on rose blossoms. When your rose flowers open with brown-edged, distorted outer petals think Thrips. Adult Thrips lays many eggs on flower buds (especially the light colored roses) just as the color is visible. By the time the bloom is open the baby Thrips have severely damaged the outer petals. The best cure is to apply an organic product containing Spinosad (Captain Jack's Dead Bug Brew) to the buds just as they show color. If applied to all buds every 3-4 days you'll have the Thrips eliminated in 2-3 weeks. It is also a good idea to cut off and dispose of all visibly damaged flowers.
It is also a good time to apply Spinosad to Peach and Nectarine trees. This will stop the damage that the Oriental Fruit Moth does to the nearly ripe fruit. There are 5 generations of this insect every year and it is better to control it before the fruit starts to ripen. For Olive fruit growers, Spinosad is also being used to treat the Olive fruit fly. We have Spinosad in RTU(24oz. $10) and concentrate (32oz. $30). The concentrate can make 16 gallons of spray. Spinosad is a bacterial product that is brewed and distilled. The bacteria was found in an abandoned rum distillery in the Caribbean.
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Come see us at our farmer's market locations:
EVERY FRIDAY 1pm-6pm
Santa Margarita Farmer's Market
Santa Margarita parkway at Avenida de las Flores
(Lowe's parking lot in front of Big Lots)
EVERY SUNDAY 10am-2pm
The Great Park Farmer's Market
The Great Balloon parking lot on Marine Way at Sand Canyon and the 5 freeway
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