North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["J. Rosano II" <GIANNI-2@prodigy.net>]

Hi Ginda:

Until Donna "Lady Citrus" can field this question mebbe I can throw you a 
couple
of ditties...
I have a Meyer here right next to Haverhill on the NH-Mass border, I grow all
my citrus in pots. You had normal leaf drop from changing temps and sun 
positions.
Citrus hates to have wet roots, you may want to see if your soil is coolish,
if so, possibly put it over a register or a heating pad to warm the pot.
Citrus also does not like any kind of compacting or fine soils. Fine is OK but
you want to try to aggregatize your medium by adding wood chips (not a lot) or
chunk wood ash to open the soil and let it breathe. Water is OK to really 
give 
it a good soaking all the way down to the pan and let it sit with the water 
for 
a couple of hours and then dump the excess. But it cannot stand to be wet for
any length of duration. If you have a really dry environment indoors maybe
the once a week water is OK, but while your into the later months and the
tree is now primarily indoors I would try to stretch the water to every 2
weeks or until you know when the pot is really, Really dry. The leaves will
curl and droop when it's asking to be watered.
Citrus also hates re-potting and you wanna try to choose a pot that is only
1/3 larger than the root mass, they actually respond well to some bounding.
I would hold back on the weekly feedings as this may be a problem since you 
dropped leaves and may not be able to process the nutrients.
I also would rotate 180 monthly if there is very little sun or the possibility
of new growth developing to compensate for the new direction towards light.
The best way to tell if your fruits are ripe (your not gonna like this one)
is to try one. Although if your still green on the rinds then I would let 
them 
hang longer to ripen fully on the branch.
My Navel, Bergamia, Ichandrin and tangerines were all small this year (cons-
idering they are young) and I suspect the wacky season we had here may have
had a lot to do with it. My meyer did bear, but not largely although the
fruit were larger than limes, were still fairly good.
The fertilizer I use, helps to bring fruit sets and speeds development and
builds plant tissue in this "our short season" here.
I strongly suggest using an endomycorrhizal fungus especially with potting as 
this process nearly always seems to thrive with potted plants/trees and just
about everything else too. The "Myco" takes stress of the tree as it works in
unison with the root ball and helps deliver microscopic nutrients to the
plant allowing it to get to the business of growing and producing. I have 
found
immeasurable benefit from using this in all my potted trees/plants. And once
the myco has become well established, any amendments or fertilizers you use
seem to be readily absorbed.

Hope you found something in all that to help you....

Best wishes,
Gianni

S. NH
Z 5/6

Ginda Fisher wrote:
> 
> Last summer, I tried putting my potted Myers Lemon outside, and it
> quickly dropped all its leaves, and the squirrels "harvested" all the
> immature fruits.  It kind of recovered, but when I brought it indoors
> for the fall, it dropped all its leaves again, and it was weeks before
> any grew back.  So this summer I kept it indoors.  It lives in a spot
> that gets strong morning sun whenever the oaks are bare of leaves.
> 
> Over the summer, it dropped most of the dozens of baby fruits it had
> set, and basically went dormant.  Nothing new grew, nothing old fell
> off, and the lemons slowly got larger.  Now, the oak leaves are falling
> and the lemons (5, ranging from as long as my thumb and nearly as wide,
> to a little shorter and half as wide) are turning yellow.
> 
> 1)  How can I tell when they are ripe?
> 
> 2)  Any advice to compensate for the long period without any direct sun?
> 
> My standard care is to water it once a week, with a little "Shultz"
> generic fertilizer each time.  I also turn the pot 90' clockwise each
> time I water it, to get a symmetric plant.
> 
> Thanks for any help,
> 
> Ginda
> Eastern Mass.
> Zone 6
> 
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