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Satsuma
Jan 11, 2012 19:34:06 GMT -5
Post by gulfcoastguy on Jan 11, 2012 19:34:06 GMT -5
I finally planted that Owari Satsuma this afternoon. I bought it before Christmas but some medical issues slowed me down. Also going to be some major mater, eggplant, and pepper seed starting tomorrow night. My eggplant seeds came in from Baker's Creek today.
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Satsuma
Jan 12, 2012 1:51:55 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Jan 12, 2012 1:51:55 GMT -5
rock and roll gulf.
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Satsuma
Jan 12, 2012 21:56:23 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2012 21:56:23 GMT -5
Chopping up holly that was used as garland. It needs to go on the compost pile.
I'll crawl around underneath the parent when I'm not feeling quite so punky. Holly airlayers well when alowed to grow out untended...
I'll be suprized if I don't find a couple kids just loafing under there.
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Satsuma
Jan 13, 2012 11:14:13 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Jan 13, 2012 11:14:13 GMT -5
get em coppice................
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Satsuma
Feb 18, 2012 23:20:50 GMT -5
Post by gulfcoastguy on Feb 18, 2012 23:20:50 GMT -5
The tree is till doing fine.
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Satsuma
Feb 24, 2012 21:48:51 GMT -5
Post by gulfcoastguy on Feb 24, 2012 21:48:51 GMT -5
My tree is blooming.
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Satsuma
Feb 25, 2012 10:13:19 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Feb 25, 2012 10:13:19 GMT -5
awesome gulfie!
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Satsuma
Feb 25, 2012 12:47:44 GMT -5
Post by txdirtdog on Feb 25, 2012 12:47:44 GMT -5
Looks like it's happy where it is Gulf!
I noticed the Republic of Texas orange and the Eversweet grapefruit are getting bloom buds to join the Improved Meyer lemon.
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Satsuma
Feb 25, 2012 21:49:12 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Feb 25, 2012 21:49:12 GMT -5
hai! satsumasan! hai dawgsan iz blooming too?
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Satsuma
Mar 11, 2012 0:25:52 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Mar 11, 2012 0:25:52 GMT -5
heloooooooooooooooooooooooo?lol
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Satsuma
Sept 29, 2012 20:43:08 GMT -5
Post by txdirtdawg on Sept 29, 2012 20:43:08 GMT -5
Well, hmph!
Looks like my satsuma harvest is a bust this year. First, more than 1/2 of the fruit dropped off during the summer. I attributed this to drought and the fact that this is the first real crop this tree has thrown.
Today I picked several completely orange fruit, and they ALL had several dark areas in the sections that looked like the fruit was rotting or diseased. Then I picked several fruit that still had some green on them. The sections were disease/rot-free, but the juicy parts were not very sweet like they were not ripe yet. And there was a great deal of the white hardened parts of the sections that I sometimes see in citrus.
My question is: Is this attributable to the lack of rain we've had? There were some squash bugs and leaf-foot bugs in the tree earlier in the summer, but they seemed to be only interested in the squash vines that were growing up into the tree.
My first reaction was to think about pulling up the tree, but it doesn't look diseased and I wonder if I should give it another year to try to produce?
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Satsuma
Oct 2, 2012 14:07:34 GMT -5
Post by catgrass on Oct 2, 2012 14:07:34 GMT -5
My BF's tree has a good crop, though not as many as last year. Last year's crop was enormous, but the fruit was very dry and not very sweet. It is my understanding that if the fruit is dry, it is because it was very dry during the time it was beginning to grow. We haven't picked any yet, though there are some that are ready. Will report later!
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Satsuma
Oct 2, 2012 17:36:46 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Oct 2, 2012 17:36:46 GMT -5
been a weird year....fer sure...hoping all us citrus growers happier tidings next year....
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Satsuma
Oct 2, 2012 18:33:29 GMT -5
Post by LinFL on Oct 2, 2012 18:33:29 GMT -5
Don't get discouraged yet! It sounds like your satsuma problems are very fixable. TLDR Version: Provide regular water in dry spells and a citrus fertilizer that contains boron and other trace elements, and I bet you'll be a happy camper next year. Don't pick too early - satsumas are sweeter after they have been orange for at least a few weeks. More detail: Fruit Drop: Yes, citrus do need water when the fruit is sizing up. If they don't get enough water, they will drop most or all of the fruit and the rest is likely to be small. So your dry summer would account for the small number of fruits. Regular deep watering (once or twice a week depending on your soil conditions) will help ensure a good crop. Brown Inside the Fruits: Did the fruits with the brown interiors have damage to the skin - brown, dry patches? If so, the culprit may be the spined citrus bug. It feeds by poking holes in the fruit and sucking out the juice, which leaves dry brown patches inside. Control it by spraying horticultural oil when the nymphs are small. If the exteriors of the fruit were okay, your tree may have a boron deficiency. Boron deficiencies are also more likely following extended dry spells - and you had a dry summer. Supposedly you can give the tree Borax for a quick fix, but I am having a hard time finding a reliable source for the correct dose. Too much boron is toxic to citrus trees, so if you can't find the correct dose, it's probably safer to wait and begin using a citrus fertilizer containing boron (check the label) around the time of your last frost in the spring. Note: You don't want to fertilize citrus in fall or winter unless you are in a frost-free area. Fall and winter fertilizing promotes tender new growth which is susceptible to cold damage. Dry Interiors: There are three likely causes for white, dry interiors: (1) water stress/insufficient water, (2) trace element deficiency, and (3) the age of the tree. Irrigation in dry spells and regular feedings with a citrus fertilizer containing trace elements will fix the first two causes. Young trees are more likely to produce dry fruit/fruit with dry sections, so your tree should do better in the future. However, many citrus varieties (including satsuma) will always produce a few dry fruit or fruit with dry patches. But in a mature tree most of the fruit will be fine. My mature satsuma produces a small percentage of fruit with dry patches each year, but most of these fruits have juicy sections, too. The juicy portions of these fruits taste perfectly good. The last cause of citrus with dry interiors is over-maturity - fruits left on the tree for months after ripening will eventually either rot or dry out. But that doesn't usually happen until the ripe fruit has been on the tree for a three months or more, so clearly that's not the problem in your case. Fruit Not Sweet: Satsumas get orange before they turn sweet. Also, cooler fall weather brings out what (little) acidity they have - they will still be very mild and sweet, but the flavor will be more balanced and complex after some cool nights. I expect mine to color up any time now, but they won't be good until close to Thanksgiving, and they will be great at Christmas. The other likely causes of not-sweet fruit are growing in a cool summer area (definitely not your problem) and nutrient deficiencies (again, fixed with regular use of a citrus fertilizer). But most likely your fruit just needs more time. Good luck - I expect you'll have lots of tasty oranges next year.
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Satsuma
Oct 2, 2012 22:07:46 GMT -5
Post by txdirtdawg on Oct 2, 2012 22:07:46 GMT -5
Thanks Cat, you hit one of these nails on the head. It did start getting dry around here about the time the fruit set.
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Satsuma
Oct 2, 2012 22:22:39 GMT -5
Post by txdirtdawg on Oct 2, 2012 22:22:39 GMT -5
Laura,
I am in awe of and bowing before your citrus knowledge!
Since the tree is several years old now, I have not been watering much unless we get deadly dry, and then the minimum to insure it does not get into a severe stress situation. I have it planted on a mound to insure it doesn't get soggy feet during our wet times of year. So lack of water at the critical fruit developmental time probably created the dry patches inside the fruit sections, and since this is the first real crop to come to maturity (only 2 fruit last year - none previously) tree age probably played significantly to this issue. Nutrients probably aided the situation, as I have not fertilized the tree as often as I should.
The fruit are not small at all for Satsuma, but the fruit drop probably goes back to the watering issue.
The sweetness, I'll have to find out next year, as any fruits that are maturing are going bad.
The brown/black inside: No there were no spined citrus bugs in evidence and no damage to the exterior of the fruit. So the boron deficiency is probably on target. I will not try to salvage this crop with a quick fix. I'll let it go and chalk it up to my inexperience. Then in the spring I'll pick up with a citrus/boron feritlizer with regular watering during drier spells and see what the tree has to offer next year.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
It'll be interesting to see how the orange and grapefruit perform. The lemon has never complained about my treatment, and the little bit of orange and grapefruit last year were nice. This is the first real crop year of more than 2-3 fruits for these young trees.
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Satsuma
Oct 10, 2012 18:13:53 GMT -5
Post by LinFL on Oct 10, 2012 18:13:53 GMT -5
Thanks, TX. What I have learned is due to me messing up and THEN doing some reading. (There are dead citrus trees in my past...more than one!)
Your lemon may just be a tougher tree than your satsuma. Plants are like people in one respect - sometimes you run into an especially tough or especially wimpy specimen. Hopefully a little more water and fertilizer is all the nurturing your satsuma needs to give you a good crop next year. :-)
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Satsuma
Oct 11, 2012 13:41:54 GMT -5
Post by catgrass on Oct 11, 2012 13:41:54 GMT -5
Picked some of the satsumas over the weekend. They are just right. Thin-skinned, juicy and sweet. We did have an average summer here as far as rainfall goes. The tree does not have as many fruit as it usually has, but they are good-but a tad on the smaller side. Just a note-My friend does absolutely NOTHING to his tree-Usually when it's about halfway to October, I prune off some of the fruit so the remaining ones will be bigger.
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Post by directsunlight on Jan 2, 2013 3:15:55 GMT -5
Those things are good! My zone = a hotter summer and a colder winter. Seems for all those 100 degree days we'd get the chance to grow some citrus, but no. I thought about putting a small meyer lemon tree inside but I bet my toddler would find it and abuse it!
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Satsuma
Jan 2, 2013 11:38:24 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2013 11:38:24 GMT -5
I'm just gonna sit here and look on. I don't have the indoor space for citrus. Outdoors (they) don't have a snowballs chance...
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Satsuma
Jan 2, 2013 19:55:59 GMT -5
Post by LinFL on Jan 2, 2013 19:55:59 GMT -5
Meyer Lemons and especially Key Limes can be kept almost as small as bonsai...just saying.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2013 9:15:18 GMT -5
Meyer Lemons and especially Key Limes can be kept almost as small as bonsai...just saying. I don't have the space *shrugs*. Love ya'
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Satsuma
Jan 10, 2013 11:11:25 GMT -5
Post by LinFL on Jan 10, 2013 11:11:25 GMT -5
Well, after all that advice I gave to TDD, I didn't water my own tree enough in the spring and got mostly dry fruit. We had lots of rain later in summer, but that was too late, I guess. The thing is, in past years I had used the lawn sprinklers in that area. But last year I had my vegetable garden adjacent to them, and not wanting to encourage diseases on my tomatoes, I had him turn that circuit off. So...one more project for this spring is to get drip irrigation extended under the satsuma. (I know myself too well to believe that I will keep up with hand watering on an ongoing basis. And that tree is way too big for one of those watering bags...it's 15' tall and wide, easy.) The few fruit that were not dry were really tasty, though. Also, I found a few fruits with brown spots, but no sign of exterior (skin) damage. So now I am wondering if the cheap citrus food I was buying had enough boron. Going to try a different kind this year.
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Satsuma
Jan 11, 2013 13:58:57 GMT -5
Post by garrett on Jan 11, 2013 13:58:57 GMT -5
good luck on da super suma's ya'lls
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