It ain't too bad, Peter. A bareroot and change of substrate will benefit some, but I wonder if it is now best to wait until next early spring? I have my Arcobal and Faustrime in the original mix, and they are still very healthy. I will now wait until next spring before I change the substrate to something that is more suitable for pots. Potassium absolutely benefits fruit set and formation, so perhaps you might like to get some potassium nitrate and dissolve a level teaspoon of it in about 3 litres of water? Potassium nitrate provides potassium anbd nitrogen. This is what I do, and I have two fruits the size of golfballs on my Arcobal, lots of little fruits on my Faustrime (which seem to have appeared out of nowhere), lots of tiny folded 'hands' on my Buddha Hand, a single but fast-developing marble-sized fruit on my dekopon (slugs knocked off the other fruit it had on, unfortunately), and a single fruitlet on my giant citron (a lot of the giant citron fruitlets failed, for some reason). The thing with potassium is that is a highly 'mobile' cation, due the high solubility of potassium salts/compounds in water, so if your plants have been subjected to a lot of rainfall, there is a risk of potassium (potassium cations) being leached out of the pot's drainage holes. So, potassium has to be regularly replenished. What is the pH of your tapwater like? I use pH Down Grow to lower the pH to 6.0. At this pH, metal micronutrients, such as iron, manganese, copper, zinc, etc, are easily taken up by the plant roots. Calcium and magnesium, which are needed by plants in larger amounts compared to iron, copper, zinc, manganese, also have optimum solubility at pH 6.0. Don't hold back on nitrogen too much: it is a plant macronutrient, and too little nitrogen can impede fruit development just as too much encourages lush green growth (at the expense of fruit development). I periodically boost phosphorus by adding a level teaspoon of potassium monophosphate to about 3 litres of water. This compounds adds potassium (potassium cations) and phosphorus (phosphate anions). One has to be careful not to add too much phosphate: too much causes 'lock out' of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, etc (a chemical reaction takes place in which insoluble phosphate salts of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, are formed. Potassium phosphate, like the vast majority of potassium compounds (thinking back to chemistry class), is very water soluble. Oh, and don't forget sulphur (sulphate). Plants need that, too. Potassium sulphate (sulphate of potash) works well. It provides potassium cations and sulphur (as sulphate anions).
Thanks, Gary. Yeah, I definitely need to repot some of the citrus, although I'll wait until next year now. Wow, it's like I'm back in an A-level chemistry lesson lol. I must admit I've forgotten quite a lot now lol. Yeah, I remember reading that potassium is important for fruit development. The fertiliser I have been using (Miracle-gro all purpose has an NPK of 24-8-16 (I think it also has some trace amounts of micronutrients too), so it's quite high in nitrogen and potassium, although I'm wondering if the proportion of nitrogen might be too high and causing the plants to focus on growth rather than fruit set and development?
@@PeterEntwistle Goes to show that chemistry concepts can be applied to seemingly unrelated topics, such as horticulture and botany. I use miracle gro, but very carefully: it contains urea and, I suspect, ammonium salts. Both urea and ammonium are sources of nitrogen plants can use, but ammonium salts (ammonium cations, NH4+) and conversion of urea to ammonium cations (NH4+) by bacteria enzymes in the soil, can gradually lead to over-acidification of the soil or potting mix. When that happens, cations of phytotoxic elements, such as aluminium (Al 3+), can be taken up by the plants and injure them (twig dieback, leaf drop, leaf necrosis). Also, at overly acidic pH conditions, trace metals that are essential for plant health, such as copper cations (Cu2+) can become 'too available' to plant roots, and toxic levels of copper can accumulate in plant tissues.
@@PeterEntwistle The thing is, I regularly feed with nitrate salts (of potassium and calcium) and not only do I see abundant healthy green growth, but also I have lots of flower and fruitlet formation. Too little nitrogen can also impair flower and fruit formation, as the plant goes into 'survival mode' until nitrogen is replenished. Mind you, I did notice a sudden boost in flower bud formation after I topped-up with potassium phosphate (a teaspoon of the crystals dissolved into 3 litres of water).
I love your Citrus collection!! It really hasn't been a great year for them here either, though. Some of mine are finally just starting to bloom now and several of them have been attacked by scale insects as well as those baby slugs and snails you mentioned. I think I might move them all inside for Winter soon as the weather forecast is promising storms and flooding now. I am still hoping for an Indian Summer though 😆 If you're looking at fertilizers, I find that the season specific Vitax one works really well. I just make the solution weaker for the Finger Lime as too much can cause fruit drop according to videos I watched when I was researching how to care for it.
Thanks, Dani! Yeah, I think the cooler weather this year has thrown them all off. Yeah, the scale, slugs and snails have been attacking a lot of my citrus trees this year. Yeah, we have more strong winds forecast here on Thursday and Friday and then it looks like it's going a lot cooler next week 😢 Thanks for the fertiliser recommendation, I'll have a look into that one 👍
Hey Peter! They look great. When you overwinter them, do you keep them dry? And have you had much success keeping any citrus indoors year round? Very enjoyable video!
Hey Jerry! I now overwinter all my citrus in a greenhouse, I find they do much better in there than in the house. Citrus don't like the low light and dry central heated environment indoors. So as soon as we start to get frost predicted I will move them all into the greenhouse. I tend to find they don't need watering at all over winter once in the greenhouse. I did once keep a lemon tree going indoors at my parent's for several years in a sunny window, although it only flowered a handful of times and never held a fruit. Since I started growing them just outside and moving them into the greenhouse for winter I found them to grow and flower much better. I do use a heater in the greenhouse, but last year I only heated it on the coldest nights basically just to stop it from freezing.
What a lovely collection of Citrus 🍊 I find Citrus not the easiest of fruit trees to grow, but I do like the challenge. As you mentioned, it most certainly hasn’t been the best year regarding our summer weather….but you’re doing a fab job keeping your citrus pretty healthy…bar some pesky slugs and snails eating the leaves off some 😂
Thanks, Joe! Yeah, citrus do have their challenges, especially in our climate. Slugs and snails have been especially annoying this year with the cool, damp conditions 😢
The ones you showed looked pretty impressive Peter considering they are young plants in small pots. A lot of mine have defoliated and / or turned yellow and look much worse than yours, i think a combination of watering issues, cool weather, a complete lack of feeding, being crowded too close together and probably root issues so I fear I have a lot of battling ahead of me 😂
Thanks, Brett. To be honest most of them are way overdue a repotting, it's just that if I do repot them I will really struggle to be able to get them in the greenhouse this winter lol. I didn't really think about that when I kept on ordering more citrus trees lol 😂. I have also acquired a few more this year, so I have no idea how I will fit everything in this winter 😬
I only have my Olive trees in terracotta pots. I do like the look of them, although plastic pots are much easier to move around the garden and into the greenhouse.
They're all looking great, Peter. I bare-rooted my Sunrise Lime and repotted it with good substrate. It's definetly benefited the plant. Although you probably wouldn't want to do this at the tail end of the growing season. I also grafted a scion onto P.trifoliate and that plant is doing well also. I think you're spot on whit the fertilizer issues on the fingerlime. They're essential wild bush plants and don't have the history of selective breeding that other citrus do. I'm personally now leaning more towards a light organic feeding regime with them. You Rubino looks great. It's amazing how quickly they take off.
Thanks, Dom. Yeah, I will probably have to bare-root quite a few of my citrus trees next year. I agree, I wouldn't want to risk doing it at this time of year. It's great to hear the one you grafted has taken and doing well 👍 Yeah, I'll probably switch to the organic balanced fertiliser I use for my in-ground trees and banana plants on the fingerlime next time. Although the growth boost might have been a good thing for that plant since it didn't grow at all last year.
Great collection of Citrus you have there Peter. I like the look of the variegated orange, the fruit having variegation on it too. I imagine when they are flowering the scent must be amazing
@@louiseahmedtropicalplantgr5000 Thanks, Louise! Yeah, the variegated orange is one of my favourite ones. I've been very pleased with how it's done so far. Yeah, citrus flowers have the most incredible scent 🙌
This year I bought a Citrus Sinensis Rosso, I was so happy having so many flowers, and each time the fruit began to appear, it felt after less than 1cm size :/ No idea why. So no fruit for me
I'm not sure where you are located, but we have had a very cool summer here this year which hasn't helped with the fruit set. There could be many other reasons of course such as the maturity of the tree and not enough nutrients. Thanks for watching 👍
@@PeterEntwistle I'm in the center of France. A lot of rain this summer, but my citrus is on a covered balcony. No real idea, I had many flowers during 2 times, fruits began to grow I was happy but they did'nt have the time to reach 1cm, the stem felt with the "fruit"
Yeah, a greenhouse is very handy for storing them in over winter. I find they do much better in a greenhouse than in the house in the wintertime. Although I do know some people that bring their citrus inside and have had good results. I always struggled when I brought them indoors, they need a very bright window and don't like the dry heat from the central heating, so now I put them in a cheap portable greenhouse/polytunnel.
@@PeterEntwistle sir I also collect more than 35 variety। I think it become addiction 😭 ।sir I will buy plant from where u collect plant is possible to courier different countries?
It ain't too bad, Peter. A bareroot and change of substrate will benefit some, but I wonder if it is now best to wait until next early spring? I have my Arcobal and Faustrime in the original mix, and they are still very healthy. I will now wait until next spring before I change the substrate to something that is more suitable for pots.
Potassium absolutely benefits fruit set and formation, so perhaps you might like to get some potassium nitrate and dissolve a level teaspoon of it in about 3 litres of water? Potassium nitrate provides potassium anbd nitrogen. This is what I do, and I have two fruits the size of golfballs on my Arcobal, lots of little fruits on my Faustrime (which seem to have appeared out of nowhere), lots of tiny folded 'hands' on my Buddha Hand, a single but fast-developing marble-sized fruit on my dekopon (slugs knocked off the other fruit it had on, unfortunately), and a single fruitlet on my giant citron (a lot of the giant citron fruitlets failed, for some reason).
The thing with potassium is that is a highly 'mobile' cation, due the high solubility of potassium salts/compounds in water, so if your plants have been subjected to a lot of rainfall, there is a risk of potassium (potassium cations) being leached out of the pot's drainage holes. So, potassium has to be regularly replenished.
What is the pH of your tapwater like? I use pH Down Grow to lower the pH to 6.0. At this pH, metal micronutrients, such as iron, manganese, copper, zinc, etc, are easily taken up by the plant roots. Calcium and magnesium, which are needed by plants in larger amounts compared to iron, copper, zinc, manganese, also have optimum solubility at pH 6.0.
Don't hold back on nitrogen too much: it is a plant macronutrient, and too little nitrogen can impede fruit development just as too much encourages lush green growth (at the expense of fruit development).
I periodically boost phosphorus by adding a level teaspoon of potassium monophosphate to about 3 litres of water. This compounds adds potassium (potassium cations) and phosphorus (phosphate anions). One has to be careful not to add too much phosphate: too much causes 'lock out' of calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, etc (a chemical reaction takes place in which insoluble phosphate salts of calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, manganese, zinc, are formed. Potassium phosphate, like the vast majority of potassium compounds (thinking back to chemistry class), is very water soluble.
Oh, and don't forget sulphur (sulphate). Plants need that, too. Potassium sulphate (sulphate of potash) works well. It provides potassium cations and sulphur (as sulphate anions).
Thanks, Gary. Yeah, I definitely need to repot some of the citrus, although I'll wait until next year now.
Wow, it's like I'm back in an A-level chemistry lesson lol. I must admit I've forgotten quite a lot now lol. Yeah, I remember reading that potassium is important for fruit development. The fertiliser I have been using (Miracle-gro all purpose has an NPK of 24-8-16 (I think it also has some trace amounts of micronutrients too), so it's quite high in nitrogen and potassium, although I'm wondering if the proportion of nitrogen might be too high and causing the plants to focus on growth rather than fruit set and development?
@@PeterEntwistle Goes to show that chemistry concepts can be applied to seemingly unrelated topics, such as horticulture and botany.
I use miracle gro, but very carefully: it contains urea and, I suspect, ammonium salts. Both urea and ammonium are sources of nitrogen plants can use, but ammonium salts (ammonium cations, NH4+) and conversion of urea to ammonium cations (NH4+) by bacteria enzymes in the soil, can gradually lead to over-acidification of the soil or potting mix. When that happens, cations of phytotoxic elements, such as aluminium (Al 3+), can be taken up by the plants and injure them (twig dieback, leaf drop, leaf necrosis). Also, at overly acidic pH conditions, trace metals that are essential for plant health, such as copper cations (Cu2+) can become 'too available' to plant roots, and toxic levels of copper can accumulate in plant tissues.
@@PeterEntwistle The thing is, I regularly feed with nitrate salts (of potassium and calcium) and not only do I see abundant healthy green growth, but also I have lots of flower and fruitlet formation.
Too little nitrogen can also impair flower and fruit formation, as the plant goes into 'survival mode' until nitrogen is replenished.
Mind you, I did notice a sudden boost in flower bud formation after I topped-up with potassium phosphate (a teaspoon of the crystals dissolved into 3 litres of water).
I love your Citrus collection!! It really hasn't been a great year for them here either, though. Some of mine are finally just starting to bloom now and several of them have been attacked by scale insects as well as those baby slugs and snails you mentioned. I think I might move them all inside for Winter soon as the weather forecast is promising storms and flooding now. I am still hoping for an Indian Summer though 😆
If you're looking at fertilizers, I find that the season specific Vitax one works really well. I just make the solution weaker for the Finger Lime as too much can cause fruit drop according to videos I watched when I was researching how to care for it.
Thanks, Dani! Yeah, I think the cooler weather this year has thrown them all off. Yeah, the scale, slugs and snails have been attacking a lot of my citrus trees this year.
Yeah, we have more strong winds forecast here on Thursday and Friday and then it looks like it's going a lot cooler next week 😢
Thanks for the fertiliser recommendation, I'll have a look into that one 👍
Hey Peter! They look great. When you overwinter them, do you keep them dry? And have you had much success keeping any citrus indoors year round? Very enjoyable video!
Hey Jerry! I now overwinter all my citrus in a greenhouse, I find they do much better in there than in the house. Citrus don't like the low light and dry central heated environment indoors. So as soon as we start to get frost predicted I will move them all into the greenhouse. I tend to find they don't need watering at all over winter once in the greenhouse. I did once keep a lemon tree going indoors at my parent's for several years in a sunny window, although it only flowered a handful of times and never held a fruit. Since I started growing them just outside and moving them into the greenhouse for winter I found them to grow and flower much better. I do use a heater in the greenhouse, but last year I only heated it on the coldest nights basically just to stop it from freezing.
What a lovely collection of Citrus 🍊 I find Citrus not the easiest of fruit trees to grow, but I do like the challenge. As you mentioned, it most certainly hasn’t been the best year regarding our summer weather….but you’re doing a fab job keeping your citrus pretty healthy…bar some pesky slugs and snails eating the leaves off some 😂
Thanks, Joe! Yeah, citrus do have their challenges, especially in our climate. Slugs and snails have been especially annoying this year with the cool, damp conditions 😢
The ones you showed looked pretty impressive Peter considering they are young plants in small pots. A lot of mine have defoliated and / or turned yellow and look much worse than yours, i think a combination of watering issues, cool weather, a complete lack of feeding, being crowded too close together and probably root issues so I fear I have a lot of battling ahead of me 😂
Thanks, Brett. To be honest most of them are way overdue a repotting, it's just that if I do repot them I will really struggle to be able to get them in the greenhouse this winter lol. I didn't really think about that when I kept on ordering more citrus trees lol 😂. I have also acquired a few more this year, so I have no idea how I will fit everything in this winter 😬
@@PeterEntwistle same here, that's why I haven't bought any more and why I haven't repotted either lol
@@lyonheart84 lol 😂. I might have to start work on putting a giant greenhouse cover over my entire garden lol 🤣
overwatering issues in citrus are almost entirely solved by using terracotta pots in my experience
I only have my Olive trees in terracotta pots. I do like the look of them, although plastic pots are much easier to move around the garden and into the greenhouse.
They're all looking great, Peter. I bare-rooted my Sunrise Lime and repotted it with good substrate. It's definetly benefited the plant. Although you probably wouldn't want to do this at the tail end of the growing season.
I also grafted a scion onto P.trifoliate and that plant is doing well also.
I think you're spot on whit the fertilizer issues on the fingerlime. They're essential wild bush plants and don't have the history of selective breeding that other citrus do. I'm personally now leaning more towards a light organic feeding regime with them.
You Rubino looks great. It's amazing how quickly they take off.
Thanks, Dom. Yeah, I will probably have to bare-root quite a few of my citrus trees next year. I agree, I wouldn't want to risk doing it at this time of year. It's great to hear the one you grafted has taken and doing well 👍
Yeah, I'll probably switch to the organic balanced fertiliser I use for my in-ground trees and banana plants on the fingerlime next time. Although the growth boost might have been a good thing for that plant since it didn't grow at all last year.
Great collection of Citrus you have there Peter. I like the look of the variegated orange, the fruit having variegation on it too. I imagine when they are flowering the scent must be amazing
@@louiseahmedtropicalplantgr5000 Thanks, Louise! Yeah, the variegated orange is one of my favourite ones. I've been very pleased with how it's done so far. Yeah, citrus flowers have the most incredible scent 🙌
This year I bought a Citrus Sinensis Rosso, I was so happy having so many flowers, and each time the fruit began to appear, it felt after less than 1cm size :/ No idea why. So no fruit for me
I'm not sure where you are located, but we have had a very cool summer here this year which hasn't helped with the fruit set. There could be many other reasons of course such as the maturity of the tree and not enough nutrients. Thanks for watching 👍
@@PeterEntwistle I'm in the center of France. A lot of rain this summer, but my citrus is on a covered balcony. No real idea, I had many flowers during 2 times, fruits began to grow I was happy but they did'nt have the time to reach 1cm, the stem felt with the "fruit"
Citrus is something i really want to grow, but kinda need a greenhouse
Yeah, a greenhouse is very handy for storing them in over winter. I find they do much better in a greenhouse than in the house in the wintertime. Although I do know some people that bring their citrus inside and have had good results. I always struggled when I brought them indoors, they need a very bright window and don't like the dry heat from the central heating, so now I put them in a cheap portable greenhouse/polytunnel.
Big beautiful collection of citrus trees.
Thank you! They are one of my favourite types of plants to grow, although they can be a little tricky to grow here.
Sir u have great collection of citrus i am also a Citrus collector from india
I we live neighbour of ur i will collect some good variety 😢
Thank you! Yeah, citrus trees are very collectable, I need to stop getting any more as I'm running out of space for them lol 😂
@@PeterEntwistle sir I also collect more than 35 variety। I think it become addiction 😭 ।sir I will buy plant from where u collect plant is possible to courier different countries?
@@priyamdas4133 I don't think any of the nurseries here would be able to ship outside the UK 😞
@@PeterEntwistle sir it's possible to get ur WhatsApp number??