Growing Citrus In The UK - Checking Fruit Development - September 2024

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  • Опубліковано 27 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 39

  • @mrstefansgreens
    @mrstefansgreens 2 місяці тому +1

    Big beautiful collection of citrus trees.

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      Thank you! They are one of my favourite types of plants to grow, although they can be a little tricky to grow here.

  • @joestropicals6760
    @joestropicals6760 2 місяці тому +1

    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 😂

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      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 😢

  • @Flycatchers1958
    @Flycatchers1958 Місяць тому +1

    Just found your channel. Great interesting videos on your citrus and other plants. I grow a few citrus alongside my Nepenthes pitcher plants and other exotic plants. Over the years I have killed rather too many citrus while learning how to grow them! A bit better these days. Though my old ugli I got from Reads nursery in 2005 is getting smaller every year! Apart from resprouting several new small branches just above the grafting point. All the rest of the tree is dead and now cut back. It did produce a small but delicious fruit this year. But all the existing leaves are yellow and gradually dropping off. And the new buds which appeared in spring have not grown at all. So suspect it’s on its way out! Should have repotted it sooner but suspect it’s too late this year. My other lime, lemon and orange seem ok. And got myself a mandarin and a new ugli this summer so fingers crossed!

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  Місяць тому +1

      Thanks for watching! Citrus collecting can become very addictive lol 😂
      I'm sorry to hear your old Ugli fruit tree has been struggling. If you are on Facebook there are a few good groups about citrus trees I'm sure someone would be able to help. Although it sounds like its root system could be struggling. I hope all your citrus trees do well over winter 🤞

    • @Flycatchers1958
      @Flycatchers1958 Місяць тому +1

      @@PeterEntwistle yes i suspect it’s roots have died or deteriorated. And perhaps producing a reasonable size fruit this year was the last straw! Have joined one FB group but the general advice is it’s because of lack of feeding or wrong feed. But the citrus centre feed I am using keep all the other trees happy. So roots not taking up the feed is all I am left with. Wished I had repotted it a few years back now! See if it’s still here in the spring! 🤞

  • @MoebiusUK
    @MoebiusUK 2 місяці тому +2

    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.

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      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.

    • @louiseahmedtropicalplantgr5000
      @louiseahmedtropicalplantgr5000 2 місяці тому +1

      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

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      @@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 🙌

  • @backyardsnackyard
    @backyardsnackyard 2 місяці тому +2

    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.

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      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 👍

  • @lyonheart84
    @lyonheart84 2 місяці тому +2

    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 😂

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      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 😬

    • @lyonheart84
      @lyonheart84 2 місяці тому +2

      @@PeterEntwistle same here, that's why I haven't bought any more and why I haven't repotted either lol

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      @@lyonheart84 lol 😂. I might have to start work on putting a giant greenhouse cover over my entire garden lol 🤣

  • @gardenhard24
    @gardenhard24 Місяць тому +1

    Hi Peter, I've just found your channel - you've got some great content here! Great to see someone in the UK growing this kind of stuff and sharing their experiences. I'm just starting a citrus collection and your videos are really inspiring me. Where did you get these trees? Looks like suppliers in the UK are very limited for anything other than more 'typical' citrus.
    Keep up the great work and thanks for the quality content!

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  Місяць тому

      Hey Matt, thanks for watching! Yeah, I've got a lot of citrus trees now, I never intended to collect so many, it just happened lol. Yeah, getting named varieties of citrus over here is pretty difficult. Most of my larger trees that have variety names on them (the ones with the blue labels on) came from YouGarden, however, I didn't know what I was going to end up with when I ordered, it was purely potluck lol. They sell them online as just an "Orange", "Mandarin", "Lime" etc, but luckily their Spanish supplier would always add the grafted variety and the rootstock used on the label, which is really handy. Although I know someone who recently bought an orange tree from them and it seems like they have switched to an Italian supplier that doesn't bother to label their trees 🙄. I've also got a few "rare" varieties from "The Citrus Centre", they are often quite pricey and out of stock of the desirable ones, but their plants are always good quality and labelled correctly. You can always contact them if there is something they list on their website that isn't in stock and they will often still have a few, but they might be larger specimens that they don't list online. Another good nursery I've had some good plants from is "Cross Common Nursery" they also occasionally have some rarer citrus trees. I have some others from a few other places but those 3 are where I sourced most of my collection from. I hope that helps 😊

  • @garycard1456
    @garycard1456 2 місяці тому +1

    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).

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      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?

    • @garycard1456
      @garycard1456 2 місяці тому +1

      @@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.

    • @garycard1456
      @garycard1456 2 місяці тому +1

      @@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).

  • @PlantingMemories
    @PlantingMemories 2 місяці тому +1

    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!

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      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.

  • @rabatjoietv
    @rabatjoietv 2 місяці тому +1

    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

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому +1

      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 👍

    • @rabatjoietv
      @rabatjoietv 2 місяці тому +1

      @@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"

  • @TheCornishCottageGarden-bs5lf
    @TheCornishCottageGarden-bs5lf 2 місяці тому +1

    Citrus is something i really want to grow, but kinda need a greenhouse

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      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.

  • @trisha2584
    @trisha2584 Місяць тому +1

    Lovely collection of citrus. I am just starting out on collecting citrus and cannot find any of the varieties that you have locally. Please can you advise where you buy them from - I prefer recommendations to just using any company.

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  Місяць тому +2

      Hey Trisha, I've purchased my plants from lots of different nurseries over the years. Unfortunately named varieties are hard to source in the UK, "The Citrus Centre" is the one that has the largest choice for us here, although they are often quite pricey. I've had a few of my rarest from them including my Owari Satsuma, Minneola Tangelo and Moro Blood Orange. I've bought a lot of my trees from "YouGarden", but you never know what variety you'll end up with until it arrives, they are usually good value for money though. However, I've seen from someone who purchased an orange tree from them recently that they might have switched their supplier to one from Italy that doesn't label their varieties like their old Spanish supplier used to. Another nursery I've bought some from is "Cross Common Nursery".

  • @priyamdas4133
    @priyamdas4133 2 місяці тому +1

    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 😢

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      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 😂

    • @priyamdas4133
      @priyamdas4133 2 місяці тому +1

      @@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?

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      @@priyamdas4133 I don't think any of the nurseries here would be able to ship outside the UK 😞

    • @priyamdas4133
      @priyamdas4133 2 місяці тому

      @@PeterEntwistle sir it's possible to get ur WhatsApp number??

  • @GamingGuyGus
    @GamingGuyGus 2 місяці тому +1

    overwatering issues in citrus are almost entirely solved by using terracotta pots in my experience

    • @PeterEntwistle
      @PeterEntwistle  2 місяці тому

      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.