I just emptied the gauge of 1.7" of rain! Cool! Still a little drippy. Sure needed this! Lately we haven't exactly looked like the El Nino effect was around here.
Rain....did you get it?
2 inches and counting.
Yes, everything is flooded got about 2.5 inches
We got a very welcomed 1 inch.
We got a smidge over 1.5". I'll take it!
We've received near 1.5"....and kinda cool!
We received more rain overnight! I think we picked up at least another 1/4". Cool and foggy/drizzly this morning.
This summer is the first year I have really gotten in to gardening. Here in Benbrook we have had a record year with rain. Oct - Nov about 8-10 inches. The ground has not had time to dry out much between rains. Will all this much rain hurt my plants?
Thanks
Lori
It shouldn't Lori, the cooler temps make plants go dormant, but moist soil keeps them from freezing and allows root growth.
Sheila
Thanks, this makes me feel better. I welcom the rain anytime, I never gave it much thought before now.
We've only had about a half an inch, so far.
2 1/4 inches again. So far I have lost (all large plants) rosemary, rue and Mexican Sage.d
An area that stands in water and hadn't noticed since the rain had been so sparce for so long. Leaving the rue and sage alone and see if anything comes back from the roots. The rosemary was a goner.
Christi
Our home rain gauge, the big plastic one that is available everywhere, has measured almost 35 inches in the last 2+months. They should move the official gauge to my house.
I just came back from my orchard in Staples and it received 3.5 inches from the last rain. There was standing water in many areas, the pond was completely overflowed and I promptly got myself stuck down in a foot of mud. Funny how quickly I have gone from not enough to "too much" rain.
The house in San Marcos received 2.35 inches total but is on an incline so we dont have standing water ever. I built a 10 inch stone wall at the top of the property so all the water flows around my house. It is 104 years old and used to shift up and down from the rains until I did that. The best 500 bucks I ever spent in my life.
More rain predicted for Tuesday.
I got 1.35".
The greens, cole crops, and root veggies are taking off. I am pleased with how well the onions seeded on Oct. 20th and the garlic planted at the same time are doing. The few Satsuma oranges I have are ripening. The Miho were the first to go. There are seven Seto ones still on the tree. Will have a couple more Satsuma trees next year.
Are your orange trees planted in the ground? or are they potted?
frostweed
My trees stayed in the 5 gal (actually 3.5 gal) nursery pot from Lowe's. I brought them home and set them pot and all in 15 gal black plastic containers (the real ones used for trees). Then I filled in around the pot with the planting medium I intended to use upon final transplanting. Didn't want to pull the trees from the original pot for fear they would drop all their little oranges. They both were just loaded with tiny fruit when I bought them last Spring.
Recently I picked the last of the Miho oranges. Immediately I tapped and jiggled the original pot loose and pulled it up out of the 15 gal job leaving a perfect hole in which to reset the transplant. Then I sprinkled a tiny handful of 13-13-13 with Sulfur on the surface all around the tree. A couple days later it rained an inch. The tree is still smiling. Plan to do the same as soon as I pick the rest of the Seto ones on Thanksgiving day.
Time will tell how well these little guys do in the 15 gal pots.
I will say this about picking and eating them. I got a little anxious and picked a couple while they had just a little green still on the peel. They were sour but still some sweet to them. I waited until the other ones were completely orange without any green what so ever. They were a little tart but had a good amount of sweet to them....but very good. A real nice orange flavor.
I have 3 Satsuma oranges on the tree now, about halfway ripe. Also have a thornless lime with 6 limes and an improved Meyers Lemon with nothing. They are all in 15 gallon pots and I take them inside the tool barn every winter. We have a fluorescent shop light that I leave on all the time and they even put on new growth last winter. Would really like to plant them in ground but sure as I did, we would have a week of freezing temps.
Christi
I had wondered if they could survive freezing temperatures, are you planning to bring them in? or shelter them somehow?
I have been wanting to grow orange trees as larval food for the Giant Swallowtail butterflies, but am afraid of leaving them in ground.
This message was edited Nov 23, 2009 3:11 PM
Miho and Seto Satsuma/Mandarins: 14 degrees once established
Kumquat: 14 degrees
Calamondin: 18 degrees
Improved Meyers Lemon: 23 degrees
Navel orange: 25 degrees
Grapefruit: 26 degrees
Lime: 28 degrees
This is a broad statement as many varieties are higher or lower. Also, if you plant next to a sunny protected South wall, then you can add a few degrees hardier. All of these are based upon established older plants. ALWAYS protect the first year with blankets. None of these temps include potted plants as those freeze much faster than plants in the ground.
Thank you for the information. Jo, we have already moved them into the barn. I leave the double doors open for sunlight when the weather is nice. Of course I have lots of tropicals in there as well. Thanks to the rain, I have tropicals in ground that are just now blooming. It looks like spring here. The milkweed you gave to me is about 7 feet tall and the monarchs stripped it earlier. The giant swallowtail made the orange look a little puny but I just left them. Between the cats and the rain, it killed a very large rue. Going to let it alone and pray it comes back.
I will plant out the citrus next spring as they are fairly mature already but this would not be a good move now.
Thank you Texasrockgarden, Jujube and Christi, I may have to try planting one in ground next year and keep one as a spare just in case, I hate loosing plants, but sometimes a risk pays off.
Josephine.
I am like you Josephine, too scared to put them in the ground. I may give in next year though. I bought two more 4 foot tall ones this year. In and out is a pain, I will do it this year but next I am going to chance it with a pvc hoop cage of sorts I can throw it up quickly and put blankets over them if need be.
Love those GSTs!
Hate to hear you lost your big Rue Christi, hope it comes back from the root. I had mine defoliated so bad I thought it was a gonner, but it put out new foilage...whew!
Are these full-size trees yall are growing in the 15-gallon pots, or something on a dwarf stock?
That would be you Christi, mine are still in the 3-5 gallon sizes and I know they will be brought inside this year.
There are some citrus that are hardy to 5 degrees but they are yet to sell them in Texas. They seem to be floating around the Eastern seaboard. There is one farmer that has some trees proclaimed to be that hardy growing near San Marcos. I purchased many fruit and I am currently trying to grow them. The fruit was great but it was very seedy. That usually means it was cross-bred with Flying Dragon citrus which is hardy to -10 degrees but really not edible.
Oh! maybe the Flying Dragon is what I need, I only need the leaves to be edible for the caterpillars.
Flying Dragon will definitely live in Dallas year round outside.
Oh boy! that is neat, where can I possibly find this Flying Dragon, do you know of a place that sells it?
We got fruit from all three trees last year. Little or no seeds and twice the juice from those I purchase in the grocery store. Did learn that citrus must completely ripen before it is picked. It does not continue to ripen on the kitchen counter. The lime tree is from it's own stock, the other two appear to have been grafted. All three are now pretty large. I would think being planted out will cause them to get much larger. The lime is actually blooming inside the barn now. Found another cat on the orange.
Wow! that is really neat Christi.
Many online sites have it. It is usually listed as Flying Dragon or Poncirus Trifoliate and Trifoliate Orange. I believe they can ship this to Texas because it is a Citrus relative. I bet if you call around you can find one at a Nursery. Burnt Ridge Nursery lists it as -20 hardy. They sure are ornamental.
Thanks for the temperature information, Jo. I have a Kumquat that will be spending its 2nd winter in the ground here. Last year I covered it every time it got below 35 degrees. At the end of the winter I wondered if I was wasting my time, because the Kumquat looked happy no matter what. Now I know not to fuss and fret when the temps hover near freezing.
Carla
Some time ago my friend Sheila gave me a small plant, what she thought was a Kaffir Lime. I'm pretty sure it's not that after looking up a lot of pics of Kaffir Lime. So I have some kind of citrus-like plant, presently planted in my yard. Since it doesn't seem to be a Kaffir and I haven't seen any cats on it, I'm going to move it to the slope by the shed. I can use the space...and fall is a good time to transplant things like that. I've seen Trifoliate Orange at Schumachers, by New Braunfels. Kind of thorny, if I'm remembering it right.
Thank you for the information, I will check around and see what I can come up with.
I do have a Satsuma orange in a pot that Siggy gave at one of the swaps, do you think Satsuma would be hardy here?
Yes if you plant it by a South facing wall so it is protected and gets lots of sun. If it gets into the teens at night, cover it with a blanket.
Thank you Jujube, I may try that this coming year.
Josephine.
Yes. Give it a good year to establish.
Very interesting I had NO idea that these types of plants could tolerate those extreme temps. Thanks for the info
I am on a fence as to leave them out (3-5 gal pots) tonight since it is going to drop to 37. I think I will error on the side of caution and put them in the shop. They aren't so big yet that I can't lift them by myself.
Watch your back!!!!!