Maybe They Should Be Contained

     Well, at least it is a sunny, reasonably warm day today. A FAR cry from what many in the country have experienced already this year. I bring this up, not to brag, but to preference that, here in Charleston, we have had a very nasty cold winter so far. Personally, I have had 7 inches of snow and days upon days of sub-freezing temperatures. This is South Carolina, NOT South Dakota, so that kind of weather is rare, not unheard of, but very rare.
     Needless to say, many plants have been hurt badly by this kind of weather, especially tropical and sub-tropical like Citrus. This is, unfortunately, an all too common picture here around the Lowcountry.

These are Calamondins, a kumquat hybrid. Yes, they are in containers, and yes, they stayed outside in the snow. They looked like this with the white stuff on them.

Yes, same tree. It is still alive, there is green under the bark.
There are many, many trees that look like this either in the ground or in containers that were left outside.
     The purpose of this article is not to depress you more or cry over the tree's appearance. I am still an advocate for growing citrus in the ground in Charleston! Mamma said there would be days like this! Or years!
     No, the purpose of this article is to give you an option of how to grow your citrus. In Containers!
Everybody that has been following me or knows me, knows that I grow my plants in containers for among other reasons, emergencies like this.
     Of course, the logical thing to do would be to put them in a greenhouse or garage when this kind of weather is approaching. That is fine and dandy if you have one or two trees. I have dozens. Some of my "special" trees got to go into the greenhouse. Just for the record, even with an electric heater in there, it dropped to 27 degrees a couple of times. The damage?
NONE!
This is what I saw when I opened the door.

     Now, I did have them pretty packed in there and when I did water everything, there were a few missed and those ones look sad, but only because they did not get enough water. They will be fine.
     I know what you are saying, "I don't have a greenhouse or even a garage to use, so what then?"
Glad you asked!
     I posted this picture before the storm hit, wished them luck, and hoped for the best. It looked like hell, but, hey, I was almost in desperation mode because nothing else would fit in the greenhouse.

     What is in that trash pile of, a frost cloth, a tarp, and a crocheted blanket? A dozen citrus trees, ranging in size from 7 gallons to 30 gallons, all laid down on the ground. I watered them really well, laid them down, and stacked a few on top of each other. No other protection. This was on January 2nd that I created this disaster. The snow, ice, and wicked cold temperatures came and went. I was afraid to even peek under there.
     Well, today is January 21st, just 2 days shy of three weeks, I decided I needed to clean this up and face the destruction. I took all of the coverings off and stood everything back up.What I found is absolutely amazing!
LOOK FOR YOURSELF!

     If you look closely at the second picture, on the right-hand side is a bunch of dead looking leaves. That is a Lemon tree that was under there. I have always said that lemons and limes are more cold sensitive.

     This is a Key Lime that was also under there, probably THE most cold sensitive of all of the citrus trees. It is still alive, I saw green under the bark, it is just not happy right now.

     But, as you can see, aside from those two, the trees pretty much came out unscathed. What else was under there? A kumquat, a few tangerines, a lemonquat, a flame grapefruit, and a few other assorted hybrids. I gave each one an attaboy and a good drink of water while they were enjoying the sun again.
     I am not trying to brag here! To be honest, I tell people to use blankets and such on top of the trees that are laid down on the ground all the time, but after the severity of all of the bitterly cold temps and snow/ice, even I had my doubts about how these would look.
     I said above, I will always be an advocate for planting citrus in the ground if you can. This kind of weather is not an every year event. But maybe, just maybe, you might want to consider growing them in big pots and laying them down for a nap when the wicked winter weather does come for a visit!
     If you have any questions about this or any of my other articles, please feel free to send them to TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com.
     There is still time to get signed up for my monthly newsletter of Citrus Growing Tips, slated to come out February 1st, 2018. You can sign up for it HERE
Happy Growing!
Darren

Citrus Freeze Damage and What you Should or Should Not do

     The start of 2018 has been anything but happy here in the Southeast. January 3rd we started with freezing rain, ending with snow. In some places of the Lowcountry, up to 7 inches of the white stuff fell. As of today, January 7th, there are still roads covered in ice, inches of snow on the ground, and business' closed. The good news is, tomorrow, Monday, we are in for a real warm spell and by the end of the week be at 70 degrees.
     I have received many e-mails, phone calls, and messages on Facebook asking if the citrus trees are going to be okay here in Charleston? The best answer I can give them, maybe. Some of it depends on whether the cold weather we had prior to this long cold/snow spell was enough to get them to go into their semi-dormancy. Another factor will be if the tree was healthy going into all of this.
     Here is a list of what to possibly expect, what is happening, and what you should and shouldn't do.

     Freeze damage on citrus trees occurs when the water inside the fruit, leaves, twigs, and wood
of a tree freezes rupturing the cell membranes. Unlike deciduous trees which protect
themselves from the cold by shedding their leaves in the fall and entering a dormant state,
citrus trees continue growing year-round. Extended periods of cool weather prior to a
freeze may allow a citrus tree to prepare, by going into a semi-dormancy. This is why sharp freezes following warm weather are more damaging than gradual temperature changes. Virtually all
freezes will cause damage of some kind. Regardless of what steps you take, there are
times when nothing you have done helps and your citrus is damaged by any freezes. However,
as long as the damage is not too severe, your tree can recover!
     One of the keys to dealing with freeze damage is not to do something right away but to
wait awhile until the extent of the damage becomes apparent. In some instances, twig and
branch death from a severe freeze can continue for as long as several months after an event. Act too soon and you run the risk of either pruning away parts of your tree that can recover on their own or missing parts that look healthy enough at first glance but are really fatally damaged.
   

   
     The appearance of citrus leaves damaged by freezing can be a little deceptive in that
they can appear firm and green at the outset. It is only later, as they thaw, that they
soften and droop, very much like the picture above. In instances where the damage is not severe, freeze-damaged leaves can recover. However, if the damage is fatal, the leaves will lose their structure completely, dry out and fall.While alarming, leaf fall alone does not indicate tree
death. If the wood remains healthy, the tree will recover and put out new growth in the
spring. As for twigs, the damage will almost invariably result in leaf death. In
the case of serious damage, the leaves will dry out but may stay attached for a time,
several weeks in some cases. If the twig is not badly damaged, the leaves will
fall more rapidly.
     Signs of freezing damage in branches and trunks include the loosening and splitting of
bark. Patches of damage may appear oozing canker-like areas, occasionally mistaken for
the disease gummosis. Keep an eye out for this, especially being that it looks like it will be a quick warm up.
     The first step in the pruning process is to wait until late spring or the summer following the winter the damage occurred. This will give you time to assess the damage. Many times the dead wood on a twig or branch will become a grayish color, that is an easy way to tell where to prune. 
     In addition, freeze-damaged trees occasionally put out a false start of new growth in the
early spring which soon dies back. What is happening here is, the damage is farther down the branch than expected. It warms up and the leaves want to start flushing out. The stored energy between the damaged branch and the growth tip is quickly used up and it can't receive any deliveries from the root system, so it dies.  Delaying pruning until after this could occur will save you time and energy.

     In very severe cases, a citrus tree may be damaged all the way to the ground. In such
cases, the root area may still put out new growth and the tree may, in time, recover. The above picture shows that, what I thought was a completely gone tree, sent a new shoot up from the roots. I knew this tree was on its own roots, so I allowed it to grow and be prosperous again. It took about 3 years before I saw fruit.
      However, if the original tree was grafted and the tree is killed off below the graft, any
resulting new growth will be of the variety of the rootstock and not of the graft or
scion. It will be up to you to decide whether to re-graft, allow the rootstock to
continue growing or start over again. Be very observant of the leaves that come up, if they look like this:

It is either Poncirus trifoliata or some hybrid of Poncirus. The fruit will be edible, just not really tasty.
     If you have any doubt as to whether your citrus will come back or not, time is the only thing that will tell. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment on this article or any of my others.
If you want to ask me anything in an e-mail or send me pictures, you can do that via this address TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com.
You can follow me on Facebook.
Or touch base with me on my new Website
Happy Growing!
Darren

I had my doubts, but......

     With all of this crappy winter weather here in the Southeast, snow, ice, cold temperatures that feel like they have been here forever, a LOT of people are starting to get cabin fever, Especially Gardeners! I will be upfront and honest, there are links associated with Amazon on my blog, and this article has many of them, only because I REALLY like this product.
     On a lark, about a month ago, I went ahead and hooked up something that a friend gave me sometime over the summer. I truly appreciated it, but never really had the time to get it hooked up, not that it took very long. I guess I really had my doubts that it would actually work.
Boy, was I wrong!
     I am talking about something that Miracle-Gro puts out, it is called the AeroGarden.
From their own website, it states: Enjoy big harvests in just weeks, you just drop in the seed pods, add water and nutrients, and watch it grow.
It sounded too good to be true, and you know that old saying about anything sounding too good?!
My friend actually gave me one of the AeroGarden Ultra (LED)and three of the smaller, Miracle-Gro Aerogarden Sprout Led - Black, one of which was not working properly, but I didn't care, I like fooling around with things to fix them.
     Well, I used the three little ones, more for the lights for my Citrus seeds. I sprouted the seeds then transferred them to the lights. Take a look at them now:

I know, I am not using this product like you are supposed to, and you can buy a setup or make one yourself for this purpose. That is not the point of this article.
     I am coming to you today to tell you about these things because of the way the AeroGarden Ultra is working out. Like I said, I put this thing together in a matter of maybe 5 minutes just a little over a month ago.
Look what I have NOW!!

Yes, folks, those are tomato plants!
It is a type of Cherry Tomato and, you can't really tell from the picture, they will be flowering in about another week!
It is really amazing how easy it is to set up, plant, and monitor. It tells you when you need to do everything, from when to add water to when you need to add nutrients. It comes with seed pods or you can use your own seeds of whatever you want to grow. Add water, nutrients, drop the pods into the holes, then follow the prompts on the screen. Seriously, that easy!
     I have always wondered about Aquaponics and wanted to toy around with it some, this makes it easy. I plan on getting a few more of these for next Winter so I can be gardening, truly all year round!!
If you have any questions about these things or about any of my other articles, please do not hesitate to ask! You can reach me at TheCitrusGuy@netzero.com or Follow me on Facebook.
I have also launched my new website: http://thecitrusguy.com/ swing by there, check it out and tell me what you think, I am always looking for ways to improve and make it easier to pass out information.
Happy Growing!
Darren