Author |
Message |
Michael (SW Ireland)
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:38 pm Posts: 1912 Location: Cape Clear Island, Roaringwater Bay
|
Avocado, Citrus etc
This is actually a reply to Stan's comments under "Botanic Garden Pics".
Stan, do you know if white sapote will stand salt winds? Avocados will stand much colder temperatures than we get in my microclimate, but they're not supposed to like salt winds. Can white sapote be grown from seed?
Avocados can actually do very well in the London area. Here is a pic of one that I used to look at regularly over a ten-year period. During that time, it grew bigger than the terraced house it was planted near. The owners were worried about their foundations, and eventually had the tree removed. Recently, there have been reports of an avocado tree fruiting in West London.
The Lewisham Avocado:
Some citrus are even hardier. I had a small grapefruit, left outdoors in a pot, come through the great freeze of '87 in London! I have always found snails to be the main obstacle in growing citrus. They will relentlessly devour every new shoot, until the plant eventually weakens and dies. Since I don't use metaldehyde, I prefer not to grow plants that are snail magnets.
Strangely enough, there were commercial orchards of orange trees in England in the 17th century, at a time when the climate was colder than it is now! The trees were protected with wooden structures that were roofed over during cold winter weather. Very labourious, but worthwhile when oranges were an expensive luxury. Eventually, cheaper imports began to come in, and the orchards were abandoned. What's interesting is that the trees lived on for another thirty years, without protection. This was during the so-called "mini ice-age"!
I've never heard of any citrus being tried outdoors in Ireland, but I suspect lemons could be grown in mild areas, if suitably fussed over with the right feeding regime and vigilant pest control. I'm not sure if avocados would get enough heat to fruit, but they could certainly be grown.
|
Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:34 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
I dont see why you couldnt grow many subtropical fruiting plants. A Sapote will take far more cold than a Aloe plicitilis!..they are about equal to the hardiest Avocado varietys. Meyer dwarf lemon should be easy and might have fruit in various formation half a year or more.And you get that citrus bloom smell. Seedling Sapotes are variable as you might think. Some are huge 15 meter or more trees with Oak like trunks..others Like the variety 'Suebelle that i have tops out at five meters tall and a little wider.
That's wild you havent tried citrus Michael . Meyer Lemon takes cold foggy San Francisco weather. The wind factor i dont know about. A good website to study is The California Rare Fruit Society . They list minimum temps for all you can think of.
In a couple of months I will have Suebelle fruit seed...cant promise what they will turn into. You know how that goes.Most Sapotes are grafted named trees. Get a good one and they are like Vanilla pudding in the skin of a yellowish fruit.
Benz,in New Zealand has tried them in his perpetual cool and mild climate. Sapote is also drought tolerant low water tree.
What about Loquats?..The first Irish subtropical fruit garden.Sounds like a good idea to me.
|
Tue Dec 18, 2007 12:29 am |
|
|
Rafael
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:49 pm Posts: 72 Location: Kew
|
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:10 am |
|
|
carolpz
|
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 4:16 pm |
|
|
timfulcher
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 2:06 pm Posts: 60 Location: London/Lincoln UK
|
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 5:40 pm |
|
|
Stan
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 5:52 pm Posts: 10687 Location: Hayward- S.F. Bay area Ca.
|
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 9:46 pm |
|
|
Kelern
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:37 pm Posts: 145 Location: Crozon peninsula z9b Brittany
|
Michael,
Here are two pictures of a lemon tree that grows in Roscanvel in the north branch of the Crozon peninsula. It was planted in 1986 and regrew from roots after the great freeze of 87 with -9°C/15,5°F. It gives kilos of excellent fruits year round, more in spring and autumn in a cool climate 21°C/70°F for the highest summer average ( record in 2003: 32°C/90°F), even fruited this last crappy summer.
I planted a white sapote in my garden (Roscanvel too). It wasn't injured with the last freeze and will plant next spring 'Bacon' a grafted avocado supposed to be quite hardy, but I need different species for pollination as there are two groups A and B that bloom in different times of the day. I also planted an orange tree 'Newhall' one of the earliest fruiting orange, october in south of France, they were many of them in Gallicia fruiting for Christmas with delicious oranges.
_________________ Yves Le Guen
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:57 pm |
|
|
Nick Macer
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:42 pm Posts: 1284 Location: Gloucestershire, UK
|
Tim - One of the Diospyros kaki at least is in the Mediterranean garden next to King Williams Temple. Fruit were looking juicy but not yet ripe when I saw it last, but that was weeks ago. I remember it fruiting just as well when I was a student in the early 90's.
_________________ Purveyor of good things
www.panglobalplants.com
|
Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:42 pm |
|
|
Alexander
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:55 pm Posts: 3344 Location: Leidschendam, The Netherlands. (52 N latitude)
|
Re: Avocado, Citrus etc
|
Thu Dec 20, 2007 1:57 am |
|
|
Alexander
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:55 pm Posts: 3344 Location: Leidschendam, The Netherlands. (52 N latitude)
|
|
Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:08 am |
|
|
david feix
Joined: Wed Oct 31, 2007 3:54 am Posts: 3206 Location: Berkeley, California
|
|
Thu Dec 20, 2007 7:55 am |
|
|
Rafael
Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:49 pm Posts: 72 Location: Kew
|
In Kew I know one old Kaki near the Winter Garden and Ice house. It has large fruits but not the best tasting (an old variety) there is one near the Banks Building in the Economic plants Garden (Now closed to the public) It has smaller dark orange fruits and if you leave them inside for a good week they become soft and very sweet. Both are seedless (Sharon Group). The fruits are like a medlar (Mespelus) They are inedible when hard and you must leave them to "rot" so they become soft and sweet. Somtimes this may take amny weks and so it is also best to harvest them after there has been frost. There are in total 9 specimens on the System, but I have never noticed the others. Will have a look.
|
Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:35 am |
|
|
Nick Macer
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:42 pm Posts: 1284 Location: Gloucestershire, UK
|
Rafael - The one I mentioned above in the Med garden at Kew is labelled D. kaki var. lycopersicon.
Here it is in November with unripe fruit and leaves just about to start colouring up. Interesting to see it is fruiting as well as ever even after one of the coolest, wettest summers on record, so no need for heat whatsoever with this one.
The bark is excellent also - reminds me of Ehretia dicksonii.
_________________ Purveyor of good things
www.panglobalplants.com
|
Thu Dec 20, 2007 6:11 pm |
|
|
Michael (SW Ireland)
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:38 pm Posts: 1912 Location: Cape Clear Island, Roaringwater Bay
|
Very nice Lemon tree Yves, that should encourage anyone who wants to grow Citrus. Is your White Sapote a named variety, or a seedling?
Ugni molignae (the so-called Chilean Guava) is my kind of fruit tree. Tough enough to be used as a windbreak, and thrives on a diet of total neglect. All I have to do is remember to pick the fruits before the birds get them.
|
Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:07 pm |
|
|
Phemie
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:01 pm Posts: 760 Location: Catalonia, Spain
|
We are trying Meyers Lemon outside. Planted in the Mediterranean garden backed by a sunny wall. I fleeced it last winter and it suffered no damage so have protected it again this year. Whether our climate gets hot enough for it to produce flowers and fruit remains to be seen but we felt it was worth a try.
|
Sat Dec 22, 2007 1:28 pm |
|
|
|