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Citrus & Fruit Trees – Page 3

Preventing Sap From Oozing from Peach and Nectarine Fruit

Question from Jeannette: Is there anything I can do next year to prevent sap on my fruit. The peaches are mottled, if that is a word that makes sense. I don’t know what the ripe  fruit will be like but I think they will not be good. Thanks for your help Jeanntte  Ps I live in […]

Fertilizing Passion Fruit

Question: My husband and I went to your presentation at Del Mar, you taught us a lot of information, Thanks! We have 2 frederic passion vine, that are suppose to fruit, 2 years old we got flowers but zero fruit. We have one red that has never even flowered but has spread. The 1st year […]

Apricot Growing like an Octopus

Question from JoAnn: Hi Pat, I live in Temecula and have a two year old Royal apricot which has had lots of fruit this summer, so much so that the branches are dragging. I just learned that I should have picked off many of the fruit to encourage bigger ones to ripen. It has grown […]

June Drop on Peach Trees and Proper Thinning of Fruit

Gardening Question: I have a peach tree in Irvine. The tree is a couple years old, last year giving a nice yield of delicious peaches. This year, the tree had lots of blooms that appeared to be turning to peaches. Recently I’ve noticed several of these little peaches are falling off the tree. What problem […]

Fruit Trees

The main reasons for fruit trees “not being amazing” are incorrect watering, inadequate fertilizer, application of fertilizers at the wrong time of year, incorrect pruning for the variety, under-pruning or over-pruning, and most importantly not choosing the right varieties in the first place. My new organic book goes into depth on all these subjects so […]

Pollinating by Hand

Question: I’m a writer for a small newspaper in San Diego and in reading one of your books on month to month organic gardening in Southern California, I was interested by your idea on hand pollinating fruit tress due to lack  of bee activity. I’m interested in writing on the subject of saving the bees […]

When to Feed Apple Trees and When to Thin the Fruit

Question from Robin: I put worm tea on my apple trees this month. I was going to add compost around them but don’t want to overdue the nitrogen.  What else should I add to their schedule? Nothing until early spring? Also, thinned the apples to no more than 2 per spur. Is it best to […]

Feeding citrus trees

When all danger of frost is past, begin feeding citrus trees. (If your garden gets frost in February, wait until March.) Citrus are heavy feeders. A mature citrus tree in clay soil needs one pound of actual nitrogen a year. For example, if you choose a commercial fertilizer containing 16% nitrogen, such as 16-16-16, your […]

Invasive roots

Q. How can we prevent roots from shrubs from invading our sick looking fruit trees? A. Invasive roots are a serious problem in California, especially in old gardens. The best solution is to install a root barrier. The method is to dig a two or three-foot deep ditch and install a commercial root barrier vertically […]

Mandarine Oranges/Southern California

Gardening Question from Sari: What kinds of soils would you recommend for growing MANDARINE ORANGES near the beach in Southern California?  Are there any  special additives you would suggest?  We’re having a leaf curl problem. Answer from Pat: Citrus trees are not fussy about soils but they do like well-drained soil. Soils near the beach […]