Text From a Listener:

• Their orange tree has leaves on the outer edge, but the center is full of dead twings. Is that normal?

Recommendation – Yes! The leaves on the outer edge take in the sun and Greg talks about pruning methods and when to take out that dead wood and how much.

Caller:

• Loren – How to deal with potted citrus plants on patios above ground?

Recommendation – The downfall for this is that you are dealing with heat on 5 sides instead of 1. It needs western shade for the afternoons. You can shade the pot and Greg talks about the pros and cons of it and why it’s so hard to have success.

*Buying standard or dwarf varieties for different applications.

• Dealing with rats eating your citrus….ways to combat them.

Caller:

• Lauren – What is the best citrus variety for her south facing yard with western shade? Does Greg have a soil preference?

Recommendation – Many will do well, so go for what you like.  For soil, Greg likes Western Organics “Premium Potting Soil” and she can pick it up by going to the Urban Farm Site.

• Greg recently had a conversation about bees and we discuss why we’re losing bees, etc.
• Planting fruit you enjoy is important. Why all that work if there is no pay off!?!?
• Different fruits that ripen at different times of the year.

Callers:

• Vickie – She has a mature tangelo tree and this year it has no fruit and wants to know if it could be that they had it pruned at the wrong time in spring?

Recommendation – That could definitely be the cause. If they pruned off the new growth with the fruit, then it wouldn’t produce any fruit this year. Greg explains what happens & tips on limiting pruning.

*Dealing with grass lawns competing with fruit trees for water.

• Ariel – His lemon trees leaves are curling and a dwarf naval orange tree has stopped producing after 10 years.

Recommendation – Greg would guess that it’s planted in native soils with no basin. It needs to be in supplemented soil that will help it thrive.

• Andy – He planted a few apple trees for his neighbor and they produced this year. They all still have all their leaves and wants to know if that is normal.

Recommendation – Yes. Greg refers to them as “semi deciduous.” Some years they lose all of them. Some lose part of them. It can vary from year to year.

• Tom – He has a blood orange tree and has started supplementing the soil and taking care of it and now this year it started producing fruit. The fruit is pretty different from the bottom of the tree to the top. Is that normal?

Recommendation – This common and Greg talks through methods to getting consistent fruit across the whole tree, including watering, fertilizing and mulching, etc.

• What is Greg harvesting on the ground right now? There’s a lot to do!
• Melons…differenty varieties and our favorites.
• Upcoming events for February.

Text From a Listener:

• What variety of grape vines do well here?

Recommendation – We list off a few we like and that they should be ready to pick before July 10th. Remember, the grape is much smaller than what you see in the store.

Thanks to Greg for stopping in to talk about The Urban Farm and taking your questions!