[Arid_gardener] Pink Grapefruit Tree

Fri Jul 14 10:06:48 MST 2006

If your tree is on a slope, Jo, the best approach might be to use a soaker hose, some call them "'weeping wall" hoses. The water weeps through the porous wall. How much gets through depends on how much you turn up the tap. 

I had a Tangerine on a slope in San Diego. It was too steep to terrace but I would put a hose/end on the high side and adjust a medium trickle in the evening. By morning the wet belt would have worked its way by gravity all around the drip line. You may have to experiment with the flow rate in your soil texture to get the right soak but it can be done.

I don't construct a berm to form the trench. You could do it that way, I suppose, but it would always have to be maintained. The trench is below the level plane around the tree. The depth is 1 to 1.5 inches at most. If you can maintain a puddle a quarter to a half inch deep as wide as the trench or thereabouts, and leave it for whatever length of time it takes (four hours or twenty four, or whatever) until you have soaked the root zone to a depth of at least three feet. With a soaker hose you may not get a puddle but, unless you have very sandy soil, you can watch the wet band spread on the trench surface. The width broadens with depth.

I store enough tools, a shredder, screens, and junk under an adult grapefruit tree to fill a two car garage but none of it is visable through the foliage shroud. I also have, under there in deep shade, two of the round city trash barrels adapted for  compost. I turn them weekly during warm weather, monthly otherwise.

Dick

Bcc: Arid Gardener - - PS: The owner of this address, or a facsimile thereof, gave me this email, OBERLYJD@*******  to send an article on composting. The address won't work for me. Does anyone know how to get in touch with this person.

Dick Gross, MGV
Maricopa County Cooperative Extension. 

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Jo Setliff 
  To: Dick Gross 
  Cc: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 8:57 PM
  Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Pink Grapefruit Tree

  Dick,

  How deep is your "shallow" trench?  Did you dig down to make the trench or build up the sides above ground level?

  My orange tree is on a slope so I've decided that my "throw the hose under it on a trickle all night" method is letting too much run off down the hill.  I'm going to have to get serious and I want to build this moat right the first time. I had a tangerine on a slope ion DSan

  Thanks,

  Jo Setliff
  Master Gardener, Maricopa County
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Dick Gross 
    To: Chuck Sarra 
    Cc: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu 
    Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 10:29 AM
    Subject: Re: [Arid_gardener] Pink Grapefruit Tree

    Chuck, you ask questions whose answers would require considerable guesswork. 

    I assume this tree is being installed by the nursery from whom you purchased it. If that is the case - - -

    I recommend that you follow their irrigation instructions to the letter for at least the first year. They have a vested interest in that tree's success.

    Personally, I don't like automatic irrigation on fruit trees that should be watered when they are thirsty, not by a clock that has no concept of soil structure and climate.

    I planted a 10 gallon pink grapefruit in 1970. Today, still in perfect health, the tree, showing no sign of decline, ripens over a thousand sweet fruit every year. The interior is completely shaded to the ground by its own foliage. Since 1973, I have not applied a drop of water in the basin except by divine intervention when it rained two or three times. Irrigation has been only in a shallow trench three feet wide splitting the drip line where feeder roots are concentrated. I fertilize in the same trench in March, June and September when I remember but I am sure some feeders reach into surrounding beds that are frequently watered. I water at least 3 feet deep confirmed with a soil probe. Rember to extend that trench to keep up with outward growth.

    Drive by any commercial grove and note that foliage grows all the way to the ground. Foliage must have it but citrus bark will burn readily with extended exposure to direct sun. That sensitivity accounts for most citrus suffering an early demise. If a tree is weakened by sunburn, it is an easy target for pathogens and insects. Keep those loppers away from the tree. If a branch slaps your wife along side the head every time she walks by the tree, train her to a different route or, guided by her temperament and behavior, let things stand. 

    Or, you can paint the trunk and all exposed branches with a white latex paint available at any mursery or hardware.

    Supporting or controversial opinions are invited for clarification so that we may all learn; broadening the MG intellect the objective.

    Dick Gross, Master Gardener Volunteer
    U of A Maricopa County Cooperative Extension

    ----- Original Message ----- 
      From: Chuck Sarra 
      To: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu 
      Sent: Tuesday, July 11, 2006 3:52 PM
      Subject: [Arid_gardener] Pink Grapefruit Tree

      In the next few days I will be having a pink grapefruit tree (24 inch box) installed in my back yard.  The tree will have a southern exposure and pretty much full sun all year long.  I am planning on using a drip irrigation system to provide water after the first several weeks of hand watering.  This is the full size variety and not the dwarf type tree. 

      I have been told this tree will likely have a large water requirement during the summer time.  I want to install the drip irrigation for now and the future at the same time.  I plan to block off the unneeded drip ports until the tree gets larger and the water requirements increase.

      My question is how many  drip ports will the tree initially require assuming I install 2 gal. per drippers and how often and how long should I run the irrigation.  

      Additionally how many drip ports will the tree require say 5 or 8 years down the road as it develops?   I want to dig in this cement like Az. soil as few time as possible.

      Thanks,  Chuck Sarra   7T2Z at comcast.net

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