[Arid_gardener] Seville Orange care follow-up

Thu Aug 23 11:08:16 MST 2007

Good morning,

Let me follow up by urging caution in using certain chemicals and treatment
methods to care for your Seville Orange or any citrus or other tree. 

First, be aware that more trees and other plants in Arizona are killed by
too much water than by too little water.  The ideal with any plant is to
water deeply (for trees, to a depth of three feet) and infrequently.
Frequent and shallow applications of water are very bad for a tree, and
particularly with citrus may result in infection by water-borne diseases.
Shallow watering daily for seven days followed by two more weeks of regular
water is not a regimen supported by University of Arizona research.

Next, in constructing a watering basin, always build a ring on top of the
soil to retain water; never dig down into the soil around a tree to
construct a basin.  Many of the fine feeder roots of a tree are contained in
the upper layers of soil and can be damaged by digging.  Trees are very
sensitive to any change in surrounding soil level.

While there are many iron-containing products on the market, the key in
finding one is to look for the percentage of "chelated" or available iron.
Our local soils tend to have plenty of iron in them; it's simply not
available because of the alkaline soil.  Adding an iron product that does
not contain chelated iron is a waste.  Also, be aware that Ironite, while
very popular, is derived from mining waste and is known to contain high
levels of lead and arsenic and has, pound for pound, a very low amount of
iron.  Strictly as a matter of personal preference, I prefer to use a
product that does not cause a build-up of toxic chemicals in the soil.
Also, using a product with more available Iron per pound makes economic
sense.   

Please do not walk on wet soil in order to "work" fertilizer into the soil.
Walking on wet soil compacts and permanently damages that soil and possibly
crushes feeder roots, both of which will harm your tree.  Scratch the dry
fertilizer gently into the soil with a rake if necessary.

Research at UC Davis, Sunset magazine, and elsewhere has shown that plants
do not derive any benefit from the addition of Vitamin B.  The Maricopa
Master Gardener Program addresses Vitamin B briefly in a section on
transplanting in the book "Desert Landscaping for Beginners."  You'll find
it under the section called "Transplanting Myths."

Thanks much,

Tyler

Master Gardener

 <mailto:tyler at tylerstorey.com> tyler at tylerstorey.com

 <http://tylerstorey.com> http://tylerstorey.com

602-738-2978

  _____  

From: arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu
[mailto:arid_gardener-bounces at CALS.arizona.edu] On Behalf Of Genie
Sent: Wednesday, August 22, 2007 1:45 PM
To: arid_gardener at CALS.arizona.edu; FrancesH at openworksweb.com
Subject: [Arid_gardener] FRANCES -- Your Seville (Mock) Orange Tree

Hi Frances, 

Your tree is called a Seville Orange; and you are correct... in the
Mediterranean the fruits are used to 
produce marmalades.  In the U.S. it is called a "Mock Orange" -- as most
folks are unaware that the fruit  
is edible. 

Personally, this is one of my favorite rootstocks: 
It is hardy even when temps dip into the teens, nearly impossible to kill,
and the ones growing at my 
hubby's childhood home are (at least) 65 years old.  Even if an extreme cold
wave severely injures the tree,  
you simply cut it to ground level -- and it will likely come back the next
year.  

Your tree may have suffered a bit from last year's cold winter -- the
coldest in 27 years,  Frances! 
It is certainly worth a bit of effort to see if the tree (at it's current
size) can be saved, before chopping it 
to ground level and starting anew. You *may* wish to consider trying this
regimen: 

Start off by purchasing some "Ironite", a small bottle of Vitamin B-1 (shake
well), and a handful of sulfur. 
(The sulfur is simply a precautionary measure, just in case the tree has a
mild fungus or the soil is 
too alkaline.)  Now for the real work... starting about two feet from the
trunk base, begin scraping away 
a few inches of soil all the way to the canopy (that is, the width of the
tree branches).  When this is completed, 
you will have a nice, shallow "well" surrounding the tree to hold a bit of
water -- but NOT touching the trunk. 
Fill this shallow well with water, then fill it again when it drains.  When
you fill the "well" the third time, 
shake up that small bottle of Vitamin B-1 and pour half of the bottle into
the water filled well.  When it drains, 
fill the well one more time with plain water.  (Yes, you will fill the well
a total of FOUR times.)   Now allow the 
tree to relax for 3 days, then give it another drink or two of plain water. 

Day 4 or 5: Open your bag of sulfur.  Fill the well with water, let it
drain, gently sprinkle in the handful of sulfur, 
then water it again.  The next morning, give it another drink of plain
water.  (This will allow the sulfur to penetrate the soil.)

Day 6 or 7: Open your bag of Ironite.  Fill the well with water, allow it to
drain, then GENEROUSLY sprinkle 
the Ironite micronutrient granules.  If you own a pair of thongs, go in the
well -- and walk on the Ironite granules 
penetrating them into the soil.  Water again. 

For the next two weeks, water and observe your tree.  The leaves *should*
begin to look nicer, with richer 
color.  Water regularly.  If the tree begins to look like it is responding
to this gentle therapy, you may  
use a MILD fertilizer containing Nitrogen in September.  PLEASE DO NOT shock
the old boy by rushing the 
treatments!  Trees that are NOT accustomed to tender-loving-care can go into
shock, and die.   GO SLOW. 

Use NOTHING MORE than plain water until spring, 2008.   He *should* look
much happier... unless we have 
another bone rattling cold winter. 

Good Luck,  Frances... 
I HOPE THE OLD BOY CAN BE SAVED! 

Kindest Regards,  Genie

Message: 7
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:02:27 -0700
From: "Olin Miller"  <mailto:olindmiller at att.net> <olindmiller at att.net>
Subject: [Arid_gardener] Re: Artificial Orange Tree
To: "Frances Hallman"  <mailto:FrancesH at openworksweb.com>
<FrancesH at openworksweb.com>,
         <mailto:arid_gardener at cals.arizona.edu>
<arid_gardener at cals.arizona.edu>
Message-ID: <012101c7e447$5bf67d40$c569480c at DJWC0N81>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
        reply-type=original

It appears that Frances meant to say "ornamental" orange tree.  Can somebody

familiar with life span and care of sour orange trees comment.  I know here 
are many citrus trees grafted onto sour orange rootstocks that are well over

40 years old but I have no experience wih the sour orange tree.

Olin
===================================================
----- Original Message ----- From: "Frances Hallman" 
 <mailto:FrancesH at openworksweb.com> <FrancesH at openworksweb.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 8:45 AM
Olin,
It is a real orange tree; my understanding was they are called
artificial because about the only thing you can use the oranges for is
marmalade.  Sorry if I don't have the name right.
======================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Olin Miller [mailto:olindmiller at att.net]
To: arid_gardener at Ag.arizona.edu;
Frances Hallman
Subject: Re: Artificial Orange Tree
Please forgive me if I misunderstood the question but it dos not appear
to
have anything to do with gardening.  Seems to have more to do with home
decor.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
============================================

----- Original Message ----- From:  <mailto:francesh at openworksweb.com>
<francesh at openworksweb.com>
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 9:18 AM>

85018
I have an artifical orange tree that is about 40 years old.  The

leaves

have become wrinkly and more sparse.  Can fertilizing help with this
problem? Is there anything that can help the health of this old orange
tree?

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