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Feb 11, 2015 9:48 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Those are tiny oranges then. With all the seeds and their small size, what are these particular oranges used for? I have never heard of this variety.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 10:16 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
I think people grow them because they're really pretty, shapely trees that stay small, about 12ft. so they are nice for a small yard. The fruit is often juiced. One of my MG friends makes a Calamondin pie (like Key Lime) that is to die for.

Some of the very best tasting oranges are seedy, to tell the truth. People grow them for the taste and just "deal" with the seeds. When you move to FL and taste the dozens of different kinds of oranges people grow, you'll understand that a Navel with no seeds but no taste is just not worth growing compared to a Honeybelle with seeds that is just an explosion of flavor.

IF there are any orange trees left in Florida by the time you get here, that is.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Feb 11, 2015 10:36 AM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
Avid Green Pages Reviewer Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Rabbit Keeper Frugal Gardener Garden Ideas: Master Level
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The Calamondin fruit also has medicinal qualities.
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Feb 11, 2015 10:48 AM CST
Name: Sandy B.
Ford River Twp, Michigan UP (Zone 4b)
(Zone 4b-maybe 5a)
Charter ATP Member Bee Lover Butterflies Birds I was one of the first 300 contributors to the plant database! Million Pollinator Garden Challenge
Seed Starter Vegetable Grower Greenhouse Region: United States of America Region: Michigan Enjoys or suffers cold winters
Elaine, thanks for the link to the database entry; that definitely looks like what I have, although mine has never had anywhere near that amount of fruit on it... I've actually only tasted one of the oranges one time and didn't really think it tasted all that great, maybe it wasn't quite ripe (or was overripe) or something Shrug! It does flower profusely though, and gives my sunroom a lovely orange-blossom scent when it does Thumbs up (And it isn't thorny.)
“Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight." ~ Albert Schweitzer
C/F temp conversion
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Feb 11, 2015 10:52 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Yeah, I know about the citrus "belt" becoming narrower and narrower, or at least further and further south. Fifty years ago, there were many citrus growers along the coasts of LA, MS, and AL. They are long gone. The constant, heavy frosts/freezes wiped them all out. I can remember when there was grove after grove of citrus from Gainsville north. Are any of those still around?
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 11:09 AM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
It's not the weather so much as Citrus Greening disease that is wiping out generations of orange growers here in Florida. The University researchers have been hard at work to find a prevention or cure, but so far it's going to be recovery by attrition. If any citrus trees survive, they will breed new resistant varieties from them and the industry will start up again. So far only the attrition is going on. It's very sad.
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Feb 11, 2015 11:28 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
That may be true for Florida but certainly had nothing to do with those growers along the coastal areas of the south. I just remember my uncle talking about all the cold weather reducing the orchards around where he lived (Gainsville area). He never mentioned a disease as being the cause. This was 3-4 decades ago when he talked about the loss of acreage. He lived in Alachua for seventy years before his death in 2002.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 12:51 PM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
Avid Green Pages Reviewer Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Rabbit Keeper Frugal Gardener Garden Ideas: Master Level
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drdawg, While I do not disagree with what you may have been told by your uncle 30 or 40 years ago, there is in fact a problem with Citrus Greening along coastal areas of the south. This may be newer information than your uncle had.
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Feb 11, 2015 1:23 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Perhaps so. Do you know how long this disease has been recognized as a serious problem for commercial citrus growers?

By the way, my uncle was a CPA (the only CPA in Alachua). He had numerous large-farm clients all around the Gainsville area. He also was involved in Florida state governmental and Florida university audits. He was a pretty astute guy. Perhaps the disease was not a serious problem during his time in Florida (90 years) or perhaps was simply not recognized for what it was. I really don't know this. I visited him often and he delighted in taking me out to visit some of those clients' farms, vegetable and citrus.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 2:57 PM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
Avid Green Pages Reviewer Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Rabbit Keeper Frugal Gardener Garden Ideas: Master Level
Plant Identifier Region: Georgia Native Plants and Wildflowers Composter Garden Sages Bookworm
Did you ever stop to think that maybe your uncle just never got around to talking about it with you while you were visiting? Maybe there were better and more interesting than citrus diseases? Thumbs up
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Feb 11, 2015 3:51 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
That's possible, Greene. He sure did talk about how the cold seemed to be moving further and further into Florida and how that affected some of his clients. Several of those clients switched from citrus to vegetables during the years that I visited him down there. As I said, I really don't know. I am still waiting to hear back about when this citrus disease began to impact Florida growers. You know plant diseases, just like human disease, come and go, peak and subside.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 4:56 PM CST
Name: Elaine
Sarasota, Fl
The one constant in life is change
Amaryllis Tropicals Multi-Region Gardener Orchids Master Gardener: Florida Irises
Herbs Region: Florida Vegetable Grower Daylilies Birds Cat Lover
I think it's only within the last 5 or 6 years that Citrus Greening disease has had an economic impact but evidently it appeared in Florida in 2005. http://www.crec.ifas.ufl.edu/e...

Yet another disease that we have imported from Asia. Here's a short article on it:
http://www.saveourcitrus.org/i...
Elaine

"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." –Winston Churchill
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Feb 11, 2015 5:04 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Thanks, Elaine. That explains it then. My uncle passed away in 2002. He could hardly have known about the disease since it didn't appear in Florida until 2005. It certainly would not have been evident along the coastal areas of LA, MS, or AL during the 70's, 80's, or 90's either.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Feb 11, 2015 5:41 PM CST
Name: greene
Savannah, GA (Sunset 28) (Zone 8b)
I have no use for internet bullies!
Avid Green Pages Reviewer Keeper of Poultry Vegetable Grower Rabbit Keeper Frugal Gardener Garden Ideas: Master Level
Plant Identifier Region: Georgia Native Plants and Wildflowers Composter Garden Sages Bookworm
Don't forget coastal Texas, too.
Sunset Zone 28, AHS Heat Zone 9, USDA zone 8b~"Leaf of Faith"
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Feb 11, 2015 5:52 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
I forgot about Texas. When I was young, I remember always looking for Texas grapefruit. I guess these citrus trees are still growing there, perhaps in the Rio Grande region, southwestern Texas.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
Last edited by drdawg Feb 11, 2015 6:03 PM Icon for preview
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Feb 21, 2015 8:28 PM CST
Name: Alice
Flat Rock, NC (Zone 7a)
Birds Overwinters Tender Plants Indoors Region: North Carolina Hydrangeas Hummingbirder Dog Lover
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We have a quarantine for citrus greening disease here in the SC Lowcountry also. Be sure to always buy trees that have been officially certified disease free by the dept of agriculture. Once it gets into the community it is difficult, if not impossible to eradicate. Satsuma and Ponkan are varieties of delicious tangerines that are particularly hardy and easy to grow.
Minds are like parachutes; they work better when they are open.
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Feb 21, 2015 8:59 PM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
Thumbs up
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 4, 2015 10:52 AM CST
Name: Cindy
Hobart, IN zone 5
aka CindyMzone5
Celebrating Gardening: 2015 Plant Identifier
Just "rediscovered" the website so late to the discussion. My potted Meyer lemon does put out a few thorns but I do snip off the ones in the most "inconvenient" places (like the trunk or the outside branches). Makes it a little easier to move in and out of the house. Haven't noticed any damage from removing the thorns.
Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can't eat money. Cree proverb
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Mar 4, 2015 10:55 AM CST
Thread OP
Name: Ken Ramsey
Vero Beach, FL (Zone 10a)
Bromeliad Vegetable Grower Region: United States of America Tropicals Plumerias Orchids
Region: Mississippi Master Gardener: Mississippi Hummingbirder Cat Lover Composter Seller of Garden Stuff
I only have the single (unknown) citrus tree, and though it has few thorns, if they are readily available for me to get to, I will snip them off.
drdawg (Dr. Kenneth Ramsey)

The reason it's so hard to lose weight when you get up in age is because your body and your fat have become good friends.
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Mar 4, 2015 7:06 PM CST
Name: Tom
Southern Wisconsin (Zone 5b)
Butterflies Vegetable Grower Keeper of Poultry Irises Keeps Horses Dog Lover
Daylilies Cat Lover Region: Wisconsin Celebrating Gardening: 2015
I had a grapfruit tree that I started from seeds for many years as a potted house plant. I'd put it outside in the summer. It lived for about 10 or so years, then it just died. It never bloomed or tried to produce fruit. It got about 5 feet tall.
Politicians are like diapers, they need to be changed often, and for the same reason.

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