I’m growing out Sugar Belle citrus which is something like minneola only earlier. It is clementine x minneola. It is not available in Texas so growing out a seedling is the only way to get it. Sugar Belle is proprietary as well and licensed. But Sugar Belle seedlings are OK and citrus comes true from seed except for a very few exceptions. I formerly was growing out shiranui as well but stopped when bud wood became available.
I grew out the seedling big enough to make bud wood a couple feet tall. Then I collected bud wood and grafted it to a vigorous root stock Swingle which is trifoliate x grapefruit. Swingle makes the tree grow at least 2x times faster than the usual trifoliate orange rootstock often used in my area. In 4 or 5 years you get a large tree vs 10 years for the other rootstock. I grafted it since many citrus don’t do well on their own roots. It will take about 5 years to fruit or so. I also gave several grafted rootstocks to friends to grow out.
My tree is like a layer cake, rootstock on the bottom, sugar belle in the middle and two bearing varieties on top, turkish sugar orange and shiranui or sumo citrus and both have fruit this year. I’ll get fruit on the top while waiting for the seedling to flower. Could take more than 5 years. I’m in year 4 now and no blooms only wickedly big thorns up to 3 inches in length. Citrus seedlings often are thorny when the tree is young. When the tree matures the thorns will disappear at the top of the tree.
I might add that I paid $250 to import 20 buds of shiranui budwood into Texas from Florida. I had to go thru the Texas bud wood bureau and they now charge a $150 service fee, $35 shipping and $3 a bud. Citrus plant material can’t be imported into Texas or other citrus states by individuals. Illegal imports of citrus trees from Florida brought in citrus canker from Florida to 5 miles from my house.
I think Feijoa would grow here (W. Oregon, USA) and would be an excellent substitute for limes (I am not in citrus country). Do you have suggestions for sources for seeds? I saw them once in the local grocery store and should have kept the seeds.
I can’t help you for seeds, I live in France. I harvested it on vocation in a public garden.
Normally the seeds can’t be preserved, they must be sown immedialy.
The biggest ones were sown in décembre, in my house. The smallest in march. I had 3 kg of fruit for these seeds. The seeds are much smaller than that of actinidia chinensis.
My seedling adventure is way at the other end of the scale from most of you! In the fall of 2016 I designated a “nursery bed” in my garden and the first planting was some Dudley apple cores, pear seeds and cores, grapes, other odds and ends. It’s been fun watching them grow. I’ve pulled all but the best now. The apple is the largest, ~12", and I’ll transplant him out in the fall. The pears are only 4-5" so at least another year in the nursery. But I have their spots marked already! Long way to get to tasting fruit but I’m enjoying the plants. Sue
I don’t have as much time to spend on my apple seedling project anymore but here is a thread on them New Apple Seedling Varieties. Gorgeous trees now that produce plenty of good apples!
Excellent thread Clark. Quite an interesting and awesome project. As it comes to be, I bought a bag of Honeycrisp apples last night. While I never considered myself a big fan of apples, they were so delicious. I’m now rethinking apple varieties to grow. So far I have: ‘Rubinette’, Golden Delicoius, Gold Rush, Pristine, Cameo, and Ashmead’s Kernel.
Congrats on your success!
Is the wild gene pool you’ve gotten your seeds from something you stumbled on and local?
@Barkslip
Dax,
The original seeds came from Michigan’s woods I think but can’t recall for sure and they are 100% wild apples. Several people on here grow some of my wild apples. I’ve grafted in an additional wild red flesh I got from @chartman that I will likely cross with a 3rd or 4th generation wild apple. It will be 5 years until you see that one. I think you would enjoy this thread In search of the next great apple variety! - #39 by chartman and this one Seedling Apples for cider
Root pruning containers which I do not recommend for large growing trees. They’re great though for hardwood/softwood cuttings and tomato plants or pepper plants or flowers etc. Here are a couple of my favorite sellers:
This is the ultimate starter pack. It won’t get any better than this. I spent days on the internet researching:
And the 22 cm x 20 cm from this seller is as large as I’ve found w/o going to root pruning gallon containers made of denser fabric/again I’ve done hours of research (20 x 22 = 1/2 gal./2 qt. container) :
I’ve switched to Stuewe containers that are at least 10” tall. A pawpaw seedling in a Stuewe MT2510 (2.5” x 10”) will grow to 18-24” in its first year vs those root growing bags that make a 3-5” seedling. I only know because my buddy showed me this one-season-growth pawpaw seedling. He has 100’s of pawpaw seedlings all that size/same amount of time.
Arriving today are MT310 that I’m going to use for Kanza pecans. 3” x 10”
I also bought the flat and legs to go with the flat. (Tray6 & Tray Leg)
The Tray6 is great alone to fill and plant say 100 pecans in it which will get them up 6-7" their first year and then knock it over and the seedlings come apart so easily to be transplanted. So dual use of the Tray6
It’s been my observation that tall pots are best for tree seed. Of course I don’t know what you’re growing in those 3.5” x 5” cell trays.
Primarily they will be used for aronia and juneberry seedlings this spring. Plan to start them indoors under lights, also I will be transplanting some rooted black currant cuttings into them that I have going right now.