I probably let it set too much fruit, honestly. It may not set much fruit next year as a result. We'll see what happens. You should thin citrus, or it can trigger an alternate-bearing pattern.
I lost my Moro Blood Orange in the Uri ice storm. It had survived many previous freezes, but Uri came late in the year, and I think the tree was starting to get more active. I replanted though. I covered it, to no avail. The folks that managed to save their cirus mounded up huge pile of mulch to cover the graft line. Since the area also lost power, lights and heaters didn't work. Blood oranges are very, very good! They also make amazing mimosas! Cara Cara is another very good orange that is popular on the Texas Gulf Coast. It's not a blood orange, but it's not as acidic as many other oranges. And the flavor is great. I'm growing a Torrocco Blood Orange now, after the freeze I couldn't find a Moro. Maltese is a new one for me, never heard of it!
You got me running to order another citrus, LOL. Just placed an order for this one, and variegated pink lemon! Your blood orange looks amazing! I'm a new citrus grower, with almost 0 experience. I've seen the soil that you recommend. But I put mine in regular potting soil before I saw your video. Can they grow in regular potting soil, or would you move them to more draining type?
That's great you're getting some citrus! The most important thing when it comes to growing citrus in containers is to not over-water. Citrus are extremely prone to root rot. I've gotten around this with two key things: 1. Plant them in the self-watering pots with the reservoir on the bottom. They assist with drainage, and the reservoir allows you to water in there instead of soaking the root ball. When you first pot your citrus, you'll have to water over the top of the soil because the roots will not have grown into the reservoir yet, but once the roots reach the reservoir, you can simply add an inch of water in there. 2. You *must* let your citrus dry out 100% periodically. Normally, it is a *horrible* idea to let your trees dry out completely, as you can permanently damage a tree like this. However, citrus can tolerate enormous amounts of drought stress. For citrus in containers, you should let them dry out completely every couple weeks, even to the point of some wilting. This will help clean up that silty muck that can accumulate on the bottom of a container. Rule of thumb: if you aren't sure if you need to water your citrus, don't. It's better to let them go a little dry than a little wet. Generally, the faster draining the mix, the better, but you can use a regular potting mix if you are conservative with watering. Once the tree gets growing, you can water them more liberally in the heat of the summer, but when it's cool/cold and damp, or if you're growing them inside, you need to be cautious with watering.
I have had fruit on my tree for months now! They are orange but tiny little buggers. How long does it take for them to get to size? They’ve just been so tiny for so long. I was wondering, if they are intended to be small. 😂😊
Awesome stuff .. I watch all your fig videos as well :) I was interested to get Moro blood orange tree as well. If you don't mind, can you tell where did you get your or any trustable source .. Thanks!!
Thank you! You won't be disappointed with the Moro. All my grafted citrus are from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. Look them up on Google Maps and give him a call. He doesn't do online sales, but he will take phone orders and ships fast. Tell him I sent you, we know each other pretty well and have met in person many times.
I just got a sanguinelli blood orange sapling. I intend to plant it in the ground where I live though cause Florida. It is on a dwarf root cause I intend to prune it small
I suggest making sure you heavily amend it with compost. The citrus greening issues in Florida have shown to be mitigated some with good soil management practices.
@@2MinuteGardenTips I might put some rabbit droppings mixed in but the instructions say I shouldn't amend the soil initially. Says water it in with root stimulator and mulch around it to prevent weeds and grass. That seemed to work fine for the kumquat earlier until a raccoon tried to dig it up. His days are numbered.
I think it's a 7 gallon container. I buy all my citrus grafted to trifoliate rootstock, so it keeps it permanently dwarfed. Trifoliate rootstock is what you want for container citrus.
Blood oranges can take a hard freeze, but they are probably going to start taking some sort of damage in the 20-25F range. Teens would be a major problem. Could I grow it in-ground here with protection? Probably, but it would be work, and I already have so much to protect! If you're in Zone 9, you can do it with protection on only the coldest couple nights. I wouldn't advise a blood orange in-ground in Zone 8 unless you don't mind building real protection like I have on my avocado tree.
Due to Customs laws, I can't ship plant matter out of the country. Blood oranges are very common world wide, so I would think it would be easy to find a blood orange from anywhere that sells citrus trees or that can be imported.
I live in Leland and would love to have a blood orange tree. Is there a reputable nursery to get these plants from? Also I noticed the grape plants on your Amazon store. I would love to grow grapes for wine making. Have you had success with grape plants? Your You Tube channel is very good!
There is one place, and one place only, that I get my grafted citrus trees. They are all from Stan McKenzie, who owns McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. It's a really nice, easy, 2 hr 15 min drive to his farm in South Carolina from our area. I strongly recommend taking the drive and getting your citrus from him. If you don't want to drive (it is a really nice country roads drive), you can call him and he will ship you a tree. He just sent me one last month and it arrives very quickly. He is *the* citrus guy for the entire southeast and has one of the best collections of rare citrus in the US. As for the grapes, all grapes grown in this area *must* have immunity to Pierce's Disease, or they will eventually die. That leaves you with either growing muscadines (which are native and grow all over the woods here), or other Pierce's Disease resistant varieties. The bad news: they're *all* seeded varieties. The only seedless variety I know of with PD resistance is Orlando Seedless, and I don't think those plants are available to residential growers and sourced commercially only. I have failed at finding PD resistant seedless varieties I can source. I am currently growing Mrs. Munson, a seeded variety from the famous breeder TV Munson that is PD immune, supposed to be a great table grape, but it is seeded. I recommend checking out some of these old varieties developed by TV Munson: www.grayson.edu/Pathways/viticulture-and-enology/vineyard.html There are also some varieties I'm looking into: Villard Blanc, Foxie Lottie. They are both PD resistant. May be worth researching.
@@2MinuteGardenTips Thank you so much. I will contact them and try to go there within the next couple months. I really want a lemon or lime bush too. I will wait on the grapes. I really don’t want muscadine wine, but maybe I can ferment with no added sugar. My grandfather used to grow muscadine up in Beaufort County. I don’t remember how successful he was and he didn’t make wine. Your garden is set up so well and organized. You do a great job! Thanks again!
@@spencer1820 If you are in Florida you cannot bring citrus trees from outside the state. You must get it from a Florida nursery. It's because of a contagious citrus specific virus.
I do not sell citrus cuttings. I suggest looking into the University of California budwood exchange program: citrusvariety.ucr.edu/ If you want a grafted tree, call Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. He will ship you one. That's where I got my tree, so if you get a tree from him, it'll basically be a clone of mine. He's top notch!
I would recommend getting yourself a grafted tree. Seed-grown citrus take 7-10 years to fruit, and a lot of citrus won’t grow true to type. Grafted Moro blood oranges are pretty easy to find. If you call Stan at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC, he will ship you one. That’s where I got mine.
I would not grow citrus from seed. Not only do seed-grown citrus trees take 7-10 years or longer to bear fruit, but the risk of cross-pollination is high, meaning they won’t grow true to type, and the trees will probably grow to be 20-30 feet tall. I would only grow grafted citrus. That way, height can be controlled, you’re guaranteed a quality named variety and they fruit within a year. Planting fruit trees from seed is almost always a bad idea.
A lot of citrus in my area, the Texas Gulf Coast, is grown in Flying Dragon to dwarf it. I have had a kumquat on FD in a pot for 8 or 9 years. I have another FD plant that I grew from a seed in a pot waiting to become something, not sure what. Maybe a 3 in 1. Our " regular " rootstock is tri-floliate orange, because it makes the citrus go semi dormant in winter, which offers some freeze protection. I had a Satsuma, Moro blood orange and a Bloomsweet grapefruit, all on TF rootstock for 15-18 years NW of Houston, until Uri killed them. Along with a Pakistani mulberry, loquat, 10 inch bottle brush, and a host is smaller stuff. Depending on who you ask, we're right on the line of 9a,8b.
