My Orange Trees

Fig. 1  Valencia Oranges in the winter. 

While other plants are starting a new season of production, most citrus plants are at the end of a season.   When the garden looks bare and unproductive, the citrus plants remind us that their deciduous counterparts are just taking a break.  They give us a glimpse of summer in a time when the frigid temperatures seem to freeze all possibilites in the garden. 

Fig. 2    First harvest:  Good eating quality, mildly tart, and medium-sized.

 I have two 'Valencia' orange trees that are growing in large pots.  Currently, they are laden with ripe and juicy fruits.  Two weeks ago we harvested some of the fruits in preparation for the supposedly cold snow storm. We did not have the snow but at least the fruits (Fig. 2) got into the kitchen where they are now a regular part of our daily meals.   Soon I will have to harvest them all so that the plant can start another season to produce. 

In my garden I also have a prolific 'Ponderosa' lemon tree where we harvest bags and bags of fruits every winter.   This year I also received a small 'Meyer' lemon tree in a five gallon pot as a present from my mother-in-law.  

Fig. 3    Scale insects on orange fruits.

Last summer these trees were infested with scale insects.   Since the trees are of manageable sizes, I decided to mechanically remove the insects off the branches, patiently.  However, it was battle between me and the ants.   As I demolished colonies of scale insects, the ants literally relocated the "pioneer" scale insects into new territories.  No insecticide was applied.  Some of the branches were severely damaged that I cut them off during the growing season.  The ones that I missed are seen as leafless branches on Fig. 1.  I hoped to win the battle against my wingless enemies (scale insects) the humane or organic way but I lost!   I saw them on the fruits (Fig. 3).  Those black dots on the rind are scale insects.    Somehow, I fear that even after harvesting all of the fruits, some ants somewhere will protecting another "pioneer" to settle on the next spring leaves.

Fig. 4  Limited growing space require regular pruning of plant.

Soon, I will have to harvest ALL the fruits in order to relieve the tree from these demanding "sink".   In a plant the sink is the destination of synthesized food substances from the source which is the leaves.  In families, the young kids can be paralleled to a sink and the parents are the source. :)  

The tree will need to be replenished with all the lost nutrients soon.  Fertilization is more important in potted plants than their in-ground counterparts since there is a limited hunting area for the roots. 

Pruning will also be necessary to remove as much of the damaged branches as possible.   Since the trees also serve as ornamental plants, they will have to be trimmed and cut back to maintain a shape and size that is suitable for the limited space on that side of the yard (Fig. 4). 

"A man ought to carry himself in the world as an orange tree would if it could walk up and down in the garden, swinging perfume from every little censer it holds up to the air."

~Henry Ward Beeher