Posted on 11/08/2013 12:23:38 PM PST by greeneyes
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Our bad heat starts in June. We go from hot but not terrible in May, then June for the rest of summer is a killer. It may be hotter here in June than it is in Ft. Worth where Johnny is. I also have more humidity than Johnny does.
So, maybe you could start the stuff in mid to late March for regular peas if you like them. You’ve got a nice trellis, IIRC, just hate to see it not being used.LOL
At 5:45, I have my overnight low of 34, with 39 at the airport.
Went over to see a sick baby in the neighborhood yesterday, the one that we am raising money to help. Her bloodwork last week was not good. Please pray for her.
we am = we are raising money, in post #184
I went outside to survey the back 40 and I think my food plants are happy with this cooler weather. It gives me pleasure to see the plants in the net room being safe from freaking squirrels. One of the tomato plants in there has blooms on it now. The Stevia plant now has tiny white flowers blooming. See what I mean - they like this cool weather so much they are blooming. The Sweet Potato leaves are still dark green and lush looking - no hint they are thinking of dying. Maybe I will have some large sweet potatoes one of these days. Don’t ask when I planted them because I don’t remember. I have to get a notebook to follow these plants.
The carrot tops are tall and swell and the turnip leaves are getting quite large, there are bunches of them. Can you believe I sprouted those seeds and now have actual food growing?
The Brussels Sprouts two plants are getting tall. The lettuce keeps growing.
ABOUT THE STRAWBERRY PLANTS: While looking through my garden folder looking for something else, I found the order for the strawberry plants. That company sent me a double order and I didn’t think I ordered that but guessed I must have since I got them. No, the order proves I ordered 24 and they sent me 48, that’s why I’ve got all those strawberry plants. They look fine.
The big squash has added about another two inches so it’s about 20 inches long now. There are still blooms on the plant but the top part of the plant is really yellow and the leaves around the top are mostly dead.
Oh, yes, the Walking Onions are just swell in their box.
I think deciding what seeds to get as I have done (still need a dwarf lemon tree and blackberry plants but I may get an Avocado “tree” instead of a lemon tree because I can’t find a lemon tree that will ship to Texas. It’s possible Lowes might have them for us in Texas later. The Avocado is a small tree like the Meyer Lemon.
Here I am in southeast Texas where I can grow fruit and I can’t find fruit to grow. That doesn’t compute.
Are you pollinating the flowers by hand?
Yes, I can believe that you sprouted seeds, and transplanted them. You are a determined person. Just wait till you can prepare some things to eat! You’ll feel even better.
I would think that somewhere in Texas you could get some fruit to grow. It kinda makes sense that they want to limit import for spread of diseases etc. but you should have something available in state I would think.
Okay, here’s the answer to your question regarding Meyer Lemon and info on other citrus. Looks like you’ll have to get it locally or from this Citrus Center.
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2008/jan08/TexasCitrus.html
I will hand pollinate the tomato flowers. I just saw them open today so tomorrow I’ll use a cheap electric toothbrush to gently shake the back of the flowers and that will release the pollen. I’ll take a closer look at the flower to make sure it is opened well before I do that. I wasn’t inside the net room when I saw them.
That is a research center and no plants are sold there. I had already clicked on a link from there to try to find a place in south Texas that sells the lemon, but so far I have not found a place. There has to be such a place.
If you can wait till spring(3mo) you can get fruit trees locally.
Have you ever seen a dwarf Meyer lemon tree at Lowes? Whatever fruit tree it is, it has to be small enough for a pot. I researched trees and what is normally called a “dwarf” would be 18 feet instead of 20 feet tall and/or 15 feet wide instead of 20 feet wide. The name distinction “dwarf” means nothing when you’re talking about regular trees. There was even an ultra dwarf and it would be 10 feet instead of 15 feet wide, etc. They are not talking about tiny trees.
My wife bought mine at HEB
“My wife bought mine at HEB”
That’s amazing. Would not have thought they would have them.
https://sites.google.com/site/johnpanza/
How far are you from Lake Jackson Texas? This guy has citrus for sale, and advertises that he has Meyer Lemon, but references Texas Law prohibiting mail order.
He does travel to some other locations, but I am not that familiar with Texas geography, so don’t have a clue where they are.
He has some good information links that may be of interest.
I would like to find someone that has paw paws so that I could taste the fruit. If I liked it, I would plant several along the boundary of my property. They are native and cold hardy with not much to bother them.
“How far are you from Lake Jackson Texas?”
That is closer to the coast. Ron Paul used to live not far from here, then he moved to Lake Jackson and he’s still there.
Rightly saying his wife got him one at HEB was amazing. If they are so tightly controlled, I’m surprised a grocery store had them. You can buy them right now everywhere across the country but not here.
Yeh, and the nurseries have to get the bud stock from that research center, so it’s not like they can just do whatever they want either, just because they are in Texas.
Did you check that guy’s link? He also goes to several other towns during the year, but I don’t know if any of them would be any closer to you.
I take it that HEB is a grocery store?
They dont have anything green right now, but come springtime it all changes, they sell all kinds of stuff.
—Meyer Lemon is one of the most winter hardy citrus for Houston.
Because it will repeat bloom it is often used in the landscape for it’s fragrance as well as the fruit.
Lemons like a sunny well drained location.
The Meyer lemon grows to 15ft or more tall and wide.
The Meyer Lemon Tree is named for Frank Meyer of the USDA, who brought the plant from China in 1908. By the mid 1940s, the Meyer Lemon had become a staple citrus tree throughout Southern California. It was discovered that a majority of the Meyer lemon trees being propagated were carriers of the Tristeza Virus, a virus which had killed millions of citrus trees all over the world and rendered others useless for production. After this finding, most of the Meyer lemon trees in the United States were destroyed to save other citrus trees. A virus-free selection was found in the 1950s by Four Winds Growers in California. This selection, named Improved Meyer Lemon, was certified and released by the University of California in 1975.—
Source: Maas Nursery, Seabrook Tx(S.Houston)
Have you thought about buying one of these and keeping it pruned to a small size? I am not going to let either of mine grow any taller that I can reach from the ground, and I may keep them to container size. Bonzai trees are just normal trees that are kept tiny by trimming them.
Just a thought trying to help a FRiend.
PS: My 78yo preacher climbs his trees to pick lemons and figs, but my feets aint leaving terra firma.
I have read about the Meyer Lemon and know to keep it in a container so it won’t grow huge. The smaller the container, the smaller the tree will be.
If I could find one now, I’d use it for a small Christmas tree instead of putting up the usual small fake one I have.
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