Showing posts with label Pollination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pollination. Show all posts

Monday, May 14, 2012

Simple Equation for Happy Citrus

Here's a simple equation for happy citrus trees:

Bright sunlight + warm temperatures + ample rain + organic citrus fertilizer = very happy potted lemon and lime trees.

It really is as simple as that. Here are a few pics of my productive lemon tree:

Young lemons developing on the tip of a branch. These lemons grew from flowers that bloomed in early March inside my house. I actually hand-polinated them with the tip of my finger since I don't have a beehive in my house!
Second flush of citrus blossoms in early May. Note the purple/pink buds that are not yet open, the newly opened bloom on the left, the recently pollinated bloom in the center, and the newly developing lemon on the top right portion of the picture.
This year's growth has me very optimistic for a delicious crop of juicy limes and lemons in late fall/early winter, particularly after last year's mediocre citrus season. Actually, it was more my fault than anything else. I placed both potted trees on top of my outdoor table. They blew off during a thunderstorm and suffered some pretty bad damage. The top half of my lime tree snapped off completely! Bad news, but lesson learned. Fingers crossed for 2012.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Bee-ware!

This is not good. Another major reason why we should all move toward natural and organic gardening methods. What would we do without our pollinators and honey?!

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/neonicotinoids-bee-collapse/

Put down the problematic poisons and protect our precious pollinators, please!