Posted by David Hare-Scott on September 15, 2011, 12:19 am
I would appreciate it if anybody can refer me to a reference on the topic of
whether leaving fruit on a tree alters the flowering and setting of new
fruit for the next season. I have excess citrus fruit from last summer (now
coming into spring) and I have been leaving it on the tree to store it.
Clearly the old fruit cannot stay there forever. Will the old fruit inhibit
new flowering and fruiting until it falls off or is taken off, or will the
new fruit coexist with the old for some period? Is this the same for all
citrus, all fruit, or is every case different?
David
Posted by David Hare-Scott on September 15, 2011, 5:51 pm
Derald wrote:
>
>> I would appreciate it if anybody can refer me to a reference on the
>> topic of whether leaving fruit on a tree alters the flowering and
>> setting of new fruit for the next season. I have excess citrus
>> fruit from last summer (now coming into spring) and I have been
>> leaving it on the tree to store it. Clearly the old fruit cannot
>> stay there forever. Will the old fruit inhibit new flowering and
>> fruiting until it falls off or is taken off, or will the new fruit
>> coexist with the old for some period? Is this the same for all
>> citrus, all fruit, or is every case different?
>>
>> David
> See questions 9 and 10 on page 4 of this document:
> <http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/391-272.pdf>;
>
Thanks, that's a good reference.
> see, also, the fifth paragraph in the section, "PRODUCTION, MATURITY
> AND USE" in this document:
> <http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/citrus/oranges.htm> .
>
> The experts say, "Don't do it" but I've lived all of my life in
> Florida, U.S.A., where -- on the peninsula, at least -- citrus is
> ubiquitous. and holding citrus on homeowners' "dooryard" trees tree
> is common practice. On the tree is the only way to store citrus and
> exposure to winter chill makes the fruit sweeter, although, freezing
> temperatures will cause much of it to fall. For the home grower, I
> don't think the effect, if any, on subsequent cropping is
> significant. More commonly, it seems to result in smaller fruit but
> thinning the new crop might be corrective. Of course, the fruit will
> eventually become overripe and fall and too little water will cause
> it to become dry and "ricy". There is no general rule of thumb:
> Tangerines and murcott start tasting old fairly quickly while most
> oranges and grapefruit retain their flavor well.
I thought it would be a compromise.
David
Posted by David Hare-Scott on September 16, 2011, 12:26 am
Derald wrote:
>> I thought it would be a compromise.
> No doubt, it is, but the consequences are not likely to be drastic.
> If you leave fruit on the tree, I don't believe you'll have a "Lordy,
> what have I done" moment when the new crop sets. If you have several
> specimens, you can always test and draw your own conclusions.
> Remember, if you test, that you'll want to do so over several seasons
> because many varieties don't bear consistently season over season.
> They'll have heavy years followed by light years regardless of what
> you do.
> Curious:
> What varieties do you have? How do you protect trees from cold, if
> necessary?
I have about 50 fruit trees of different kinds. The citrus are oranges,
lemons, cumquats, mandarins, tangelos with different cultivars of each.
They ripened about 1 to 4 months ago and I have been working through them;
eating, freezing, marmalading etc. Right now I have a tangelo and cumquat
still bearing. I have a customer for the cumquats who wants them in a month
but not now.
Only the citrus are frost sensitive here. They all had black plastic
"nightshirts" through winter for their first 3 years. The last few years
they have been naked and done well. The only frost problem that I have with
them is late fruiting in autumn (or even winter) can be damaged, the
immature fruit die and fall off after heavy frost. Mature fruit don't. I
tried Tahitian limes and grapefruit but the cultivars I could get were too
frost tender and died. I have a kaffir lime in a tub that goes under
shelter in winter.
David
Posted by sueb on September 15, 2011, 6:50 pm
> I would appreciate it if anybody can refer me to a reference on the topic of
> whether leaving fruit on a tree alters the flowering and setting of new
> fruit for the next season. I have excess citrus fruit from last summer (now
> coming into spring) and I have been leaving it on the tree to store it.
> Clearly the old fruit cannot stay there forever. Will the old fruit inhibit
> new flowering and fruiting until it falls off or is taken off, or will the
> new fruit coexist with the old for some period? Is this the same for all
> citrus, all fruit, or is every case different?
> David
I don't know anyone who strips a citrus tree, except commercial
growers. Just leave the fruit on until you are ready for it.
I get enough fruit mummies falling off, along with ripe fruit, to know
that old fruit can stay on there, pretty much forever.
Susan B.
Posted by allen73 on September 16, 2011, 1:29 am
You need to graft when 'fruit trees' (http://tinyurl.com/63o8j37 ) are
dormant to avoid stressing the branches.The branch you are going to
cut,should be should be flexible and have multiple buds of new
growth.Bind grafted ends with a rubber band tightly enough
--
allen73
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>> I would appreciate it if anybody can refer me to a reference on the
>> topic of whether leaving fruit on a tree alters the flowering and
>> setting of new fruit for the next season. I have excess citrus
>> fruit from last summer (now coming into spring) and I have been
>> leaving it on the tree to store it. Clearly the old fruit cannot
>> stay there forever. Will the old fruit inhibit new flowering and
>> fruiting until it falls off or is taken off, or will the new fruit
>> coexist with the old for some period? Is this the same for all
>> citrus, all fruit, or is every case different?
>>
>> David
> See questions 9 and 10 on page 4 of this document:
> <http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/datastore/391-272.pdf>;
>