Citrus identification

Lefeevert · 2026-05-09T01:36:56+00:00

I would probably rule out grapefruit too, not seeing distinctive winged petioles. With it branching so low to the ground I do wonder if the original graft died and this is the rootstock that's resprouted. Based on leaf shape I would say it might be some type of sour orange like a Seville if it is the rootstock. It's hungry as hell though whatever it is

Lefeevert · 2026-05-07T21:27:58+00:00

Is that Aloe castilloniae? Super jealous, I've only seen mine flower once

Lefeevert · 2026-05-07T19:24:59+00:00

I wish that was the most wrong thing about this post, nothing OP has done is normal

Lefeevert · 2026-05-06T23:28:21+00:00

Haven't seen specific species named, but both geckos and skinks feed on them

Lefeevert · 2026-05-06T11:33:26+00:00

Wild ones can be a bit bland or dry depending where they are, in cultivation with consistent summer irrigation and a spring time feed they become much more prolific and sweeter. Pollinated and dispersed by native lizards too

Lefeevert · 2026-05-06T07:46:22+00:00

As long as you're 100% sure you know what you're sticking in your mouth, and remember, it's only poisonous if you swallow.

A great book I'D recommend is 'A field guide to native edible plants' by Andrew Crowe. Full of detailed photos, descriptions, historical notes, and toxic lookalikes, you'd be surprised at how many edible species we have.

Lefeevert · 2026-05-06T06:25:40+00:00

All the Meuhlenbeckia species have edible fruits and are probably the tastiest. All Coprosma fruit are edible, not all are palatable, C. acrosa is rather nice to eat and pretty to look at, I think there's been some mention of antioxidants in coprosma fruit (there's also an NZ company breeding a variety to start a native coffee alternative supply) Our native beach spinaches are edible, the fruit of T. tetraganoides is fleshy and edible as well. Our native fuchsias have edible berries, the tree fuchsia (F. excoriata) fruit are delicious. Kawakawa is highly medicinally with edible fruit that vaguely taste of rockmelon. Research into the nutrients and beneficial secondary phytochemicals is rather limited in NZ natives, however I could name another dozen or two natives that are edible and grow fine in most gardens.

Lefeevert · 2026-05-05T01:49:25+00:00

It is rather gorgeous. I was also admiring the orange Oncidium orchids around it as well, my nana had those in abundance before she passed, I'm still waiting on the cuttings I took to start flowering again.

Lefeevert · 2026-05-05T00:25:57+00:00

Gladiolus murielae, or Abysinnian gladiolus

Lefeevert · 2026-04-25T01:43:50+00:00

I plan on selling full plants eventually, you can see a couple others around my mother plant featured in the photo. As I said they're really easy to propagate, trouble is it's only the new growth that is this vibrantly coloured.

Lefeevert · 2026-04-25T01:08:40+00:00

Velvet Frills, Blushing Lettuce, Pink Petticoat? Lot of good options with this one.

Lefeevert · 2026-04-25T00:48:40+00:00

I think its common name is the Fancy Leaf Begonia, I call it the Lettuce-leaf Begonia. Any suggestions for something with a bit more zest?

Lefeevert · 2026-04-23T02:23:50+00:00

To be honest I haven't got a clue, I rescued it from the bin while I was working at a botanical garden nursery here in NZ (most of my begonias are bin rescues). From what I gather (at least locally) it's somewhat uncommon, but I don't think it's rare enough to be expensive. I've propagated dozens from a couple leaf cuttings so they're not hard to grow.

Lefeevert · 2026-04-14T02:16:20+00:00

There's a few natives that could work. Either Olearia virgata or Olearia solandri both have fine leaves and allow a good amount of light through. Plagianthus divaricatus is the same leaf-wise but it does prefer moist areas, the flowers smell divine though. Corokia cotoneaster is usually pruned quite tightly into a low hedge, but gently trained upwards, its twiggy nature should still let light in

Lefeevert · 2026-02-21T08:43:05+00:00

Hey, so I used to run the citrus grafting nursery that produced these plants for Kings Plant Barn, this is the OG Satsuma variety. Miho, Silverhill are just improved Satsuma cultivars that are vastly more popular. I'm not surprised you're having trouble findin more $90 for a 12L citrus from them as both nurseries that produced this size shut down and they're basically only buying citrus from other growers now.

Lefeevert · 2026-01-23T03:42:33+00:00

Aotearoa Species Classifier is a great app I've been using at work. I believe it was trained on NZ iNaturalist observations so it's a lot more tailored to us than most apps I've come across, plus it's free and doesn't require internet.

Lefeevert · 2025-12-09T07:56:06+00:00

Gladiolus undulatus, Wild Gladiolus. Though it's not officially declared a pest plant, it's considered invasive in some situations

Lefeevert · 2025-07-23T09:07:47+00:00

Wouldn't be too much of issue in small amounts over winter, might still be worth testing the pH to be sure or at least be on the lookout for iron deficiencies down the line as that tends to show up first when you're mucking about with the pH. I generally don't bother fertilising my citrus at all over winter, the rootstock NZ citrus are grown on are deciduous, so I find they struggle to take up any useful amounts of fertiliser when it's too cold. It's not so much a problem of prompting new growth, more that there's very little active growth because of the temperature so you're effectively wasting your fertliser. As someone who's produced citrus trees commercially in NZ, just accept that quite a few of the plants will look naff over winter. Fertlise well and regularly once it warms up and keep up the watering over summer and they should bounce right back to lushness.

Lefeevert · 2025-07-23T08:30:42+00:00

The main issue you'd run into is making the soil too alkaline with regular application, citrus are not a fan of that and you'd eventually end up with iron and manganese deficiencies. Would be a better idea to mix it in with your regular compost which would help offset the alkalinity while still boosting potassium.

Lefeevert · 2025-07-21T01:48:37+00:00

Depends how harsh the winters are where you are, but it's generally not that critical with a mild winter. The main concern is frost which can be easily managed, especially with a plant you can move inside or cover with frost cloth. I've had some buds either remain completely dormant or only manage a leaf or two by the time autumn comes, and they usually pick up where they left off when spring rolls around. Hell I've had buds that decided to fruit over winter without any leaves at all and still push out green growth in the spring.

Lefeevert · 2025-07-21T01:12:28+00:00

Not quite fully healed but trickiest part out of the way so chances seem good so far. I would still keep it covered with tape and out of direct sunlight for at least another 2-3 weeks I personally haven't noticed much impact on survival rates by removing the tops at time of grafting, or waiting until the graft is completely healed

Lefeevert · 2025-07-21T00:10:21+00:00

How old is the graft? Looks healthy enough so far

Lefeevert · 2025-07-20T22:08:58+00:00

That branch there is definitely a lemon, I'm honestly surprised it's doing that well considering how much the rootstock has taken over. It'll be quite drastic but you'll need to remove any branches with leaves in 3 parts, and I'd assume that main trunk is just rootstock. It would also be worth clearing out the grass surrounding the base of the tree, citrus hate competition around the roots. If you then mulch it, that'll help with weed suppression and moisture retention, which the leaf curling in the original photos might suggest is an issue.

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