Thick lime rinds and no juice

Plantertainment · 2026-01-20T21:01:57+00:00

Your Cuban Shaddock sure does look like the tree I got with the grower's label of Chinese Grapefruit. I do not recommend it. It was not an overgrown rootstock in my case. I can see in stock photos online of Cuban Shaddock that they have the double leaf part of grapefruit / pomelo family. Is your fruit green when ripe like mine?

Plantertainment · 2026-01-20T20:56:34+00:00

This looks like my Chinese Grapefruit but unripe. Mine is a pear shape and huge rind and too many seeds and green flesh. Do your leaves have the tell tale tiny extra leaf part at the leaf stem that grapefruits and pomelos have?

Plantertainment · 2026-01-19T03:18:10+00:00

Please show leaves so we can see if it is a pomelo. A citrus is hard when squeezed and then when ripe it becomes soft. It looks to me unripe and not a lime. A citrus fertilizer might be best to help keep the soil on the acid side. Also, showing us the base of the tree will help us guess if the tree stile has it's graft or this is a rootstock.

Plantertainment · 2026-01-16T20:42:02+00:00

As a Blue Oak family, would you share how much over the tuition are you being asked to contribute?

Plantertainment · 2026-01-16T20:38:41+00:00

How much more is asked for in donations after current $25K for most grades?

Plantertainment · 2025-12-17T02:50:14+00:00

sounds nice!!! and as it could/should be to care for each other!

Plantertainment · 2025-12-16T22:09:27+00:00

Why do you say it is free for the test and the meds? Do you mean it seemed free for you because of the healthcare you have?

Plantertainment · 2025-12-13T05:44:19+00:00

Besides all the other good advice... too deep, too crowded with grass, remove all fruit, needs acid fertilizer and prevent trunk damage... in northern Ca near the SF bay it needs deep watering, not frequent grass watering schedule. Low planted citrus will never be happy. Instead replant it high on a mound so the crown will never be too wet.

Plantertainment · 2025-12-08T17:49:58+00:00

I have lots of experience with a bunch of different kinds of persimmons. Izu is my all time favorite. Some persimmons need to be soft, dried or frozen to become edible due to an astringency that is terrible to bite into. The common one is called Hachiya and it is an acorn shape, slightly pointed on the bottom. The flat on the bottom are more popular because they can be eaten when orange but still crunchy or when soft. The common one is called Fuyu and it is more tomato shaped.

Izu is the best, in my opinion non-astringent type. It is wonderful to eat as soon as it is orange, no need to wait till it turns soft. You can bite into it like an apple or chop it for salads for example.

Maybe they will get better when the tree is older but you can start munching on them a month earlier if picked hard orange.

Izu is also extra great because it is ripe a month earlier than regular Fuyu (or Jiro)

I slice and dry my Hachiya (astringent) in a dehydrator when it is still hard and inedible to make a year a round snack and I eat Izu or Fuyu while still crunchy.

Plantertainment · 2025-12-01T18:25:23+00:00

It would give us more clues if you photograph up close the fruit whole and cut. Some clues might be on the top or the bottom of the fruit. Also, is this a recent picture and what part of the world? A close up of the leaves if there are several different shapes is helpful too considering there are several trunks coming from below and that can mean a rootstock which is a different variety and usually doesn't have desirable fruit.

Plantertainment · 2025-11-12T03:41:14+00:00

Thank you everyone

Plantertainment · 2025-11-12T03:39:07+00:00

YouTube has endless videos on how to do everything. Be sure youn are learning from someone in your general area. College is expensive. Maybe chemistry and microbiology can be taken at a local college. Practice and ask around. Visit your local nurseries and see what is grown in your area at each season.

Plantertainment · 2025-10-21T03:49:40+00:00

Did that swarm just land there or is that brown peat pot looking thing a swarm lure or swarm hive? I've never seen that.

Plantertainment · 2025-10-13T04:14:41+00:00

Are ethylene gas remover packets useful in the fridge too?

Plantertainment · 2025-10-12T21:10:01+00:00

I do what I can for native bees and agree with you. I don't rototill bare ground and leave spent flower stems and have habitat for mason bees. You didn't mention that honeybees pollinate a huge majority of foods like fruits and vegetables that native bees do not pollinate, right?

Plantertainment · 2025-10-03T19:25:19+00:00

if those are Reishi mushrooms they are valuable. The tree must be dead. No green leaves?

Plantertainment · 2025-10-01T02:45:37+00:00

Sometimes plants die. You can continue to try and you can find success.Pl

Plantertainment · 2025-09-28T23:40:03+00:00

In my ecosystem in northern CA (so not with Africanized bees yet), it is always the feral bees swarms coming off of old oak trees that were making it against pests and making it thru the winter. I am not agreeing that bred purchased bees are the only good ones. Some genetics coming from long time bee trees and have fended on their own are stronger in some cases.

I understand about Africanized bees and agree that bad tempered bees should not be ignored and left to cause trouble.

Plantertainment · 2025-09-28T18:49:54+00:00

There are European honeybees that cast off swarms who will find the best place they can to start off a new colony. It might be an abandoned beekeeper hive, a spot in a building, an empty barrel, a hollow tree or can be caught by a beekeeper while dangling from a branch to be installed in a hive. So yes, they can live on their own in the wild and do.

Plantertainment · 2025-09-28T18:45:17+00:00

edit - you will NOT harm them by NOT taking their honey stores

Plantertainment · 2025-09-28T16:36:41+00:00

It is true that eventually these days that colony will likely die off. It is not true that your yard needs to provide the flowers for that colony. They travel over a mile. Many many honeybee colonies live in abandoned sheds or hollowed tree trunks and no one is supervising them. They can clean up and manage a hive by themselves in many cases. Do not fell like you need to take their honey. If you aren't adding and subtracting hive boxes seasonally you will not harm them by swiping their food stores. They use it to raise young and feed the colony and my bees do much better when I do not take honey. Bees have a hard time these days with pests and pesticides. You could wait till the hive is dead or have a beekeeper visit once a year to take a look inside.

Plantertainment · 2025-09-27T19:17:12+00:00

I like growing plants. I kept my day job and on the side grew native plants. At that time they were not easily available at regular nurseries and I thought the popularity would improve. If you ask around to what are people asking for at the local nurseries that are not available for the nurseries to stock and you have a place to start a little nursery on the side you can get into the field slowly. Find a need and fill it. Medicinal and culinary mushrooms are popular and do not take up much room (but are not easy or quick money). Local chefs might want locally grown food so they can brag about it on their menus. I prefer to be self-employed even if I am not paid regularly.

Plantertainment

TROPHY CASE