Citrus and Chocolate

Citurs season is around the corner.
My mom used to tell me stories about getting oranges as gifts and how it was so special since they lived up north and of cours they didn't grow aound that area.  Winter is citrus season though and a whole variety of fruits will be available for a decent price.  As the strawberry preserves are being eaten on fresh scones out of the oven it will be time to preserve the citrus in marmalades and candied slices to be enjoyed throught the summer.

This brings to mind my kaffir lime tree.
So it's still kind of small but it's getting bigger and there are plenty of leaves to use in curies, which are also great in the coming cold weather.  I have to admit my favorite is masuman but any curry is good, especially with potatoes.  I don't know what it is but potatoes go great in any curry you can imagine.

What goes better with citrus than chocolate!
Fortunately the chocolate conference is comin up again this year in Addison on the 29th.  Perfect timing since my chocolate stash is coming to it's end from last year.  I bouth seven bars and saved some of the bigger samples you get with your admision ticket.  They will have lots of chocolates to sample and buy. I'm hoping to have a good variety this year an not so much bacon....  Bacon's ok but not really what I want my chocolate poured over, it's much better with scones and jam.

Citrus Seeds and Others

It's amazing how popular the post on citrus seeds still is after all these years.  It gets several hits a day, probably because there really isn't much out ther on planting trees from seed or what to look for and do with them if you desire to go that route.
I am very happy that my kaffir lime tree, started from seed, is still looking good.  It needs to be repotted which I plan to do around the end of the month or beginning of next month.
Another seed I have recently gotten is from the spqghetti squash we had for dinner last night. Still needs a little processing but they should be good. It's the end of the planting time for squash so I need to step on it.  The cucumbers haven't done so well and unless they pick up I'll probably plant the seeds there.  the canteloupe on the other hand are picking up and have secured their place until winter.

Kaffir Lime Tree Update

I had been worried about the poor thing since it had been sitting in the plant hutch for so long and had started loosing more leaves than it was putting out.  Since I moved it to the piano where it's closer to a window it's put forth more leaves and bigger even than it had before. I probably still need to put it in a bigger pot but that's for some other day.  For now I'm happy it's recovering.  I'll have to get the wife to make me some curry soon...

Lemon and Other Citrus Propagation from Seed

It was about two and a half years ago when I posted about starting citrus from seeds.

http://gardentimeline.blogspot.com/2009/02/sprouting-citurs-seeds-lemon-lime.html

Since then there have been multiple copies of that post and others who have posted how they would sprout citrus seeds. One of the stranger ones had you planting the whole fruit. Although I must admit that I haven't tried this method, I highly doubt that that method would work very well.
I have a number of seeds now trying to germinate and since I don't currently have a lot of citrus plants I figure now is a good time to start some more and review the steps and information to go about doing so.
The seeds I will be using are a bit older but they don't seem to have lost any volume so I'll just stick with what I have. Results are usually pretty quick so I'll know if I have to go buy some more limes or whatnot.
I even have the lemon seeds that were in an older post about seeds and what they look like, still pretty good hits on the google image search. They're still different colors too so I know which ones are meyer lemons.
All I really need to do is get some larger pots and good soil. Then peel the outer shell off of the seed and plant. Water when needed. Wait patiently.
A good rule of thumb, is the more you're waiting for the shorter the wait. Typically something will happen every few days of you have a lot of stuff germinating. If you want to see results quickly then plant some beans while you're at it. It will make the wait for everything else seem shorter.

In the Hutch

The fairytale castle cactus is getting bigger. It still looks like just a tower, almost an inch tall, but at least it's growing. It's not meant to be an outside plant except in the spring and fall. Likes water, but not too much, and mild temperatures.

The plumeria and kaffir lime tree are also in the hutch and recuperating from the heat. I'll put them back outside at the end of the month or possibly next month depending on the heat. I've kept them alive this long and really don't want to kill them off by being in too much of a hurry. Kaffir lime seeds aren't that easy to come by.

In the Last Year

I was looking back at the posts from last year around this time to see what was up then.
This year I'm way too booked to attempt to go to the plant swap again. I haven't even checked to see when or if it is happening, just too much going on.
Some of the plants that I had posted have various updates. The lemon tree is still growing though unfortunately it hasn't produced any lemons yet.
The key lime trees are all dead. This is most definitely due to the fact that none of them ever got transplanted or watered regularly. The only exception to this may be the one I gave my brother. He waters much more consistantly at times than I do.
The kaffir lime on the other hand started in a bigger pot and is doing fine. I have used it several times in cooking and it just grows more leaves for me.
The agave plant shown with the spider in it has nearly doubled in size since last year and I really need to remove the smaller one and put it somewhere it can grow better.

Updated

Well, as I feared, the bird of paradise sprouted and promptly died. It is being buried in the compost pile with everything else.
The kaffir lime tree has almost doubled in size in the last two weeks! I don't know what made it want to grow so vigorously but I refuse to complain. I checked to make sure it wasn't a waterspout and I even used a few of it's leaves in a red curry dish (beef) a few days ago.
My kitchen compost bin has gotten a lot of egg shells recently due to a lot of baking, but the recent eggs I have come in contact with had to be thrown away. No, they weren't the recalled eggs in the news recently but they were the eggs of my sweet little cockatiel Lacy. She laid two of them. They both cracked on the cage bottom since she doesn't have a nest. I plan to remedy that soon.

Kaffir Lime Tree

So far as I can tell it's still growing well. There are several new leaves even since this picture. The rain has come though so that's what I have. I'm not getting my camera wet.

I really should put it in a bigger pot soon so it will have room to grow. I think it's about at the size that the pot will allow.

The same goes for my key lime tree, the only one still alive. It's in a much smaller pot and the size clearly reflects it. Maybe I'll get to it next week or so.

Watering

July heat is upon us and about all I can do now is water and hope everything lives.
I put my plumeria sprout out today in a shady spot so it can have some real sunlight even if it is indirect. it seems to be struggling under the grow light.
The cat has eaten quite a few sprouts we had on the window sill. He hasn't bothered the big plants at least. That would probably cause a little bit of a mess.
The kaffir lime tree is still putting out new leaves and getting a little taller.

More Spring Cruise 2010

One of my favorite pics of the trip was this plant. It was a bit taller than we were which afforded this neat perspective straight into the middle of the wavy stems.
I particularly liked the way they twisted as they went out.



Among my other great loves is the sundial. This one particularly struck me a neat because it tells you exactly when we took the picture. As long as you know it's spring then you can look and see where the shadow is falling and read the date. I think it was April 28.



Although I don't have a pic yet. The kaffir lime tree is really showing the beginning leaves more evenly now. Two more have started and show real promise.

Kaffir Lime Tree

It's been over a year now since this little one has sprouted. I remember it like it was yesterday, the little guy fighting to grow and not mind too much when I would forget to water him for a week. He's gotten quite used to the outside where the heat can really be unbearable. The rain of course helped and unlike the plumeria (shown in the background behind it), it's leaves haven't gotten too burned.
You're probably thinking, if you know a lot about kaffir lime trees, the leaves look all wrong. That can't be a true kaffir lime tree! Well, truth be told I have no guarantee that it is. All I know is that the seed I planted came out of a kaffir lime. In theory then it is possible that this is a kaffir lime hybrid. but I haven't found any information on what the leaves look like on such a young plant. It very well may develop more distinct leaves once it gets bigger. The smaller parts have been getting bigger as it has aged and I don't have any reason to believe it will stop or continue this trend. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Rain, rain, rain, rain ...

After watering my gardens twice a day, for I don't know how long now, the rain has finally come to give me a break. All of the plants seem to love it too as they are springing to full attention and plumping as only a rain can make them do.
I can only hope my fig tree is taking in enough to make the second wave of figs ripen and get fat and juicy. So far the figs that are ripening, if you can call it that, are dry and shriveled looking.
The cucumbers were already forming fruit and should keep going well.
Unfortunately my wife can't pick flowers in this weather since it makes picked flowers mold which is not the scent you want in a sachet or bowl of potpourri.
I need to get my citrus plants out while it's raining so they can get used to the outside before too long. The kaffir lime is already sitting out front and has done well and the lemon tree out back has a ton of new branches growing. Still no sign of fruit though. Maybe next year.
There is a decent chance all week for rain. I guess I'll just wait and see what ripens.

Still Growing

Even though we had some really cold weather, a large portion of my plants didn't seem bothered by it. The cactus had some damage but all in all has survived the frost and the herbs and veggies I still had out all live and are perking back up with the warmer weather.
I've been helping out the wife with some crafting she's been doing (see her blogs) and have come up with some neat items. So far it's mostly practice but we plan to build some boxes from scratch and decorate them with various things.
For some reason the turmeric isn't producing any new leaves and the older leaves are shriveling. Looks like it's dying but I don't know why. I'll try putting in more dirt since it looks like it's lost some.
Lemon tree is doing well as is the kaffir lime tree. Neither has grown any inside but they haven't lost any leaves either. The last of the key lime trees isn't doing very well. They all froze and only one still has any green to the stem. That's probably why it's called a "key" lime. A little cold here. Oh well, maybe next time.

Citrus Family Health

Ok, I know I've been needing pictures so here they are.

As you can see the lemon tree has gotten a lot bigger since spring. It might even intimidate the cats. I've had a time with the caterpillars though.

Next is the kaffir lime tree in all of it's glory. I had to pick off quite a few rolly pollies beore taking this picture though. I didn't know they would like it.

The key lime sprouts, and yes they're still sprouts, are mostly doing ok. They are still in order with 1 at the bottom left and 12 at the top right. 6 is, as you can see, dead. I will keep it in the pot just in case it comes back from the root but I'm not holding my breath or anything.

First frost is still some time away and they won't come in until then and hopefully most of the key lime sprouts will have new homes by then.

Kaffir Lime Tree

I believe I will finally start calling it a tree. It's still not very big but it has to face some big problems. Winter is coming and the cats can smell the dirt about to be brought into their domain. Even outside though it has had to face caterpillars eating it's leaves and outside cats knocking it's pot over.
For it's resiliance in the face of these obsticlesI believe it has earned the right to be called a tree.

Citrus Progress

The plants are doing wonderfully. As you can see, one of the key limes drooped a little, the first one. It' just behind the largest ridge at the top. It's still getting bigger but since I measure to the highest point on the plant that means if a leaf forms and then moves to the side like most leaves then it might seem to shrink.
I actually got around to putting numbers on the pots instead of just remembering which ones they were. Now I can move them anywhere they need to go and not loose track.
Interesting thing I noticed, but not when messing with the plants, that a sharpie doesn't allow water to pass by it. I was doing an ink composition test on bathroom tissue with various inks, don't ask why, and I figured I'd test a sharpie. As the water drew up the tissue, it just went around the sharpie mark. I then drew a closed shape and the water still went around the entire shape leaving a dry space in the middle. I'm not sure what I can use this for but I figured I'd throw it out there.


The lemon tree, again not on the chart and for good reason, grew three inches in a week. These are not waterspouts. For those of you who don't know what a waterspout is, it's a new branch usually from the main trunk that grows up instead of out and saps the energy from the rest of the plant. It doesn't kill it but severely limits it's growth and strength. This new growth is off of the branches and is growing at good angles to the plant. There are at least four of them I remember.

Citrus Progress (with chart)

Yes, you heard it right. I now have a nifty chart to show that I'm not crazy. My citrus sprouts are growing, at least a little.

I didn't figure I'd bother with making it any prettier so the S1-S3 are the three measurements I've taken so far. The measurement is from the top of the soil to the top leaf or stem, whichever sticks up the most.

The lemon tree is not in this chart since it really put the rest of the plants to shame and made it look more like a flat line with a spike at the end.

Also note that the order they are in is more or less a size order but the pots are actually numbered so I don't forget in case one really takes off and gets taller.

So without any more hesitation...

Key Lime Update

The key limes are still growing in their new pots.
On average they have grown about 1/4 inch and seem to be acclimated just fine in their new pots.
The kaffir lime is also doing well with about the same rate of growth (it is about the same height as the average key lime sprout).
My project for next week is to have a chart ready to be posted each week to track the progress of each pot (some have one some have two plants). The lemon tree is a little harder to figure out the height since it's bigger and sways with the breeze. I'll do my best though to find a way to track it.

Just a note about some tomato sprouts, they have been mercilessly pulled out of the ground and thrown away by the maintenance crew at work. It's not like they looked bad...

Citrus Progress - Key Lime Sprouts Divided

Ok, I have finally divided the key lime sprouts. It was a little dificult with the ants crawling in the dirt but I managed. They're divided into twelve little pots now and will be numbered and recorded. I'm thinking that Tuesdays should be good for the records. Currently they're still sitting on the back porch but one day... You know the rest. They will be ready for the plant swap in the fall however and well acclimated to their new pots. They really were crowded in there. Even divided into the twelve pots there are still two plants in four of the new pots, sixteen plants in all.

The lemon tree and kaffir lime sprout will also be tracked.

Speaking of the kaffir lime sprout, it's finally looking like it will have a characteristic leaf forming! The patience seems to be paying off. It will still be a while for the flavor to enter the leaves and give that wonderful aroma to thai dishes.

Citrus growth

If it was a race then the lemon tree would be taking a nap, the kaffir lime tree would be strolling along looking at butterflies and the key lime trees would be space men with rocket packs.
It probably has to do a lot with the placement of the plants. The more they grew the more sun they have. The poor lemon tree is sitting under the pecan tree which gives it maybe 2 hours of sun a day.
Even though I still need to split up the key lime trees (all being in one pot and all) they still shoot up being in full sun all day and having plenty of water (from the hose).
I think I'll swap them up and see if they change growth. Probably sounds like a no brainer, but who knows. It might also be that the smaller plants are growing faster which is also true.