[Bugbear]

* Maize project report, "Continuing an Ancient Tradition," being posted at end. *

Originally Posted by piperdbh

Speaking of agriculture, did you get those citrus trees grafted?

Yes, I'm grafting citrus this year. I'm also air layering off several trees from a dwarfing root stock (flying dragon). It's an approach graft/ air layer/ coppicing experiment.

I'm also doing the same with several sour orange trees for root stocks. I've been focused on that lately.

And as I said in the other thread, I am mostly working with desert and native crops, but the property came with the old citrus trees.

Unfortunatly, for the coppicing and pruning work, every thing here has spines, thorns and burs.

* Technically I suppose the work with the fruit and other trees would be considered Pomology and arboriculture, where all of what I am doing out here would be considered Horticulture, or specifically Home Horticulture, rather than the narrower field of agriculture; bla bla bla.

[piperdbh]

I've never grown citrus trees, but these folks do:

http://www.flyingdragoncitrusnursery.com/aboutus.html

[Bugbear]

Originally Posted by piperdbh

I've never grown citrus trees, but these folks do:

http://www.flyingdragoncitrusnursery.com/aboutus.html

Yep, that's the root stock: (Poncirus or Citrus trifoliata "monstrosa" or "flying dragon").
It dwarfs the size of the tree a whole bunch,(it might get about six feet tall) but does not dwarf the size or abundance of the fruit. A large citrus tree mostly has leaves and produces fruit on the outside of the tree, the middle is empty. You can produce more fruit on the smaller trees (more leaved surface area), and they are easier to pick and so on.
For the other root stock, the sour orange (peal) makes the best marmalade , and does pretty good as a lemon flavor, but we use them for navel orange root stocks and ornimentals, out here; they make larger trees.

[ali8780]

nice to see you Ted

[Bugbear]

Originally Posted by ali8780

nice to see you Ted

Thank you, Ali. I have tried to keep up on the goings on of the forum, and have followed your assorted sagas.

Glad you got your books back out of your hard drive.

I just had to write up a thirty or so thousand word research project (first draft), and I would be sick if I had lost it.

[ali8780]

Originally Posted by Ted Crocker

Thank you, Ali. I have tried to keep up on the goings on of the forum, and have followed your assorted sagas.

Glad you got your books back out of your hard drive.

I just had to write up a thirty or so thousand word research project (first draft), and I would be sick if I had lost it.

"Sagas" is definitely the appropriate word!

....... yes, it was an awful feeling.

[Bugbear]

Originally Posted by ali8780

"Sagas" is definitely the appropriate word!

....... yes, it was an awful feeling.

I'm in the middle of a new saga, I'm digging up and removing a cactus hedge along one side of my property. It was a proof of concept experiment, and made a very effective fence.

I have decided to replace them with a mass hedge of Asclepias subulata, otherwise known as Desert milkweed because they are ugly, sticky twig bushes, and the butterflies love them. That should, at least, make the butterflies happy.

[MacBean]

Speaking of cactus hedges, (and not knowing where you are located), I am really fond of the leafy cactus Pereskia spp. as a hedge with its lovely rose-like flowers -- but that is far taller than the Asclepias you mention. I am not sure how well Pereskia does in desert conditions, it's more of a tropical cactus that can withstand tropical wet and dry seasons.

So now I'm curious, where are you?

[Bugbear]

Originally Posted by MacBean

Speaking of cactus hedges, (and not knowing where you are located), I am really fond of the leafy cactus Pereskia spp. as a hedge with its lovely rose-like flowers -- but that is far taller than the Asclepias you mention. I am not sure how well Pereskia does in desert conditions, it's more of a tropical cactus that can withstand tropical wet and dry seasons.

So now I'm curious, where are you?

I'm out in the east boonies of the Phoenix, Az area.

I have a Pereskia, and I grow it in a container because it has to be protected from the one or two nights of frost we have out here.
It will probably become trained as a bonsai one day. It does seem to flower a lot, though they seem to last about a day.

The desert milk weeds can get about four feet tall, and form leafless clumps of ugly, milky stick twigs.
That's why I like them.

I do have a Hoodia gordonii which would make an interesting, low hedge plant, but mine hasn't flowered yet, and they don't root well from cuttings and layers.

[Bugbear]

Well, I've finnished digging up most of the cacti in the hedge; I have to keep taking breaks to remove spines. Getting the soil ready for the milkweeds and setting up the passive irrigation grid will be next , but I hope to not post about any of that.