satsuma tree

[chief paul]

very nice tree 3 years old. why no fruit ?
very green,no dead leaves.is fertilized. ( help )

[rardoin]

Sometimes it just takes another year...be patient. I would do two things at the end of February: 1) put a bag of 'Black Cow' manure around the base of the tree and 2)...and here come the flames...Take a broom and beat the crap out of it (the tree, not the manure..LOL). Seriously. Don't quite know how it works but it does! My hypothesis is that the tree's survival is threatened and it puts out fruit in a procreation attempt. I have done this on a satsuma at three years and it produced about 60 the next season. My mother had a friend back over a lime tree and a mango tree at their Keys home and both started producing the next season; nada for 4-5 years prior( ughhh...the trees started producing..not the friend). Several neighbors told us about the 'stress theory' and their experience in making trees bear fruit. It worked for me, YMMV.

[FF_T_Warren]

Did you buy this tree or grow it from seed?

[Gerald]

The week after I put out a heavier than normal [per LSU Ag newsletter] amount of fertilizer last spring, the local LSU Ag man told me that Satsuma plant don't need as much fertilizer as other fruit trees.

Today, I picked the only Satsuma that was on the plant. Bad weather during the "flowering" stage last spring really hurt the fruit crop this year in SW Louisiana.

[swampman46]

I've planted 3 satsumas over the years, with no success. Each did about the same thing, after a few weeks a few leaves started turning yellow. Then a few more, then a few more til they were all gone. Some say too much water-some say not enough water. What have I done wrong? My brother-in-law says he tried several before he had one to take hold.

[chief paul]

bought it

[RAGINJROB]

Did the tree flower in the spring? Need to water a lot while flowering.

[Lil Silver]

Lots of real good info here I've learned from.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/D88C319D-8F9D-41A3-AF2E-8CF09F60C57B/81678/pub1234lahomecitruslowres.pdf

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Lil Silver

Lots of real good info here I've learned from.

http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/D88C319D-8F9D-41A3-AF2E-8CF09F60C57B/81678/pub1234lahomecitruslowres.pdf

I just read this information..... it is very good.

I just planted a "new" lemon about 6 weeks ago. Now.... I wish I had looked closer at the roots when I took the plant out of the container. I think the roots were not "curled" but not sure. I did not look at the "tap" root to see if it was "curled" and needed to be trimmed off.

The little lemon tree looks good so far. Maybe in 3 or 4 years I will be picking some.

[keakar]

as mentioned, they are young so it may just take another year. I have seen some make a few fruit at 2 yrs but most wait for the 3rd or 4th year to make good fruit.

I was told its best to cut off all fruit until year 4 so it can use all its energy growing large and strong to resist freezes and such. some say it doesn't matter but with mine it did seam to help them grow better the year I cut the fruit off as soon as they made little balls.

its also a light freeze can do it, even if only a few leaves fall off and it otherwise looks fine it may not flower and make fruit the next year.

I have a Satsuma and orange tree (4 and 5 yrs old) and both made no fruit because last year there was a 2 day "light" freeze and both dropped about half their leaves which quickly grew right back and the trees never seamed sick at all

[eman]

i have one Brown select satsuma that is 10 - 13 years old it produces over 500 fruit each year. this year close to 700. I started w/ 2 trees and not knowing what i was doing i covered the tree and put a light under them the first few years when it froze.
Then i learned that a satsuma needs a good bit of cold weather to set fruit.
Now i dont cover at all and get great fruit. You must have bees to pollinate or you need to do it buy hand.

[vbay]

Originally Posted by RAGINJROB

Did the tree flower in the spring? Need to water a lot while flowering.

All my flowers fell off during one of the spring storms, so, no fruit this year.

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by rardoin

Sometimes it just takes another year...be patient. I would do two things at the end of February: 1) put a bag of 'Black Cow' manure around the base of the tree and 2)...and here come the flames...Take a broom and beat the crap out of it (the tree, not the manure..LOL). Seriously. Don't quite know how it works but it does! My hypothesis is that the tree's survival is threatened and it puts out fruit in a procreation attempt. I have done this on a satsuma at three years and it produced about 60 the next season. My mother had a friend back over a lime tree and a mango tree at their Keys home and both started producing the next season; nada for 4-5 years prior( ughhh...the trees started producing..not the friend). Several neighbors told us about the 'stress theory' and their experience in making trees bear fruit. It worked for me, YMMV.

I assume you mean to hit the braches "firmly" but not hard enough to brake any branches. Interesting idea.

Not long ago, I had a guy tell me what is required to get a Mimosa seed to grow. He said that the seeds have a protective coating and will not sprout unless you scrap off some of this coating. I have several Mimosa trees and hundreds of the seed pods fall to the ground each summer. But there has only been 4 or 5 "new" trees start growing in the last 15 years. I planted seeds one year and nothing sprouted.

Weather Note: It is just now starting to "mist" a little, so I guess the bad weather come from Texas is getting closer to Moss Bluff. The wind has been blowing 15 to 20 mph all morning.

[rardoin]

Gerald, the two trees that were 'backed into' were pushed over at about a 45deg angle/trunks skinned up and subsequently straightened up/staked. My satsuma that I beat was struck on the trunk, not the branches. I don't know if this was coincidence or if the stress actually caused them to bear fruit but it does jive with the anecdotal reports I have heard.

[Matt G]

I've been having 2 orange trees for 4 years now that have made a combined total of 3 oranges. My son just ran one over with the 4 wheeler Saturday. It's not a broom stick, but, I may have some oranges next year!

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by Matt G

I've been having 2 orange trees for 4 years now that have made a combined total of 3 oranges. My son just ran one over with the 4 wheeler Saturday. It's not a broom stick, but, I may have some oranges next year!

I have not had much luck growing oranges on my tree.

My first major problem is my soil is very little "top soil" with thick clay only a few inches down.

Back 15+ years ago, I dug fairly big holes and mixed in some top soil / mulch to improve the dirt.

After 4 or 5 years the little orange tree had not grown much at all and maybe produce 2 -4 fruit. I left it alone for a few more years, still with almost no plant growth.

In a desperate attempt to grow oranges, I dug up the little tree [Less than 4' tall] and planted it near a ditch where the soil was better and more water. The plant grew well there and is now an 8+ foot tall tree..... but still does not produce much fruit. About 4 years ago I got ~ 50 oranges, but all other years I only get ~ 15-20 oranges. The tree will be covered in hundreds of flowers but only a few make fruit.

I am not sure, but suspect a lack of "Honey Bees" to pollinate the flowers could be the problem.

[rardoin]

Gerald, invite Matt's son over for a day. Don't forget to have a four wheeler available. What the heck....beat it with a shovel handle to within an inch of its life and see what happens. It it dies you have only killed a useless tree?!?.

[Andy C]

Lack of bees is a big problem all over the US . Not just trees but all plants that flower. Big money in leaseing/renting bee hives now!! On a or story grandparents gave us a pecan tree when I was young, 4-5, dogs ate it down twice mowed over twice, cut up with a weedwacker don't know how many times. Never got over 4 feet tall in 20 year's., came home form school one year and it was 15' and loaded with pecans. Hericane pushed it over. Dug post and mounted hand cranks, its about stright again and ten times the trunk size as it was, at 19 feet now and only lost one year's of pecans, only one at mom and dads house and they give them away by the bushel every year

[Gerald]

My Grandfather had bees on his father's farm most of his life. When we children [4 of us] were young my Dad bought us a hive and all the stuff needed to work the hive.

We had bees for about 10 years and ended up with 4 large hives. We would "rob" the hives of honey 2 or 3 times a year and sold most of it to a bakery in Baton Rouge. We would fill up 2 or 3 five gallon cans each time we extracted the honey.

Mom would leave the house when we took over the kitchen for the day.

[swampman46]

What makes that inner fiberous skin on some satsumas after you peel it? Lack of fertilizer? Nutriants?