Today I planted a tree!

[errantember]

A grapefruit tree, to be exact. Planting trees in this part of Texas consists large of geology, as, once you get past the top soil, you're removing at least 15% limestone by volume. At this point in toilage, the shovel is no longer a functional tool, as even the smallest rock will stop it. Instead, one digs with a pick axe. :)

This is a cold-tolerant (to about 15 or 20 degrees) variety with a full-sized rootstock. I got five orange-sized grapefruits out of it last season (like, just now) when it was still living in a 15-gallon pot, so I'm excited to see how it will do with more room to stretch it's insubstantial, sponge-like roots.

I hope it hurries up, because after digging out rocks for 5 hours, I'm pretty hungry.

Comments

[bouncyone.livejournal.com]

lol, this is excellent news! Yey fruit bearing trees! =D

[kiki39.livejournal.com]

What do they taste like? I'm fond of grapefruit but I bet the ones off the tree are amazing... Yay, homegrown!

These are fairly sweet.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

They have sweet in the name. I'll look it up later when I'm not wearing socks in the rain. I was going to put some agave nectar on one I ate recently, but I found it really didn't need it. I suspect the fruits will be much larger once the tree is more than 1/2" thick.

I also have an orange tree in a pot, but it seems fairly happy there. I got three full-sized oranges off it this season. I don't really have space in the yard for another full-sized tree, so I'm not sure what I'll do. I might try grafting it onto either the grapefruit, or another non-fruiting fruit tree I have in the front yard. I'm not sure how close different fruits have to be to be graftable. It's a subject I'm intending to learn more about.

Re: These are fairly sweet.

[kiki39.livejournal.com]

Wow, yeah grafting is pretty wacky. I have a friend up here who grows oranges in a pot, and they are wonderful, but with your sun down there I bet they're even bigger. Yum.

Re: These are fairly sweet.

[errantember.livejournal.com]

There seems to be a book at the library about grafting.

The non-fruiting fruit tree I have is perfect, because it's exactly the right size, firmly established, and has lots of branches to graft onto. I just need to figure out what can and can't be grafted, and how many grafts you can do at once.

Then I can go crazy.