My Flying Dragon Trifoliate Orange Is blooming! >> fruiting!

[applestar]

Close up of the wicked thorns

[Juliuskitty]

Thank you for these pictures. I loved this gorgeous plant.

[imafan26]

Beautiful.

[applestar]

Thanks for your comments.
This is the first year it bloomed so I'm pretty excited. I guess I should give it some fertilizer to encourage fruiting. It really needs to be pruned too, but I haven't figured out how yet (should I post a view of the entire tree?)

It should look really nice with fruits against the white fence background. And I can't wait to get some seeds to grow too. These are supposed to make great rootstock for increasing cold hardiness. I'm not sure if dwarfing will be imparted as well. This cultivar is only supposed to grow to 6 ft or so. I have the Meyer lemon that is blooming and a seed grown mandarin that is showing the type of buds to indicate it's ready to bloom soon.

All of my seed grown citruses (avocados and mangos, too) are due for getting repotting/uppotted to a rich mix this spring as they migrate outside for the summer, so I should see some growth spurts and hopefully some of them will transition to next growth phase.

Flying Dragon is also said to make great bonsai subject. If I prune, I guess I'll try to see if cuttings will root.

[rainbowgardener]

So, I can't tell from the picture , does it smell wonderful? Citrus blossoms are usually really fragrant.

Looking great!

[applestar]

so far, every time I'm out by the tree, it's been very windy, with impending storm. So I haven't noticed a particularly strong fragrance, and for some reason it never entered my mind to lean in close and smell the blossoms.

[applestar]

FRUITS

[applestar]

The 7 fruits have turned yellow. I think I might want to harvest before it rains tonight? They get black fungal growth on them if left out to weather....

Would their seeds be mature at this point? I'm mainly interested in growing the seeds into rootstocks.

Some blog sites talk about waiting for the fruits to drop to harvest (for edible use). Last year I picked fruits from my mom's regular trifoliate orange and they were tannic as in makes your tongue dry up. I've since read, though, that the tannin is in the rind and you shouldn't cut into the fruit because tannin is transferred into the flesh.

I may try making liquor out of mine after seeding that's why I want to keep them from getting black....

[imafan26]

Is the fruit softer? If they are yellow and softening then they should be ripe enough to harvest the seeds. The tree looks great. Closely related to citrus, it is used as citrus root stock. I does have a scent but not as strong as citrus.

I read that the fruit is bitter and except for medicinal use, it is sometimes made into marmalade.

[applestar]

Ok went out to check before it got dark, and they were still hard with no give at all so I left them on the tree. I guess that's a good test for most fruits that are harvested mature.
Thanks.

[applestar]

From May 1 this spring....

[applestar]

Huh? I never posted this collage from last fall?

[applestar]

They are starting to ripen now:


- I had to clip some branches and thorns to get in there -

[applestar]

They are a little earlier this year —



I came across more info about them, and a new recipe to try

https://www.eattheweeds.com/hardy-orange/
Hardy (Trifoliate) Orange
by DEANE

- If you are going to store the seeds keep them cool (35-40F for at least 30 days) then warm for 24 hours in warm water. Chilled seeds germinates in two weeks if kept around 70-80F, a month at 60-70F.

Erin

November 4, 2013, 9:43 pm
The Poncirus trifoliate (Hardy Orange) is not as bad as people make it out to be. The marmalade is good, however when peeling your fruit, do not get the white (pith) part. I used a finer cheese grater and scrape the outsides. It was good marmalade.

Try the Lemonade version –

**Ingredients**:
30-40 hardy oranges
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 quart of water

- Peel 5 fruit (don’t get the pith) and pour 2 tablespoons of sugar over the peels. Let this set 15 minutes to help draw oil from the peels. Mean while, cut your remaining fruits in half and squeeze and strain juice out. Save the seeds and pour a few tablespoons of water over them, this maximizes your flavor.

- Boil 2 cups of water and pour 1 cup over the peels and sugar, let this mixture sit 10 minutes. Strain out the liquid and pour into your orange-aid. Add 1 cup of hot water into your remaining sugar and dissolve. Mix everything together and chill.
Its like a cross of lemonade and orangeade.

[imafan26]

How do they taste? The black fungal growth sounds like sooty mold. Check for ants and aphids or scale

[Gary350]

Tree & fruit look good. How are you going to keep that tree alive in winter cold weather? I miss having a, manderine orange tree, lemon tree, pink grapefruit tree in the yard like I did in Arizona. Only way I know to keep a citrus tree alive in TN is a heated green house all winter. It is common for AZ to get down to 21 degrees at night for 2 weeks in Feb it does not hurt citrus trees. Fruit can stay on citrus trees for 10 months and still be good as the first day it was ripe. If you don't harvest all the fruit by April trees won't blossom and make more fruit the next year. If someone has invented cold weather citrus trees I want some?

[imafan26]

are you using the trifoliate orange for rootstock? It is not a true orange and it is mostly used as grafting rootstock for citrus. It is the flying dragon rootstock.