by Matthew Orwat | Nov 24, 2015
Satsuma fruit, harvested with their stem intact to ensure longevity when stored. Image Credit: Dr. Pete Andersen
The satsuma mandarin (Citrus unshiu) is a popular dooryard fruit tree, and emerging crop, across the Florida Panhandle. 100-150 years ago it was a major cash crop for the region, with boxcar loads being shipped to the Northeast during the months of October-December. Due to a series of hard freezes in the 1950s and a shift in land use from produce production to timber, the satsuma industry was effectively dead in northwest Florida until recent years, when several entrepreneurial growers have invested time and effort in bringing back this delicious citrus to the commercial scene.
Throughout this time, many homeowners have enjoyed this historic citrus, dressing many a Thanksgiving table with its beautiful bright orange fruit. Satsumas contain few seeds, are generally sweet and very easy to peel. They are part of the mandarin group of citrus, and somewhat resemble canned mandarin oranges in shape and flavor. The cooler the fall temperatures (above freezing) the sweeter the fruit will be at harvest.
Mature trees are hardy down to 14-18 º F when budded to a cold hardy rootstock such as trifoliate orange or swingle. Young trees need to be protected from temperatures below the mid 20s, and fruit will be ruined if exposed to any freezing temperatures below “light frost” conditions. Commercial growers use protective techniques, such as microirrigation, to protect their fruit if freezing temperatures threaten harvest.
This Thanksgiving, if you do not have a satsuma tree of your own, seek out a local producer and buy a case of satsumas for the holiday season !
For more information on growing and harvesting satsuma mandarins consult “The Satsuma Mandarin – HS195“, produced for your benefit by UF / IFAS Extension.
by Julie McConnell | Sep 29, 2015
Giant Swallowtail on citrus leaf. JMcConnell, UF/IFAS
Adult butterflies are pretty easy to attract to your landscape if you provide flowering plants, but getting them to lay eggs in your garden is a little trickier.
Butterflies go through complete metamorphosis which means that they have four main life stages. The first is the egg, second they hatch into caterpillars (larvae) which feed and molt many times, the third stage is the pupa or chrysalis, and finally they emerge as colorful adults. Complete metamorphosis is considered a more advanced life cycle than incomplete and one of the reasons is because most insects that go through this process do not compete for food at different life cycles. For example, the gulf fritillary butterfly larvae needs passionflower (Passiflora spp.) to feed on – no other plant type will do. The adults visit many flowering landscape plants such as zinnias, butterfly bush, pentas, etc. The adults are feeding on nectar while the caterpillars are eating foliage.
Because the larvae are very host specific, you must offer the correct plant to attract particular butterflies. Luckily, we have many options in the Florida panhandle! Just remember if you would like to attract butterfly breeding to your yard, you must sacrifice some foliage to support the caterpillars.
• Gulf Fritillary – Passionflower
• Monarch – Native milkweed
• Giant Swallowtail – citrus
• Eastern Black Swallowtail – plants in the carrot family including dill, celery, fennel, and parsley
• Tiger Swallowtail – sweet bay magnolia, tulip poplar, black cherry
• Zebra Swallowtail – pawpaw
• Luna Moth – walnut, hickory, sweetgum, persimmon, winged sumac
If you would like to know more about individual butterfly species please visit UF/IFAS Entomology & Nematology’s Featured Creatures website.
by Roy Carter | Aug 10, 2015
The muscadine grape is a popular fruit that grows very well here in North Florida. It has smaller leaves than bunch grapes and fruit are harvested singly, rather than in bunches. Theses grapes can be enjoyed fresh and also be used for home wine-making. One of the nice things about growing muscadine grapes in Florida is that they’re rarely bothered by insects or diseases. They can easily be grown in your backyard garden.
Muscadine grapes are ripening now! Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
Grapes will grow well in a variety of soils here in North Florida. Upland soils with clay underlying at about three feet are ideal. You should avoid poorly drained soils. If the grapes are grown on soil with very good drainage, they should be set in the ground deeper than they were grown in the nursery on land with a high water table. Grapes should be planted on raised beds at the same depth they were at in the nursery.
During the first year, grapes should be fertilized with a quarter pound of 8-8-8 or 10-10-10 fertilizer, applied in bands about a foot away from the plant, soon after growth begins. Repeat applications in April, July and September. Fertilizer rates increase each year, but they should never exceed six pounds per vine per year.
Weeds can sometimes be a problem with muscadine grapes. To get rid of weeds, you can use a good herbicide, or you can cultivate around the plants. The muscadine grape has a very shallow root system, however, so be careful when you’re weeding around the plants. Mulches can be helpful in controlling weeds, but be sure to leave a circle of at least six inches around each vine uncovered.
Grapes need a generous supply of water to survive here in North Florida. In fact, more first-year grapes die from a lack of water than from any other cause. Make sure the plant receives about an inch of water weekly. Muscadine grapes are rarely bothered by insects or diseases. However, a spray program is advised to protect plants from possible damage by black rot or bitter rot. Spraying should begin when the vines are in bloom, and continue a regular two week intervals until about a week before the harvest. For specific information on the proper spray to use, you should contact your local County Agent.
Muscadine grapes mature in August and early September. If you don’t plan to use them immediately, they should be picked from the vine when ripe and stored at 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
For more information, please see:
The Muscadine Grape
Muscadines Benefit from Timely and Artful Pruning
by Matthew Orwat | Aug 3, 2015
Muscadine cluster Credit: Peter C. Andersen, UF/IFAS Extension
Muscadines are a terrific grapey treat this time of year ’till fall throughout North Florida. To grow muscadines well in the home garden, care must be taken when pruning to maximize spatial efficiency and yield.
August is the very beginning of the muscadine harvest in the Florida Panhandle, which may last until October. Therefore it is also the time to begin thinking about pruning.
Once harvest concludes, it is usually a gardeners’ natural inclination to immediately prune their muscadine vines. This fast action is not the best for plant condition and next year’s yield, especially if there is an early frost. Early frosts surprise the plant before sugars have been moved to the roots for storage during dormancy. Therefore, waiting to prune in mid January to mid March will ensure that the vine has had adequate time to go dormant and acclimate to the winter season. A good rule of thumb is to wait to prune until bud swell or even first leaves emerge. This will greatly reduce the chance that vines are damaged by late frosts.
K.T. Kelly and JH. D. Gray, MREC/ UF/IFAS Extension 2003
Muscadines flower and fruit on shoots from current, not previous, years growth. These new bearing shoots arise from the leaf axils of the previous years’ growth. Pictured above is the bi-lateral cordon training system. This is the most popular system for muscadine production. Pruning must be performed to maintain this configuration. If vines are too vigorous, it is acceptable to prune lightly throughout the growing season.
Vines must also be trimmed before herbicide application at least 2 feet from the ground. Nonselective systemic herbicides don’t harm tissue with bark, but must not come in contact with green tissue or it will be translocated to the roots and damage the plant.
Using a bi-lateral cordon system, there are two main branches or “cordons” of the vine. Along each cordon, fruiting spurs should be spaced approximately every six inches. Each fruiting spur should contain 2-4 nodes.
If fruiting spurs become more than one foot from the cordon, it is time for spur renewal. This is typically done every 3-6 years. Entire spurs can be removed if they lose productivity and replaced by new shoots. Additionally, cordons may lose productivity or die off after 5 to 10 years of production. If this occurs, simply remove the cordon and train a new or existing branch into a new cordon.
Pruning with a design in mind and at the proper time will enhance performance and longevity of muscadines in the home garden.
Information from this article was derived from HS763 The Muscadine Grape
by Mary Salinas | Jul 20, 2015
July always brings the blessing of abundant figs on my trees. A new crop waits to be picked and enjoyed every day for nearly a month. The tender sweet fruit can be enjoyed fresh, prepared into jams or used in a myriad of recipes.
Ripe figs ready to pick. Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
The fig (Ficus carica) is native to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean regions of the world and has been cultivated for an estimated 7,000 years. Spanish explorers brought the fig with them to Florida in 1575 and it has had a presence here ever since. Since the fig is adapted to a dry climate in its native regions, the humidity it encountered in Florida can cause fruit to split; but new cultivars have been developed to minimize this problem.
Fig trees usually grow to a maximum of 25 feet and have large bright green leaves that fall in the autumn. Fruit develops from June to August, depending on the chosen cultivar.
The large fig leaves are quite ornamental. Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
Choose a spot for planting a fig tree that receives full sun and good drainage. Once established, figs are drought tolerant and only need supplemental irrigation if we have an extended drought. No structural pruning is required but you can prune to keep the tree from growing so tall that you cannot pick the delicious fruit. Be sure to do your pruning just after the fruit is gone as the fruit develops on the terminal ends of the branches from last year’s growth.
Many figs grow and fruit sufficiently without applied fertilizer, however, a light fertilization with a 10-10-10 with micronutrients can be helpful for small trees getting established and those with reduced fruiting. Young trees can benefit from a ½ pound three to five times from February to August while large trees could use up to 4 pounds per application on the same schedule.
There are a few pests that do damage figs; the most common, though, are the birds and squirrels that get the fruit before you do. Seldom do figs need to be sprayed when grown in the home garden.
For more information:
The Fig
Fig nutrition facts and recipes
by Larry Williams | Jul 7, 2015
There are a number of plants in my landscape that bring back fond memories – plants that I propagated.
Red Mulberry. Photo credit: Vern Williams, Indiana University, bugwood.org.
There’s a mulberry tree in my backyard that I rooted years ago. I took the cuttings from an old mulberry tree in my hometown. As a boy, I climbed the tree, got in trouble once for coming home with mulberry stains on my clothes. I liked the berries and still do. I have good childhood memories about the tree.
About twenty years ago I visited the property adjacent to my childhood home. The tree was still there. It was during mulberry season. I enjoyed a few mulberries. I took about eight or ten cuttings from the tree. About a year after my visit, the property sold. The new owner bulldozed the tree.
But because of the cuttings that I rooted, the tree still lives and not just in my memory. The trees produced by those cuttings are genetically the same as the parent tree. Essentially, they are clones. The one in my backyard produces mulberries each year.
You too can propagate memories. Not all plants can be propagated from cuttings but many can be. Sometimes trial and error is necessary to learn proper timing in taking cuttings. But most reliable references will provide the time of year to take cuttings based on the plant species.
Stem cuttings should be removed from the parent plant with a clean, sharp knife or pruner. Ideally your cutting should be 4-6 inches in length and not much thicker than a pencil in diameter.
Take the bottom two-thirds of leaves off on each cutting. The cuttings should be stuck upright in a propagation medium. I usually use a good quality potting mix and mix in a little course sand or perlite for better drainage. The cuttings should be inserted deep enough to hold them upright, usually ½ to 1 inch.
To help promote rooting of moderate to difficult to root plants, wound the cuttings by scraping the lower ½ to 1 inch of the stem with a clean, sharp knife. The scrape should remove the bark or “skin.” Then dip the cutting in a rooting hormone covering the scrape with the rooting powder prior to inserting the cutting into the rooting medium.
I usually use a four inch pot, gallon size pot or bedding plant flat with drainage holes as a rooting container. I may stick as many as ten stem cuttings in a gallon size pot. I place the container of cuttings in a shady location outdoors and keep it moist. The cuttings should produce roots in two to sixteen weeks, depending upon plant species and the environment.
After the cuttings have rooted, carefully remove them and individually plant each rooted cutting in its own four inch to one gallon size pot. Keep the potting medium moist but not soggy. After the roots adequately fill the pot, the plant should be strong enough to be planted in the ground.
As your rooted cuttings grow, hopefully they will provide fond memories.
