Wapsi Square Forum

jwhouk wrote: ↑Fri Jul 12, 2019 11:08 pm That bucket is only about half of the fruit on the tree. And very little of it is edible.
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My other issue is all the weed that are still around the tree. I am learning to HATE spurge.

Such a tale of woe is strong evidence that the tree's species was misidentified. It is probably a gripefruit.

Things could have been much worse, though. It might have been a gropefruit. They're nasty to deal with.

And Dave wins again.

While a grepfruit tree would process text and print any lines which match a specified pattern... For those who have a text file to parse, but have no computer nearby...

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2019 2:41 pm While a grepfruit tree would process text and print any lines which match a specified pattern... For those who have a text file to parse, but have no computer nearby...

Anyone for a slice of a nice apple, grepfruit, and raspberry pie?

Dave wrote: ↑Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:30 am

lake_wrangler wrote: ↑Sat Jul 13, 2019 2:41 pm While a grepfruit tree would process text and print any lines which match a specified pattern... For those who have a text file to parse, but have no computer nearby...

Anyone for a slice of a nice apple, grepfruit, and raspberry pie?

Introducing PINEAPPLE Apple II clone!

Last update for the season: the last of the grapefruit have been finally removed from the tree. It wasn't easy, as the basket device came off the stick a couple times, but I have the last of the fruit.

Now comes the fun part: on Labor Day, I'm going to spread out the fertilizer and add some of the spikes so that hopefully the next batch might be edible.

Oh, and for Dinky: the little lizard is still alive and well and scurrying around my tree.

Would you be allowed to put down some compost, maybe with mulch on top of it? Adding organic matter to the soil would help improve the soil's moisture-holding ability and could reduce stress in the tree.

The biggest problem is that it is sitting on an angle - and the angle is downward toward the back end of the property line, which is where all of the utility lines go.

I intend to fill in the circle around the base, then drive in the stakes that will hopefully provide more potash for the soil.

jwhouk wrote: ↑Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:40 pm The biggest problem is that it is sitting on an angle - and the angle is downward toward the back end of the property line, which is where all of the utility lines go.

I intend to fill in the circle around the base, then drive in the stakes that will hopefully provide more potash for the soil.

Get some slats, and drive them into the ground further down the slope. Part of what's happening is that any rain/water you get drains the nutrients downhill.

Bury a couple of large fish at the roots.

Fish. In Arizona. Yeah. I'll get on that.

The slats are a good idea. I've also toyed with the idea of filling that area with gravel so that it doesn't flood.

jwhouk wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2019 9:07 pm Fish. In Arizona. Yeah. I'll get on that.

The slats are a good idea. I've also toyed with the idea of filling that area with gravel so that it doesn't flood.

Hey, if they grow cotton in New Mexico, you can buy fish in Arizona.

I have some of those MiracleGro stakes in the ground around the tree, and I have the hose drip circling around it. I may maneuver it a bit so that the hose just goes around the circle, but it's still draining into the crease between my lot and the trailer behind me.

...Oh boy.

In case you missed it, while the Eastern seaboard of the US and Canada is getting pelted with Hurricane Dorian, we're in the middle of the driest monsoon season in years here in the Valley.

Aside from three active wildfires in Arizona, conditions have been exceptionally dry as of late. After I did the initial fertilizing and using of those feed stakes, something happened with my tree: One branch basically shed all of its leaves.

This is Not A Good Thing. It is generally a sign that the branch is dying. I suspect the reason is that the bark on the tree is... well, actually, it isn't. That isn't good for a tree, especially in the AZ sun. Unfortunately, it's too late to paint over the wood for protection, so I may be losing another main branch of the tree before long.

I've set a date: if, by the time my parents return to AZ at the end of October, there are no blossoms on the tree - or anything that would give me hope that the tree's got some life in it - I'm going to call a landscaper about trimming it all the way back.

And then I'm going to look into maybe getting an agave or a yucca to plant where the orange tree formerly stood.

jwhouk wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2019 2:52 pm
And then I'm going to look into maybe getting an agave or a yucca to plant where the orange tree formerly stood.

Watch out for the Yucca.

It'll grow to a certain height (8 feet or so), then fall over. Then the fallen section will start growing up at the end, and root in the middle. If you let it keep going, you'll have a cluster of yucca, and they can take over the yard.

So, when it falls over, use an axe and cut it out.

We had one for years in our front yard.

What is this "growing" you speak of? Most agave and yucca plants don't tend to fall over, unless we have winds and rain like we had today.

Speaking of which: I didn't have to water the tree today, obviously. The remnants of Lenora hit the Phoenix valley hard (I believe there was even a tornado that was sighted in downtown PHX), so plenty of rain.

A bonus: I don't think all is lost with the one branch of the tree. The small shoots on the one side seem to have buds on them, indicating they want to start flowering. Fingers crossed.

I'm trying to post a Fingers Crossed icon, but I'm currently in the Bandwidth-Officiant, er Deficient, part of the world...