Ok, first time poster at UBC, hi there!! I am from Australia (the other side of the world). I am a regular on homesteadingtoday forum, but they directed me here for my citrus questions. This definately seems a great place to get answers, and i hope I can help you out in the future. I have a hobby farm (100 acres) gently slopping with a northerly aspect (thats like southerly for you guys) and I want to grow about 100 citrus trees of all types on the farm. Nothing commercial, but heaps of fruit for the roadside stall or gardeners market (or just family and friends). They charge around $30 for a citrus tree in the nurseries here (thats $3,000 for the 100 trees I want) and i dont want to spend that much, so I looked at growing my own. I asked the local department of agriculture, and they advised i get the Rootstock P.Trifoliata for my area. So I purchased the cheapest quantity of seed a commercial producer would send, about $50 worth (they said about 200 grams). Well, I got 2 kilos worth (oversupply), probably around 5000 seeds. I have planted about 1000 seeds, in both 2 inch deep flats (closely spaced) and large 6 inch deep boxes (these I have spaced the seeds 2 inches by 2 inches). Heres my question. Will it work??? I have been waiting 10 days and no sign of germination. It is of course winter here and -2C at night. My trays and boxes are in a cold frame (glass lid box) that reaches 30C during the day (24 soil temp). The soil mix is 1/3 Peat moss, 1/3 Sand, 1/3 perlite. I soaked the material and let it drain before planting the seeds. Have i done everything right? How long do I wait before starting again (I have heaps of seeds). Its about 4 weeks until last frost, and i wanted to start moving them into pots for spring. Should I cover the frame at night? I have sourced 2 tonne of potting mix for about $100 and 1000 plastic bag pots for around $120. Reckon I can grow 1000 rootstock, and bud onto the successful ones next year. Has anyone done this, is there a website, or a book that I should get. Any advice on time to budding size? We have hot summers here and frost doesnt start until very late autumn normally early winter. Please help if you can. thanks Raphael in Australia
Hi, Raphael. The book Growing Citrus Trees by Geoff Godden contains much information on growing citrus in Australia. You may find it useful and you won't even have to transpose compass directions.
According to Citrus by F.S. Davies and L.G. Albrigo, P. trifoliata will emerge in approximately 80 days at 15-20C and 14-30 days at 30-35C, the optimal range.
