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Vegetable garden

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No problems, Roland.

We started the whole gardening at home thing for the kids to get an understanding of where food came from and it's been very good for that.

Chickens would be the next logical step but the neighbours wouldn't be too keen I suspect.

Cheers,

Kenny
 
Roland, I'm struggling with a lemon tree in clay soil too, thought it was a magnesium deficiency but no luck, have just tried hitting it with Iron Sulphate, if that doesn't work will try a trace elements mix. Stupid clay!
 
doogie_goes_off said:
Roland, I'm struggling with a lemon tree in clay soil too, thought it was a magnesium deficiency but no luck, have just tried hitting it with Iron Sulphate, if that doesn't work will try a trace elements mix. Stupid clay!
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One thing about clay soil is that it doesn't allow water to penetrate. So I suspect that anything you try to add to the watering may just get washed away without getting to the roots.

Something else I did yesterday was to break up the ground all around the tree (down to about 15 inches all around the tree) and mixed in a little sand, gypsom and a couple of bags of potting mix (and chook poo!). This should help get whatever additives to the roots.

Next time I go home to mum's I'll try Julia's trick with the Epsom salts.
 
I'm no expert but I'd say that too much chook poo would produce lots of growth (Nitrogen rich) leaving a big gap in the other necessary elements an potetially with lots of funny leaves. Have been braking my ground up too to help pentrate the soil. It's a sad looking spiky stick but the under sized lemons are tasty
 
Yes, you are probably right - but this is the first lot of chook poo it's had in a year, so I don't think it's going overboard - probably needs some Potash and Magnesium next
 
Here is something I came across:

Position

The best position for a lemon tree is in a sunny, but frost-free position, where there is protection from prevailing winds. The soil must be well-drained. If you have heavy clay soil, then planting the tree in a raised bed is a good idea. Make the planting hole very wide and basin shaped.

Watering

Lemon trees have shallow, fibrous root systems than can dry out easily in hot or windy weather. Regular watering is essential to keep the tree healthy. Water the area around the drip-line and beyond. If the soil dries out, flowers, leaves and immature fruit may drop.

Fertiliser

Lemon trees need fertiliser that is high in nitrogen. You can use a special citrus fertiliser or a mixed fertiliser with a high N component. (Most mixed fertilisers have an NPK of around 5:1:4 so you would look for one with a higher N content.) Blood and Bone is an organic fertiliser high in nitrogen. Thrive is a liquid fertiliser with a high N content and can be used as a "quick fix" if the tree is showing signs of nitrogen deficiency i.e. yellowing mature leaves. However, yellowing may be a sign of other problems. If the young leaves are turning yellow in between the veins that remain like a green skeleton, then the problem is most likely to be iron deficiency and this is often caused by alkaline soil or poor drainage. Apply iron chelates. If the tip and the edges of the old leaves turn yellow, leaving a green triangle at the base, then it may indicate a magnesium deficiency. Treat with Epsom salts. Remember though, that yellowing of leaves may be caused by water stress, cold weather, or other factors, so eliminate these first!

Mulching

Mulching is important to keep roots moist and to prevent weeds from growing around the tree. Lemon trees dislike competition from grass and other plants. Mulch should not be deeper than 7cm and must be kept well back from the trunk to prevent the development of collar rot.

Pruning

Lemon trees often do not need pruning much at all. Tidy up any wayward branches and cut out dead wood. It is a good idea to prune off lower branches to allow air to circulate freely under the tree as this discourages the development of some fungal diseases.
 
I chose the best position I could for mine, still cant keep away from frosts in the worst time, the last one was destroyed by wind and then a marauding dog, so learnt that lesson too, I think I'll try a raised bed next time if this bugger does not work. The mix described is high in K (potassium) as well as Nitrogen so potash is obviously important. Someone once told me that Nitrogen was for leaf development and Potassium was essential for strong roots, so both are probably important. Another thing I heard was that "chelated Iron" was easier for them to absorb, hence the idea of going to a trace element mix after trying this Iron Sulphate supplement.
 
doogie_goes_off said:
Roland, I'm struggling with a lemon tree in clay soil too, thought it was a magnesium deficiency but no luck, have just tried hitting it with Iron Sulphate, if that doesn't work will try a trace elements mix. Stupid clay!
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Actually clay is quite fertile medium; problem is air access and waterlogging.

While ago when Don Bourke had his TV program he mentioned something about creating a mound of good soil say 30 to 50 cm high and planting lemon tree in the mound.

Drainage will be no problem and all the minerals contained in clay will be accessible by roots.

Few slippers can keep soil in place; lemon should have stakes to help it withstand the wind.

As to too much nitrogen, I wouldn't be too worried as experts say that even straight pee is good for the lemon tree, which seems to be very hungry feeder, almost as hungry as avocado tree.
 
Roland, re the chook poo, it might be a good idea to take a soil sample to your local produce store and get it Ph tested. I know that using lots of chook poo + mushroom compost in my flower garden made the soil very acid over time. If the Ph is not right, then all the nutrients you apply to the tree will be wasted as they will not be taken up.

Btw this also applies to lawns. Continued application of high nitrogen fertilisers for lawns will eventually require an application of lime to balance up the Ph. Years ago we were applying lots of lawn fertiliser and getting no result. Gave it a dose of lime and it sprang into growth.

Sometimes, though, I think we can get too picky about our plants.
If the lemon tree (or anything else) is growing and producing fruit/flowers, then if a few leaves turn yellow and drop off, then maybe there's a case for just not worrying about it. I've spent ridiculous amounts of time and effort on troublesome plants when the better alternative would have been to rip them out and plant something easier.
 
roland said:
I also clipped off a couple of branch shoots that had a couple of deformed/curled leaves.
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Sounds like the citrus leaf miner. It won't usually affect the fruit but does make the tree look ugly. Check with the nursery, but I think spraying with Rogor will fix this. (If you think it's worth the trouble and expense!)
 
Julia said:
Sounds like the citrus leaf miner. It won't usually affect the fruit but does make the tree look ugly. Check with the nursery, but I think spraying with Rogor will fix this. (If you think it's worth the trouble and expense!)
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I wouldn't suggest Rogor. White oil will fix it or even spray with diluted whole milk. Needs to be repeated after about ten days.
 
Such tricky things these plants - maybe it's all the hard rock music my 80 year old mum plays them into the early hours of the morning
 
nioka said:
I wouldn't suggest Rogor. White oil will fix it or even spray with diluted whole milk. Needs to be repeated after about ten days.
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Agree Rogor is pretty heavy duty stuff. However, my suggestion was based on my father's fantastic fruit trees which always looked beautiful and bore heavy crops each year. He regularly sprayed them with Rogor and found that the white oil etc was ineffective.

I've had the same experience with trying to get rid of black sooty mould on Gardenias and Ixoras. Milk, White Oil in repeated applications made not one bit of difference. Two sprays with Rogor and they are fine. Ditto grasshoppers which were defoliating the basil. All the usually suggested remedies just seemed to make the stuff more tasty for them. A light spray of Rogor and that was the end of them. Didn't need to redo it.
 
hi roland,

Great website. My wife will be thrilled.

Regards,

Kenny
 
Julia said:
Are they seasonal in their laying habits, then?
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Chooks are naturally in the habit of coming into lay as the daylight time lengthens and going off the lay as the daylight time decreases. That is why commercial producers have the lights on as the daylight decreases to fool the chooks into keeping on laying. That way we get a lower average price for the eggs we buy than would otherwise be the case. It is also the reason why free range eggs are dearer, especially in the autumn and winter months.
 
Julia said:
Are they seasonal in their laying habits, then?
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Hi Julia

We have Australorps and Shaver Reds and both are great layers. From our experience they don't have a "season" as much. They had been laying very well all winter until about a month ago.

You may have heard the expression "gone off the lay" - sudden changes in conditions or climate affect our chooks. For example, about a month ago was when we started to experience some big heavy frosts and the daytime temperatures were right down as well.

Conversely large increases in temperature in summer knocks the egg laying around.

We bought 4 ducks recently and I've been battling them in my vege garden. They love my brocolli leaves. I have to admit they have have been a blessing in disguise. They stripped the plants bare (however I had been battling with catepillars) the brocolli has come back stronger than ever - pest free.

As for new plantings once I'm sure the frosts are truely over - I'll plant my tomatoes, golden squash, zuchinni and beans. Currently we have potatos, beetroot, silverbeet, snow peas, rhubarb, radish, cos lettuce and pakchoi under various stages of production.

Duckman
 
Wow, Duckman, what a great sounding garden. I'm in awe, especially with everything else you have on your plate at present!

And thanks for explaining about the feathered creatures. Don't think they'd last too long here. I found a dead bird recently.
 
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