anis

How are your oranges doing this year ? We could do with some advice please ?
We have a poor year every now and then but this one is exceptionally bad for us.
The fruits are undersized and dropping too quickly and many attacked by disease, despite my spraying them as usual.
I think it may have something to do with the extremely hot summer we have had in Malaga - said to be hottest for many years. I have watered the trees daily but obviously not sufficiently.
They seem to have ripened too quickly and the hurricane winds of last fortnight have caused a lot of damage, ripping the trees and causing burns to the foliage, breaking branches.
Our mandarins and clementines seem to be faring better and are still hanging on and ripening at the correct time, but some are still diseased with fruit fly.
We are thinking of pruning the orange trees hard back after fruiting this season. We prune every year anyway, but I mean a really serious cut. We always cut from centre to expose the heart and let light in as our Spanish neighbour taught us.
Does anyone have any advice ? When we prune, we always have trouble with suckers - does anyone know how to stop them or should we let them grow ? They are very prickly green shoots like rose suckers.

wagon ropes

I've only got one little orange tree but it has fared badly too this year. Even dropping fruit before they had time to develop.
I think you are right to blame the long dry spell. I am hoping that the rain we are having now will mean better fruit next year.
All our produce has been attacked by various insects etc. Even the tomatoes have had caterpillar problems; something I have never seen before.The OH says what do I expect; there hasn't been anything else out there for them to eat. they probably don't like tomatoes much anyway given a choice.

Val

We only have 3 trees two fairly big ones and baby one. I have no idea what variety they are but they are ready late December/Jan/Feb plenty fruit well coloured now not many at all dropped. The 2 larger ones were pruned hard lend of last season. Sorry can't help you with your problem.

Now our lemon used to have continually ripe fruit on it but not this year at all, periods of hardly any fruit then plenty but they don't ripen for ages. It did have a traumatic time early on in the year with big prune and early wet spell.

anis

ValL, our single lemon tree is doing the same as yours.Its been covered in fruit for quite a while but doesnt seem to want to ripen whereas normally theres always something everyaday of the year.
I love the lemon, they say its one of the only trees that flowers, fuits and buds all at the same time ! Pretty nice in drinks too.
'ropes, I thought tomatoes were resistant to most insects, didn't think they liked them at all so as you say, must be hard up this year !
I think we may be in for a wet and foggy winter - I really do hope so. At least my well has filled up again which is most encouraging - first time it had dried up in 9 years.

JazminesII

We only have a small town house with a front yard...we did have a couple of orange trees but the leaves kept falling off......the only time we had fruit was when we first bought them 3 years ago....they have now moved home to our green fingered neighbours.....;-))

On the other hand we have some fantastic chilli's.....

Val

Our oranges are looking soooo tempting but not ready yet usually late Dec/Jan/Feb

Our lemons are now turning yellow after a long spell on hardly any then green for a long time.

The nispero is coming to flower and setting fruit, the fig (planted earlier this year) has some figs on and looking good other other than some black leaves ( any clue as to what it mght be) the plums were good this year and so were to 6/8 peaches from the new tree. The pomegranite bush is a mass of flowers and setting fruit, the fruit so far has been very sour, we moved the bush in spring and it has come on leaps and bounds.

JazminesII

Figs are scrummy......you are so lucky ;-))

cazzy

Our oranges are great this year. But not the lemon, I think the dogs have cocked their legs on it one time too many!!! The leaves are yellow and falling off, and only 2 lemons, anyone any ideas on how to sort it?

anis

Cazzy, sounds like your lemon tree might have suffered from lack of water in summer if the leaves are turning yellow and dropping.
The wet winter days should sort it out naturally with any luck - three of my mandarins have gone the same route but are picking up again.
VailL, your crop sounds behind ours a bit. My neighbours pomegranites have been ripe for several weeks and Ive been juicing and freezing oranges for a couple of weeks now , but ours have ripened a bit early.

cadiar

Another year goes by, last year when you were all having a problem with your oranges, my trees were loaded, I had a bumper crop, but this year is a very different picture they are few and far between. It looks like I will be buying marmalade this year!

I've no idea why, the trees are watered, I can only assume the trees are 'resting'.