Our mandarin tree, laden with the promise of juicy Autumn fruit just a few months ago, is systematically dropping several under-ripe mandarins to the ground every. single. day. 😦 There aren't many left now and I'm not holding out any hope that they'll stay on the tree!
Several fruit are falling from our mandarin tree every day.
Our tree looks lush and healthy. There's no obvious damage to the tree, no signs of insect attack on the leaves or the fruit. But, we have had a LOT of rain and both a google search and staff at the local nursery concurred that this was most likely the tree's response to too much of "liquid gold". An example of unseasonal weather affecting a plant. Sigh!
Our usually very happy mandarin tree.
There's a deep disappointment to losing a potential harvest like this. (I can only imagine how farmers who lose entire paddocks full of produce must feel!) Those homegrown, fresh-from-the-tree mandarins are something we look forward to picking and eating every year. Instead, this year, I'll be trying to ripen them on my kitchen bench and researching mandarin marmalade to try and salvage some fruit.
Unripe mandarins still on the tree.
(Fingers crossed!)
I guess this is just a gardener's lot sometimes, isn't it! How are the weather conditions where you live affecting the plants in your garden?
Meg
Meg
My Mandarin tree is EXACTLY the same!
ReplyDeleteIt is laden with fruit, the branches are literally touching the ground, however yesterday I collected a bucket of fallen fruit that had fallen off prematurely. About half of that bucket had fruit fly, so I binned it, the other half was brought inside, to see if it will ripen or is edible. We often eat around the fruit fly larvae if they aren't too infested, but the one I tasted yesterday was very dry and flavourless. I think it's just going to be a bad year for our mandarin's.
I always find we need a good cold snap to sweeten the fruit, and that just has not happened yet!
I think researching mandarin marmalade is a good suggestion!
Oh, dear! The rain has been lovely in many ways but it seems mandarins don't like too much of it as their fruit is ripening. Definitely no cold snaps on the radar as yet; a balmy 29C today and I expect it will be humid with all the rain we've had. Meg:)
DeleteOh dear. That's no good. I know the feeling. I'm holding out for our mandarin and 2 oranges, to fruit in the next few months, as well. We haven't had the rain, but the fruit fly were particularly bad this year. I've had fallen fruit, but there's still a lot on the trees.
ReplyDeleteWhat was disappointing for us however, was the loss of the carob beans. We had a bit of a drought between winter and spring, but I took solace I had a healthy crop of carob, at least! Then we got a lot of rain in spring, and the pods got infested with beetles. Carob prefers to ripen in dry conditions.
So fingers crossed, the citrus make it through. All I'm getting from the garden at present, is herbs and my final batch of spaghetti squash. :)
I'm not getting a lot from our garden at moment either, Chris. I picked last Lebanese cucumber over the weekend and have a few cherry tomatoes still ripening. The lettuce and chard I planted couple of weekends ago is coming along nicely though. Shame about your carob beans, that would've been a lovely harvest. Meg:)
DeleteI don't have a mandarin tree, but half a dozen different varieties of oranges, and they're doing the same as your mandarin....laden down with fruit, but plenty to pick up off the ground every day. And we've had plenty of rain here too. My garden is pretty sad at the moment,a very hot wet summer made getting out in it a bit hard, but now it's cooling off, I'm starting to plant again. I agree with you Meg,it must be so hard for growers who are relying on their crops for their livelihood.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, no floods for you this year, Nanette. Sometimes, there can be too much of a good thing...like our citrus are telling us! Meg:)
DeleteIt's been so cold and with snow twice, our gardens are stalled, just hoping the weather stays warmer so we can plant things.
ReplyDeleteI've never lived in an area where it snows, Marlene, so I have no idea how I'd deal with the challenges snowfalls and very cold temperatures bring. I hope you'll be able to plant soon. Meg:)
DeleteSorry about your mandarin tree, Meg. Hopefully you will be able to use the fallen ones in different ways. I wonder they can be pickled, like lime and lemon?
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be ripening on the kitchen bench, Nil, so I'm hopeful of being able to make something with them so they don't go to waste. Meg:)
DeleteWhat a bummer. It's so annoying to lose a garden harvest - especially to means beyond our control. I hope they continue to ripen up for you on the bench. I have a dwarf mandarin tree that is only a couple of years old. We got 4 mandarins off it last year but this year there is not a single one. I think it put all it's energy into leaf growth after being decimated by leaf miner. Fingers crossed for improved mandarin results for all next year!
ReplyDeleteI bet those four mandarins tasted pretty good! Our mandarin didn't fruit for 7 years but when it did, it was a good size and the crop was abundant. Meg:)
DeleteDevastating! I cant even get my citrus tree's to grow. I think we are just too close to the beach and when the sea wind gets up they turn upset and drop all their leaves and we are back to square one. They haven't died, but I dont imagine they will ever be lush like yours. I hope you can put the 'damaged goods' to use x
ReplyDeleteHave you tried growing a dwarf variety, Clarissa? Maybe you may be able to find a spot that get enough sun but is sheltered from your sea winds? Meg:)
DeleteNo I hadnt thought of a dwarf variety. Where there is sun there is wind, where its protected there is no sun :( tough going, but I still try. I have been working on wind breaks and the like for a few years now, one day I will get there :)
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