“Some of the fruit on my orange tree are deformed, their skin is bumpy, and the skin and pulp are more of a yellow, as well as being much larger than the good fruit, which is as good as it’s been for years. Otherwise, the tree looks healthy.” — Karl Chulski, La Habra
You are describing rootstock fruit, borne on a branch or branches that have grown off the bottom of the trunk. Nearly all fruit trees, at least those available in the nursery trade, consist of a scion (desired fruit-bearing variety) grafted onto a rootstock species.
Scion varieties, such as Navel orange and Eureka lemon, for example, benefit from being grafted onto rootstock species that impart qualities that scion varieties would otherwise lack if clonally propagated (from their own shoot tip cuttings) and grown into trees on their own roots. Rootstock qualities or enhancements include one or more of the following: increased tree vigor, more fruit production, greater disease resistance, drought tolerance, cold tolerance, or salt tolerance, as well as tolerance to heavy soil.
Sometimes a shoot below the graft union, emanating from the rootstock, develops into a branch or branches and begins to fruit, which has clearly happened in your case. When this occurs, follow the fruiting wood back to the trunk and remove it with a saw. Of course, you can prevent such an occurrence by removing any shoots or suckers from below the graft union as soon as they begin to develop. Rootstock fruit is typically bumpy or lumpy and of poor quality. Sometimes you will see a citrus tree that has been taken over entirely by rootstock growth. This is likely to occur on older trees as the vigor of the scion wanes.
Rootstock takeover is frequently seen in roses.
Dr. Huey is the most planted rose in the world because it’s the rootstock into which nearly all rose varieties are typically grafted by T-budding. Dr. Huey flowers have wine-red petals with bright yellow stamens. First used as a rootstock in 1914, Dr. Huey is a hybrid climber and it will climb again if you put a trellis next to it should it take over the scion variety. Most rose varieties – grafted as scions onto Dr. Huey rootstocks – decline in vigor at around seven years of age. At this time, suckers from Dr. Huey will start to grow rampantly. Incidentally, Dr. Huey rootstocks are clonally propagated from hardwood cuttings. After the cuttings take root and are around one year old, buds from named rose varieties are grafted into the rootstocks. At Weeks Nursery in Wasco, California, near Bakersfield, where 80% of U.S. roses are grown, all roses are grafted onto Dr. Huey rootstocks with the exception of shrub and miniature roses. These roses are propagated by cuttings taken from mother plants which are then inserted directly into the soil.
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“I have several Camellia bushes on my property that are over 50 years old. They have always bloomed profusely except this year. The two largest have maybe two or three buds. Summer’s heat took a toll on the leaves. It was extremely hot here in Woodland Hills!! Can I expect that they will recover their former glory?” — Isabel Mestler
Camellia bushes will regularly live up to 100 years or more, so I do not think that old age can explain the lack of flowering you describe. You are correct in your hypothesis that our sizzling summer heat, especially over Labor Day weekend, took its toll and, being a subtropical evergreen species, your camellia was compelled to muster all its resources just to stay green and vital, with little left over for flowers. The only other possible explanations would be that your plant was heavily pruned or that overhanging trees have grown to the point that they deprive your camellia of the necessary quantity of light needed to produce flowers.
Incidentally, the oldest living camellia was planted in 1347, and it’s still there today at the Panlong Monastery in southwest China.
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“My camellias have had buds for several months now but they are not blossoming. Is there anything I can do to trigger them to blossom?” — Harry Post, The Peninsula in Newport Beach
Flowering on a camellia bush is a slow study. The buds fatten for several months before opening. For a true appreciation of Japanese camellias (Camellia japonica), you will want to visit Descanso Gardens in La Cañada where the largest camellia collection in North America can be found. Most Japanese camellia varieties are in bloom this month or next but some may be flowering as late as April. The other widely planted camellia species (Camellia sasanqua) blooms in the fall. It is of a shrubbier stature than the Japanese camellia.
There are two common camellia ailments, one pathological and the other physiological. One of these is a disease called petal blight. Flowers begin browning along their margins, a discoloration that quickly reaches their center. The disease agent involved is Sclerotinia, a fungus that takes hold as a result of excessive watering, heavy rains, poor air circulation, or heavy soil. Overhead irrigation of camellias, in depositing water on leaf, stem, bud and flower surfaces, may spread this disease.
When the infected flowers drop to the ground, Sclerotinia fungus spores lie dormant until the following year when, in response to moisture and the presence of new buds, they infect the plant all over again. To control the blight, pick brown flowers and buds off the plant before they fall. Flowers and buds that do fall to the ground should be immediately removed. Laying down three inches of mulch on the soil surface will help mitigate spread of the disease.
The most frustrating phenomenon to be seen on camellias is not the result of a disease but a physiological disorder. This condition, known as bud drop, is characterized by the falling of unopened or partially opened flower buds. Several conditions, some of them at opposite ends of the cultural spectrum, have been implicated in the occurrence of bud drop: dry soil, overly wet soil, freezing winter temperatures, excessively warm winter temperatures and inadequate light exposure.
In our interior valleys, camellias do best in a partial sun/light shade exposure. Left to their own devices, they will grow up to 12 feet tall or more.
With their plush, multilayered flowers of white, pink or red, camellias could easily be mistaken for winter roses.Camellias are tough plants. I have observed camellias 10 feet tall, covered with flowers from top to bottom, that have never been fertilized and are watered only occasionally with a hose. Properly mulched, established camellias should not need to be watered, even during the summer, more than twice a month. Here’s a water conservation proposal: turn your backyard into a camellia forest.
If you are considering planting camellias, you must first visit Nuccio’s Nursery (nucciosnurseries.com) in Altadena.
Tip of the Week: Donald and Carole Jo Wells emailed regarding the “proliferation of cobwebs on most of our plants in the backyard of our small Belmont Shore home in Long Beach.” If the cobwebs are bothersome, or if you want to give your plants a clean look, you can certainly blast the cobwebs away with a hose. That being said, as much as earthworms are evidence of fertile, well-aerated soil, spiders are a sign of ongoing pest control in the garden. Spiders provide an around-the-clock security service that puts the clamps on leafhoppers, aphids, caterpillars, horseflies and ants. A spider eats two times its weight in insects every day.
All spiders produce silk, but not all spin webs. Orb weavers are the most noticeable garden spiders because of their large size, enormous webs and the bright, symmetrical patterns on their abdomens. Webs are used not only for catching insects. Most spiders have poor vision and use their webs as a means of communication. This is especially true in mating, since a courting male must vibrate a female’s web in just the right way to distinguish himself from a trapped insect.
Spiders are the only animals whose food is digested outside their bodies. This is accomplished by depositing digestive enzymes onto their prey, which liquefies their tissues prior to consumption.
Spiders feed not only on insects, but on other spider species, as well as cannibalizing their own kind. Although spiders eat aphids, they seem just as interested in keeping their own numbers in check through self-consumption.
The only toxic, though far from lethal, garden spiders are black widows (with an orange hourglass on their abdomen), yet black widows hide in rock crevices, sprinkler valve boxes, and other dark places and do not inhabit plants.
Please send questions, comments, and photos to Joshua@perfectplants.com.
