What is the best dwarf tangerine, seeded or seedless, for Yolo County, sun to part shade?
There's nothing like fresh tangerines, picked at the peak or ripeness, from your own yard, says Sacramento County UC master gardener Lorraine Van Kekerix. Since you live in Yolo County there are several things you may want to consider to give your tangerine tree the best environment to produce fruit.
Many of the soils in Yolo County – as well as many other valley locations – are high in clay; but citrus like good drainage. You may want to check with your UC Cooperative Extension Office to determine if you have a high clay soil.
One way to deal with this issue is to plant the citrus in a raised bed to provide the good drainage that citrus trees need. Woodland is in Sunset Climate Zone 8. Citrus trees may need protection or heating when night temperatures drop much below freezing. Tangerine trees are more sensitive to cold than some citrus (like lime) and less sensitive than others (like oranges). You can increase the temperature of your citrus on cold winter nights by using Christmas tree lights or covering a small tree.
Some water within Yolo County is high in boron. Check with your water district to determine if boron is present at higher levels since citrus is generally sensitive to boron. Regular deep watering, use of a raised bed with soil high in organic matter and regular fertilization with a citrus fertilizer can help reduce impacts of boron in the water on citrus trees.
Citrus requires heat for developing sweet fruit and Woodland has plenty of high heat days. Your letter says that the tree would be in sun or part shade. For plants, full sun means at least six hours of direct sun a day.
If the area you want to plant the citrus in gets less than six hours per day of direct sun, your tree may grow, but you are not likely to get good quality fruit. For citrus, sun all day helps ensure ripe fruit and is likely to give you the best crops.
Although citrus likes heat and sun, it does best with cooler roots. A layer of mulch two to three inches thick will keep the root cooler. Citrus do best with a slightly acidic fertilizer. Citrus/avocado fertilizers are commonly available in garden centers. Follow the instructions on the package.
You may need to consider the size of the space you have for the tangerine tree. Many of the trees come on dwarf root stock if you want a smaller plant and/or prefer to harvest fruit from the ground or a low ladder.
Once the general requirements are met, then you get to choose the variety of tangerine. A number of garden centers have citrus tastings; it's a great way to decide which variety is most appealing to you. The varieties below are listed in alphabetical order and are fairly commonly available.
Dancy: Upright tree with erect branches 15 to 20 feet on regular rootstock; 7 to 10 feet on dwarf rootstock. It's the most common tangerine in markets around Christmas time; sweet with rich flavor and seedy; ripens December and January; fruit keeps moderately well on tree.
Kinnow: Columnar tree with dense foliage to 20 feet tall on regular rootstock; to 10 feet tall on dwarf rootstock; sweet with rich flavor, some seeds; ripens January to May; fruit keeps well on tree.
Kara: Spreading trees 15 to 20 feet tall on regular rootstock; 7 to 10 feet tall on dwarf rootstock; tart sweet fruit with rich flavor, amount of seeds varies; ripens March to May; fruit keeps moderately well on tree.
Owari Satsuma: Spreading trees to 10 to 15 feet tall and wide on regular rootstock; to 6 feet tall and wide on dwarf rootstock; many are grown in Asia and they are used to produce canned mandarin oranges; sweet and seedless; ripens October to Christmas; fruit does not keep as well on the tree as in cool storage.
The people who lived in our house before us threw their cat litter on the ground between the house and the hedge. It smells terrible, especially on hot days. We've dug out the dirt, sprayed it, nothing helps. What can we do to get rid of the odor of cat litter?
It sounds like you've done a lot of work to get rid of the odor, says Sacramento County UC master gardener Bonnie Thalken. If the odor is only from the cat litter, the good news is that over time it will go away.
You might try planting French marigolds in the area where the cat litter was used and instead of picking the flowers, turn them under and let them decompose in the dirt.
Another thing to consider is whether neighborhood cats are drawn to the area and continue to use it as a litterbox, or are spraying the area because of the attraction. If that's the case, you'll need to discourage them from using the area.
If it's a small area you could fill it with something spiky, like liquidambar balls, pine cones or anything similar that would discourage the cats from wanting to use the area.
GARDEN QUESTIONS?
Questions are answered by master gardeners at the UC Cooperative Extension services in Sacramento and Placer counties. Send questions to Garden Detective, Home &Garden, P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852. Send e-mail to h&g@sacbee.com. Put "garden detective" in the subject field and include your postal address. To contact your UC Extension directly, call:
• Sacramento: (916) 875-6913; 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. weekdays
• Amador: (209) 223-6838; 10 a.m.-noon Tuesday through Friday; e-mail ceamador.ucdavis.edu.
• El Dorado: (530) 621-5512; 9 a.m.-noon weekdays.
• Placer: (530) 889-7388; 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays or leave a message and calls will be returned.
• Nevada: (530) 273-0919; 9 a.m.-noon Tuesday through Thursday or leave a message.
• Shasta, Tehama, Trinity: (530) 225-4605
• Solano: (707) 784-1322; leave a message and calls will be returned.
• Sutter, Yuba: (530) 822-7515; 9 a.m.-noon Mondays and Tuesdays and 1-4 p.m. Thursdays.
• Yolo: (530) 666-8737; 9-11 a.m. Tuesdays and Fridays, or leave a message and calls will be returned.
