Cara Cara (forum)

ForestHill3131 starts with ...
Hi All,
I planted a Cara Cara (orange) in April last year. Its in a spot with at least 8 hrs of sun and I used plenty of compost and chicken manure + it gets watered regularly.
After almost 11 months, the plant has barely doubled in height but the thickness hasn't increased much (its barely thicker than a pencil). As a result, the plant can't stand up without a stake.

Is there anyting I can do to improve its growth rate? Or does it need a transplant to another spot (or a pot?) in the garden? Or do I cut my losses and get another plant? Thank you

Time: 9th March 2013 5:55pm

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About the Author ForestHill3131
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Brendan says...
If it were mine, I'd give it extra P & K fertilizer, plus some trace elements.
Could even try Searles Kickalong Organic Fertilizer, search this page: http://www.searles.com.au/organicrange.html

Time: 10th March 2013 9:06am

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About the Author Brendan
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MaryT says...
Sounds like something to do with its roots? I had a bush lemon that failed to thrive and when I dug it up it had a tiny root ball so maybe that's the problem with yours, ForestHill3131?

Time: 10th March 2013 9:10am

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About the Author MaryT
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Julie says...
Mary, I have had that problem too. A plant just died overnight, and when I dug it up it had a tightly curled root ball. Bad nursery practice!

I have worked in nurseries - the people who do the propagating are quite badly paid,work in crap conditions and there is a high turnover. (Unless this has improved since). So they make mistakes, and don't tease out the rootball when repotting sometimes.

Time: 10th March 2013 4:36pm

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About the Author Julie
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MaryT says...
Yes Julie; that's a problem but luckily does not happen too often.

Time: 10th March 2013 9:12pm

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Brain says...
your plant should be fine if it doubled in height/growth. I suspect your plant is putting on just upward growth on the central leader.

Normally with new citrus trees, it does take a few years for the trunk to thicken to like glue stick size.

Yes, they do need staking when young.

If you are keen to bush out the tree and don't mind no (or little) fruit in the for next season, consider some hard pruning of the central leaders and a few of the upward growth. I.e. aim to have 3 to 4 (side) branches.

good luck.

Time: 11th March 2013 11:39am

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About the Author Brain
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ForestHill3131 says...
Thanks everyone for your helpful comments. I did try to tease the roots out when I first panted it from the pot to the ground but I'm no experienced gardener so I might not have odne that right. If it is a tight rootball, can I check by digging up the tree (and then breaking up the rootball if there?)? Or will that stress the tree too much?
I'm happy to prune it and give it the fertilizer recommended above but would be great to know if the tree is actually happy. Its easy with vegies - you know quickly if they're going to do well or you pull them out - it takes far too long with fruit trees for my liking! :) Thanks again

Time: 11th March 2013 2:07pm

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About the Author ForestHill3131
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Brain says...
I'm inclinded to say no to dig up the tree up, not least of which it's a lot of effort. The worst is, you may disturb a perfectly healthy tree.

However, if you are really worried, would you consider digging a small section near the tree roots and check how the roots are going? I mean, if you dig a pilot hole and see the roots are growing and spreading well, then no problems. and if that is not the case, then by all means dig up the rest of the tree and tease the roots out.

As the other posters has said, it's a rare occurance to have roots all bounded up and if that was the case, your tree will showed quite a bit of decline.



Time: 11th March 2013 5:42pm

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About the Author Brain
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VF says...
Has anyone tasted a Cara Cara yet? I'm contemplating on getting one on Flying Dragon rootstock, as I love the flavour description on Wikipedia ("notes of cherry, rosepetal, orange and blackberry")!

Time: 10th October 2013 4:14pm

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LilianT says...
Hi VF, I've been able to get them - tastes like a regular navel but with less acidity and a touch of blood orange flavour to it. Overall its consistently lower acidity than navels, especially the early season stuff. Hope that helps. It does have a touch of cranberry to it & bit more aromatic than the usual navels. Also a bit smaller in size.

By the way, where would you get one grafted on a flying dragon rootstock? I haven't seen it around anyplace.

Time: 10th October 2013 4:23pm

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Original Post was last edited: 10th October 2013 4:24pm
About the Author Lilian
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BJ says...
VF - I have one on Flying Dragon, which did nothing for a very long time. Its now in a pot doing nothing much. I put in a regular grafted one in ground and its growing much better. Its not hard to keep size manageable on regular stock and get better production etc.

I've had a few fruits from the shop. Very nice, with a cranberry and other berry notes on top of non-acid orange. Wikipedia probably takes it a bit far, but different folks probably taste different things - I doubt any 1 person, bar James Halliday, would taste all of those notes in the one fruit...

Very nice fruit, especially where good blood oranges and the likes dont get enough chill to get good flavour.

Time: 10th October 2013 4:42pm

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
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Brain says...
About 6 to 4 months ago, SE Qld Bunnies had a lot of them. Not sure about Melb obviously. I think if you shop or call around, there should still be a few.

Time: 10th October 2013 4:53pm

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About the Author Brain
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VF says...
Aaaahh, I thought the description too flowery and glowing to be true. Thanks for feedback. It still sounds like a tasty navel variety, (as on another thread no seeds=happy children too), smaller size fruit not a problem.

Lillian, here in Qld it's Birdwood who supplies the FD graft. Unfortunately you won't find their citrus plants south of the border, as it's prohibited due to risk of disease.

BJ, thanks for heads up as it sounds a bit dissappointing re the FD anyway. I shall stick to standard size then - save a little $ too. :) Good to hear that it develops a decent taste locally.

Time: 11th October 2013 2:38am

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Boris Spasky says...
It is a bit more climate specific than other navels. The experience in the Florida climate was insipid and pale fruit and is not grown commercially there anymore. Being a lower acid fruit to start with, the levels dropped right away.
Large parts of QLD would be unsuitable and you would be disappointed with the quality of the fruit, compared to that from the shop which predominantly comes from the Riverland.

Time: 11th October 2013 8:58am

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Original Post was last edited: 11th October 2013 9:00am

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VF says...
Was it the higher rainfall that they disliked Boris, or something to do with temperature?

Time: 11th October 2013 5:42pm

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BJ says...
Strange, as they originated way in the tropics. Florida is known for having a wide range of soils, mostly horrible, and real problems with citrus. I think VF would have lovely soil far removed from that of Florida that would produce good fruit.

Time: 11th October 2013 9:37pm

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About the Author Theposterformerlyknownas
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VF says...
Thanks BJ. Shall certainly give it a go. For interest, I found this article. http://www.growingproduce.com/article/31915/growers-take-new-notice-of-navel-oranges

Time: 13th October 2013 8:10am

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MaryT1 says...
Bought a bag of Cara Cara grown in Yanco NSW (between Wagga Wagga and Griffith) for $2/kg at Woolies - small, easy peel, navel, juicy, deep pink, not too sweet. I like it. Found one small seed only in the first fruit I tried (6 to go) - will propagate just for fun.

Time: 30th August 2014 10:00am

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Boris Spasky says...
They are a very nice fruit, lower acid than most navels. Possibly old fruit though Mary, as they don't hold long on the tree so are all picked by end of July in Riverland/Sunraysia area. Perhaps Griffith area is a little later in maturity.

Time: 30th August 2014 10:19am

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MaryT1 says...
symiot it can get pretty boring here too but once in a while for no apparent reason I find something different at Woolies. I can only guess that they are trialling for market response.

Time: 30th August 2014 10:20am

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