falling baby mandarin (forum)

anthony romanous starts with ...
my baby mandins keep falling off before they grow at the end i will have nil same as last year they all fell off.
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Picture: 1

Time: 29th April 2011 11:11am

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About the Author anthony1
blacktown
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Olga says...
Fruit flies can do it to your mandies. Check fruits for white or black spots.

Time: 29th April 2011 12:31pm

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About the Author Olga
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hawkypork says...
All the mandarins are falling off my tree too. But I have fed and watered the tree all summer and they are mostly a decent size.

Am I right in expecting the mandarin to ripen in the fruit bowl?

Time: 2nd May 2011 12:08pm

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Wayne says...
Fruit drop is often caused by the soil going from wet to dry. To overcome this problem surface mulch to the drip line and apply a heavy dressing of GYPSUM two clenched handfuls per sq metre under the canopy.This will improve the texture of the soil and assist in maintaining soil moisture

Time: 2nd May 2011 2:30pm

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About the Author Wayne
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kert says...
Sorry to take exception to your gypsum . It is not useful for all soils; its only use is as a cation exchange for sodic clays. One can do a home test to find out if,in fact, you have a sodic clay.

Time: 2nd May 2011 2:34pm

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Wayne says...
Can't offer a solution to the problem once again Kert? this seems to be a trait of yours.

Gypsum is also a moisture retainer suitable for all soils, I have sandy soil and find it quiet useful for that purpose as well, it does not alter the PH of the soil in any direction and using it in ANY soil is not harmful.

Of course there are other reasons for fruit drop such as a disease like anthracnose but neither poster indicated symptoms of that and nor did the photo of a very healthy tree. If the stem of the fruit shows no disease I would go the way of my first post and perhaps add sulphate of potash for good luck.

Time: 2nd May 2011 4:50pm

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Original Post was last edited: 2nd May 2011 5:27pm

About the Author Wayne
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Chris says...
Wayne, you make the unintentional mistake of assuming your conditions are the conditions others deal with.
Blacktown would be heavy clay, not sand. So the issue is more likely to be one of waterlogging and drainage, rather than retaining moisture. We have had one of the wettest months in a long while. Gypsum is unlikely to do anything at this late stage.
Some fruit drop is normal. Many mandarins tend to be alternate bearing unless you thin them. But if the tree drops all it's fruit then it's ultimately due to stress of some kind, whether due to water or nutrient imbalance/defiency.
From my armchair it does appear relatively healthy looking (above the root system).

Time: 2nd May 2011 10:06pm

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Original Post was last edited: 2nd May 2011 10:09pm

About the Author Chris
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Wayne says...
I understand this Chris and that being the case it is all the more reason to use gypsum , Kert is of the opinion that gypsum is good for clay soil only when in fact it will help control moisture content in other types of soil. Note that I say "fruit drop is OFTEN caused by soil going from wet to dry" not "always". These two people are talking about loosing all their fruit, not just a few.

What are the soil conditions in Fremantle?

Nobody else has offered a solution to this problem yet and I'm sure alternative remedies would be welcome, but these people need help and the opportunity to decide for themselves.

Cheers

Time: 3rd May 2011 3:13am

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Original Post was last edited: 3rd May 2011 3:42am

About the Author Wayne
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kert says...
Do you suppose you can disagree, Wayne without being disagreeable. (And not delete my altogether muted response). There is no evidence for the use of gypsum for all soils . If you have such evidence then share it.
In its absence I'll state again "gypsum is only of use as a cation exchange for sodic soils." (incidentally, cations have no resemlance to felines)

Time: 3rd May 2011 7:31am

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Chris says...
My experience is with clay, but I would have thought in Freo, the addition of bentonite would be far more beneficial for holding soil moisture than gypsum. Even coir peat in the top inch of the soil. The idea of gypsum, a chalky powder, being used to control soil moisture, is not a factor in it's application.

Time: 3rd May 2011 8:22am

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hawkypork says...
At last, a subject that I can comment with authority. Fremantle is on limestone creating gutless, hydrophobic, alkaline, sandy soils.

I dont think the there is a wet/dry thing going on because the mandarin has been getting spray retic every day. Dont think it is a fertiliser thing either because the tree has been getting quite a lot of fertiliser attention over the last year. The tree is healthy and the fruit is a good size.

My orange tree has also had all year watering and plenty of fertiliser but a number of the fruit split.

I would love an alternative theory rather than changes in soil moisture.

Still can't complain lots of homegrown mandarins and oranges at the moment.


Time: 3rd May 2011 2:05pm

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amanda says...
Hi Hawkypork - this link might help:

http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/hort/fn/pw/citrusloss.pdf

And this one is one of my fave's:
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/horticulture/citrus/management/nutrition/nutrition

Time: 3rd May 2011 4:50pm

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About the Author amanda19
Gerladton. Mid West WA
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Haakon says...
Excellent info, thank you Amanda.

Splitting and fruit shedding is common. Navels are susceptible to splitting. Could be any number of stresses or a combination.

I will put it down to an extreme summer molycoddle my trees even more next season.

Time: 3rd May 2011 6:02pm

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Ricktee says...
I notice that many people make the common mistake of referring to the citrus fruit "Mandarine" as "Mandarin".. MANDARIN is a Chinese dialect and also a religious person. The fruit of the same sounding name is and should be MANDARINE...written with an E on the end.

Time: 31st March 2014 10:06am

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About the Author Ricktee
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yrt says...
Ricktee, the correct term is mandarin for the fruit (except in Atherton Tablelands) ; authorizes support this from the etymology. PS mandarin not a religious person but a Chinese secular ruler. Where are you , Dr Google.?

Time: 31st March 2014 10:23am

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About the Author yrt
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sternus1 says...
The proper noun is mandarin.

Time: 31st March 2014 10:46am

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About the Author sternus1
Australia
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Mike Tr says...
The fruit name is derived from Mandarin Orange just as Tangerine is derived from Orange of Tangiers. Mandarin is a bit too derived and Mandarine is strinised.It is a bit hard to argue about which is the correct common name as long as we know what we are talking about.

Time: 31st March 2014 11:08am

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About the Author Mike Tr
Cairns
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Mike Tr says...
On reflection mandarine is a common name and just as valid as mandarin which is kinda an adjective.

Time: 2nd April 2014 3:40pm

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