cabo35
04-19-2008, 01:37 PM
About a year and a half ago, I decided that no Florida home was complete without citrus trees in the backyard. With visions of the instant gratification of plucking an orange from my own tree and making lemonade from my own Meyer lemons, I made the plunge and purchased an orange tree, a lemon tree and a tangerine tree. I drove to a nursery in Ocala where I "heard" they had the "best" trees.
I watered them, fed them, nurtured them, talked to them, covered them from any threat of cold and generally pampered them better than the family pet. The first year we were not surprised to have a bare tree because we were warned that it may not produce because of the transplant shock. However, the lemon tree produce 50 fabulous lemons and the tangerine a half dozen prizes.
This year we anticipated an abundant season crop yield. Hundreds of blossoms on the orange tree, as many on the lemon tree and a healthy tangerine bloom. Marble size baby oranges, lemons and tangerines inspired visions of a bountiful harvest so ample we would be able to share with friends and neighbors.
Then, it happened, the baby fruits started disappearing. I had judicially counted them frequently and the count kept getting lower. We went to Disney World for a couple of days and when we returned, all but two or three fruits were gone. Had there been a frost, had some mysterious plant ailment attacked my orchard?
I told a friend who knows much of these horticulture things and his response was.....birds. The birds got them.
Okay, enough background. Does anyone know how to stop the birds from pilfering my citrus fruit ?
Muncle, before you say it, getting a cat to guard the trees is not in the game plan.
I watered them, fed them, nurtured them, talked to them, covered them from any threat of cold and generally pampered them better than the family pet. The first year we were not surprised to have a bare tree because we were warned that it may not produce because of the transplant shock. However, the lemon tree produce 50 fabulous lemons and the tangerine a half dozen prizes.
This year we anticipated an abundant season crop yield. Hundreds of blossoms on the orange tree, as many on the lemon tree and a healthy tangerine bloom. Marble size baby oranges, lemons and tangerines inspired visions of a bountiful harvest so ample we would be able to share with friends and neighbors.
Then, it happened, the baby fruits started disappearing. I had judicially counted them frequently and the count kept getting lower. We went to Disney World for a couple of days and when we returned, all but two or three fruits were gone. Had there been a frost, had some mysterious plant ailment attacked my orchard?
I told a friend who knows much of these horticulture things and his response was.....birds. The birds got them.
Okay, enough background. Does anyone know how to stop the birds from pilfering my citrus fruit ?
Muncle, before you say it, getting a cat to guard the trees is not in the game plan.