Blood Orange Tree

8/18/21

I did the summer pruning! Even though it was scary. Opened up the center and cut away some wacky vertical branches.

4/16/21

Fertilized. AND! I have so. Many. Baby. Blood oranges. Finally!

3/22/21

I hung some stones from the Blood Orange tree branches in order to encourage them to grow more horizontally. The weight of the stones encourages the branches to grow horizontally, and horizontal branches are more fruitful. This little guy is sticking his arms straight up this season.

I was also forced to do some pruning to make room for the workers who will be replacing our fence. I was bummed to prune, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. It did give me a chance to really look at the shape of the tree and make some more aesthetic pruning decisions.

2/23/21

The Blood Orange tree is another fruit tree that came with our house, planted in an awkward spot between the deck and a fence. The first year we lived in the house we were graced with one blood orange. As of right now the tree appears to be getting ready to bud (little leafy poufs appearing?), so I’m hoping we’ll get a harvest this year. I’ve fertilized the tree this month with some specialty citrus fertilizer, and will do so again in 8 weeks. Hoping that helps it along.

Aside from actually getting some oranges, my #orangetreegoals are similar to my #lemontreegoals – I’d like to be able to pick the fruit easily while standing on the deck. This should be pretty easy, as the tree is already a few inches taller than I can reach. Hopefully with some proper pruning it’ll be a happy little dude.

Like the lemon tree, we have not named the blood orange tree. Thoughts?

2/18/21

Fertilized. Next fertilization on April 15 (8 weeks).