Citrus fruit in the Northland? Yes, it’s possible

Q: I’m sharing photos of my citrus trees that have produced fruit. I bought a lime tree two years ago, and the first year, I got two separate crops of limes, totaling 10. They were delicious and much juicier and more flavorful than any I’ve bought in stores! — Beth

A: Thanks, Beth, for proving we can grow citrus in the Northland, even if it is indoors.

Beth continues: “I also bought lemon and orange trees this past summer, and I kept them outdoors until the weather turned cool. The lemon tree had 37 lemons on it when I brought it in this fall, and the orange tree has small oranges starting.”

“All three of the citrus plants are about 2-and-a-half feet tall by 2 to 3 feet wide. The leaves of all the plants look similar. I put a quarter next to the picture of the limes, so you can see how big they are.”

Q: I removed some low-growing pinelike shrubs by the patio of my house. There’s a lot of small roots that couldn’t be removed. What suggestions do you have to control those roots, so that when I fill the area with black dirt and plant grass, the roots won’t be an issue? — Gene B.

A: You’re in luck, because spruce, pine and juniper roots do not regenerate new little evergreen sprouts the way some trees and leafy-type shrubs do. For example, when an ornamental crabapple, Canada red cherry, or a poplar are cut down, the remaining roots frequently send up “sucker” shoots that attempt to become new trees.

Instead, evergreen roots easily decompose naturally in the soil without causing problems. It sounds like you’ve taken out the larger, easy-to-remove roots, and the small, fine roots will decay on their own, adding organic material to the soil and probably adding some nutrients along the way.

You can plant your grass in the spring without needing to do anything further with the evergreen roots. Some of the tinier roots will probably already be decomposed by the time May grass-planting time arrives.

Q: I know you’ve mentioned this before, but I didn’t write it down. What is the product you suggested that controls the annoying little black flies that flit around my houseplants? — Sandra R.

A: The small black flies are fungus gnats, which commonly set up housekeeping in houseplant soil, where the larvae thrive on organic matter in potting mixes. A lifecycle begins in which adult gnats lay eggs in the soil, which hatch into larvae that eventually become flying adults that lay more eggs in the soil, which turn into more larvae, and the vicious cycle continues indefinitely.

The key to controlling fungus gnats is to break the lifecycle chain. The product I’ve mentioned in the past for fungus gnat control is Mosquito Bits, which is labeled for control of mosquitos and fungus gnats. It can be found at national chains and other hardware stores, plus some garden centers.

Mosquito Bits contains a strain of the beneficial bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis and is related to the organic product used to control cabbage worms and other larvae in the vegetable garden. Mosquito Bits inoculates the potting mix with these bacteria, which in turn kill fungus gnat larvae.

Follow the directions on the package, and be patient, as it takes the bacteria time to do their work, but eventually, the life cycle will be broken and the fungus gnats will disappear.

If you have a gardening or lawn care question, email Don Kinzler, NDSU Extension-Cass County, at [email protected] . Questions with broad appeal may be published, so please include your name, city and state for appropriate advice.