We have about 1500 trees on our land, most of them citric fruit trees. We have oranges, lemons, mandarins, besides olives, almonds and a few apples.
Some of our orange trees have lemon branches in them, as they were inserted as such by the previous owner of our finca. It seems that all citric trees can be inserted into one and other, so we asked our neighbour Juan if he could insert a few lime-lemon branches in an orange tree near the pool, so an occasional gin-tonic drinker can have his/her lime fresh from the tree. Juan was willing and able, here come the images…
Juan brought a couple of selected lime branches, cut from another friendly neighbour’s lime tree.
Juan cut off some branches of the orange tree to create room for the inserts.
Juan selected a piece of branch with a good node, and started peeling the required part from the stem.
This is the piece of bast needed for an insert.
The next step is cutting an opening in the bast of the tree, so the insert can be placed in there.
The insert is being placed under the skin of the orange tree.
A piece of rope is tied around the entire area, so the jiuces can not pour out.
Juan made three inserts, now we just wait and see if they catch on…
The tools and materials used, old school…
Come and have your gin-tonics with home made lime!