Gardening Question From Jo:

How do I insure I have sweet fruit?
I have 2 miniature orange trees and they are not sweet

Photo by choefnagels

Answer From Pat:

Unfortunately the reason some citrus is not sweet is due to the species of tree, the root stock and also the climate zone in which you live. It is a very unfortunate fact that global warming is giving us warmer temperatures along the coast. Some citrus trees such as navel and Valencia oranges need cold nights in winter months to sweeten the fruit. The root stock called ‘Flying Dragon’ used on some dwarf fruit trees can make fruit sweeter. Your dwarf trees might have been grafted onto another root stock which fails to have this beneficent feature.