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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

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Wednesday - September 17, 2008

From: Panama City, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Green fruit dropping from non-native navel orange tree
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Hi, I have a seedless navel orange tree that is dropping the green fruit as of late and when I find the oranges laying there they have a large split in them that exposes the fruit. I don't think the oranges on the tree have any splits but they are falling of the tree pretty every day. Is this normal or does the tree have some disease?

ANSWER:

Due to the large volume of questions Mr. Smarty Plants has been receiving, we are asking that questions be confined to plants native to North America, which is the focus of the work done by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.The orange tree is a native of Southeast Asia, and has been extensively hybridized, far out of the range of our expertise. You might check this previous answer for some possible sources of information. Also, we suggest contacting your University of Florida Extension Office for Bay County.
 

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