Anyone here grow citrus ?

[bramblejam]

I have a kumquat, which is a kind of false citrus, it's an evergreen I believe. We picked it up off Freecycle a few months ago, it's been outside all summer and is now indoors for winter. it doesn't seem all that happy indoors though, leaves are dropping. As the ex-owner was getting rid of it because it hardly fruited and we haven't seen any fruit or blossom any advice would be welcome.

[starloc]

I have a kumquat, which is a kind of false citrus, it's an evergreen I believe. We picked it up off Freecycle a few months ago, it's been outside all summer and is now indoors for winter. it doesn't seem all that happy indoors though, leaves are dropping. As the ex-owner was getting rid of it because it hardly fruited and we haven't seen any fruit or blossom any advice would be welcome.

all citrus are evergreen (apart from the trifoliata , another non citrus , japaniese bitter orange ), the citrus fortunella is usualy listed as in the citrus family...sometimes its just the fortunella group most put it in the citrus group,

the leaf drop is known as wld ( winter leaf drop ) its quite normal, but can be minimised

the leaves will drop if light gets on the tree if the roots are cold, or if the roots are hot with no light , or if humidity is too low

either keep its roots warm and give high levels of light so it grows all year long, or put it somewhere cold and dark, like in a shed or cellar ,some leaves may come off but will regrow in the spring

To fruit next year citrus need a minimum number of chill hours before the spring,it needs cold below 12C for a certain number of hours, usualy a lot....something like 400 hours , so if you keep it in the house it will give up flowering so much but may flower a bit

[bramblejam]

Thanks. So if I stick it in the garage (no shed yet) will that do? Hubby is worried the garage will heat up if we get a sunny winter day, though I don't think it'll heat up that much. It's concrete with a corrugated asbestos roof.

And when I got it out again in the spring (March?) do i prune it then or wait till autumn?

Thanks!

[Davyburns]

I have an Orange (naval) a lemon (Eureka) and a Lime (Bears) all about 4 feet tall, the orange and the lemon are full of flowers at the moment, but my lime only has a single leaf. I have tried standing it in a heated propagator for a month, but it had no effect, so I took it out as it seemed to be drying the compost out too much. Strange that the 3 are in identacle 30" pots, and are all side by side in my conservatory.
I will just wait for the spring and see whats happening!

[starloc]

I have an Orange (naval) a lemon (Eureka) and a Lime (Bears) all about 4 feet tall, the orange and the lemon are full of flowers at the moment, but my lime only has a single leaf. I have tried standing it in a heated propagator for a month, but it had no effect, so I took it out as it seemed to be drying the compost out too much. Strange that the 3 are in identacle 30" pots, and are all side by side in my conservatory.
I will just wait for the spring and see whats happening!

If its roots are heated and the light levels are too low it can also loose leaves, it tends to be slower leaf loss than too cold roots and light , you could try a low watt CFL bulb close to it if its roots are heated, but before any lights or that, check that its not getting a strong beam of sunlight from anywhere that the other plants arent getting

[Mell]

I have an Orange (naval) a lemon (Eureka) and a Lime (Bears) all about 4 feet tall, the orange and the lemon are full of flowers at the moment, but my lime only has a single leaf. I have tried standing it in a heated propagator for a month, but it had no effect, so I took it out as it seemed to be drying the compost out too much. Strange that the 3 are in identacle 30" pots, and are all side by side in my conservatory.
I will just wait for the spring and see whats happening!

It is likely that because they are different plants they have different requirement, so it isn't surprising that on isn't performing exactly thge same as the others (all be it a pain !) Looking on the web several nurseries state the bear lime is moresensitive than lemons, so I guess you need to increase the favourability for that specific plant

[Mell]

BTW are you feeging them with winter citrus food ?

[Mell]

Indoor lemon tree care provides some UK based advice on leaf drop

[Davyburns]

BTW are you feeging them with winter citrus food ?

I give all 3 8 drops of Baby Bio Citrus feed mixed with a pint of water every 2 weeks

[Mell]

I give all 3 8 drops of Baby Bio Citrus feed mixed with a pint of water every 2 weeks

Is that a winter specific citrus food though ? If not I'd get a winter specific one

[Davyburns]

Is that a winter specific citrus food though ? If not I'd get a winter specific one

My other 2 plants are doing well on the baby bio, and I cant help thinking that having different foods for winter and summer is little more than a marketing ploy, after all, other plants dont seem to change their diet with the seasons

[Mell]

My other 2 plants are doing well on the baby bio, and I cant help thinking that having different foods for winter and summer is little more than a marketing ploy, after all, other plants dont seem to change their diet with the seasons

The two foods are chemically different, they are designed to provide the chemicals necessary for the plant in the season they are designed for.

Giving the wrong seasons food will not help the leaf loss situation.

I use these ones Chempak Winter Food for Citrus Trees - Thompson & Morgan

I've had the two packs for two years now & still have at least half left. it isn't an expensive thing to add to keep your plants healthy.

All plants have different requirements during the year, particularly where there are noticable seasons such as in the UK. Observed the lack of leaves on the trees around you. These leave in summer phosynthesis to provide the plant with food (ie sunlight energy into sugars/growth), in winter they would be a high risk thing to keep as the loss of water from them would be dangerous for the trees so they shed them and remain dormant over winter maintaining survival on theo reserves. You'll notice most evergreens in this part of the world have thin narrow leave (eg pine needles) to reduce transpiration. Whilst citrus are evergreens, they cannot be evergreen in the UK natural environment due to the cold conditions, they just die as they have not evolved to survive here.

[starloc]

The 2 fertisers are better than one, but you can use summer feed all year round, the worst thing people do is not feed at all in the winter and not to feed enough in the summer

the summer has higher nitrogen to allow a build up of energy to hold fruit in the winter, if you feed the high nitrogen all year round the plant may not flower as much , it may just grow more branches + leaves but ive never had that problem, i tend to use allsorts of fertiliser , even growmore and toprose and blood fish and bone

I found the fertiliser by `the citrus center` is fine to use all year round, they say it is and it works, just feed every watering and i spray the trees with it once a week,
Miracle grow it seems fine as well ( as long as you dont spray the plant or it can burn it)

[starloc]

Whilst citrus are evergreens, they cannot be evergreen in the UK natural environment due to the cold conditions, they just die as they have not evolved to survive here.

Have you tried this, or is this just info from nurseries? , most citrus grown will take outside temperatures in the UK , i have had regularly -15C and the trees are fine ,just with frost cloth or taupaulin ( light proof ), christmas lights are better on realy cold nights (under -10C ) but most of the time i just cover them now with a tarpaulin ,
ive just covered the lemon trees on friday but the naranja orange tree is still just sitting there looking a bit sad with no protection at all , as it was in january,
ive gradualy reduced the winter protection and seen no difference other than sosme to one lemon tree last year when the frost cloth burst and the inside filled up with a giant iceberg of snow and ice, when i removed the cloth it was a giant icelolly of lemons that had burst as they freeze , the tree was fine, bit battered looking with small branch loss ( due to being an icicle) but it was fine and is sitting there outside now at -10 , frozen pot , totaly fine

as long as they dont actualy get ice on the leaves , if ice gets on them some leaves die, most dont, some branches die usualy the ones smaller than 3mm wide

Small trees would not survive easily as they are so much easier to freeze right through,

mine outside are all 10 to 20 foot high in 200 to 500 litre pots, they dont mind the cold, i would not put a lime tree outside though ,

but there are grapefruit trees outside in the UK.....

World's Northernmost Fruiting Grapefruit?

and calamondins in the isle of wight

The Isle of Wight


the ones i have in the house in the living room are dropping a few leaves here and there as the lights a bit strong from outside, there on heater mats ( roots at 75F ) on the windowledge ,when i run the metal halide lights they loose no leaves

the ones in the upstairs bathroom ( we dont use it ), curtains closed, window open, no heating, no leaf loss, last few years i did this, one year curtains open, no direct light comes in, it was fine until about february when the sun came in and the direct beam of light made all the leaves fall off the two plant s the light beam got to

[Mell]

Have you tried this, or is this just info from nurseries? , most citrus grown will take outside temperatures in the UK , i have had regularly -15C and the trees are fine ,just with frost cloth or taupaulin ( light proof ), christmas lights are better on realy cold nights (under -10C ) but most of the time i just cover them now with a tarpaulin ,

You perhaps did not note that I saif "UK natural environment" emphasis on NATURAL. Lights, covers or even a wall is not a natural but an enhanced environment.

Yes I've heard of the southern trees, but I think the grapefruit is in a very sheltered spot and mucj further south than I am.

Sounds like your trees have reached impressive sizes, I guess they would be troublesome to bring inside at that height ! No I've not tried mine outside, I don't think I would unless forced to, I'd like to try some of the very cold hardy citrus. Although I have seen one near me (orange) which appears to live outside all year, I've not see protcetion on it, but again it is against a wall porch so somewhat sheltered.

Have you photos of yours ?