Meyer lemon tree protection

[DaveJC]

Hi all
Ive just registered, so appologies if this question has been done a million times already.

I have a small potted Meyer lemon tree that sits on my patio in the back garden. It is the end of september and the weather is still quite nice, but it wont be long till winter. I live just outside Edinburgh in Scotland, so winter can get pretty cold.

The tree is small but, not small enough to bring inside anymore. It has hundreds of small fruit which i hope will survive the winter and continue to grow next year.

What are the best things I can do to protect it from the winter weather.





Thanks in advance!
Dave

[chrisdb]

I doubt leaving it outside is an option, even wrapped up. I always bring ours into the conservatory over winter, although that's now a two man job. A garage or outhouse would probably also do the job, or perhaps a greenhouse. Supposedly they're hardy down to about -5.

[DaveJC]

Hmmm, I have no space for it inside. I have a garden shed, but it wouldnt get any sunlight in there. I am toying with the idea of throwing one of these plastic green houses over it, but think it would probably get destroyed the first big wind we have.

hopefully someone here has found a way of protecting it from the winter weather.

Cheers

[Snadger]

I have two plants that were given to me because they started to lose there leaves and look tatty. In the summer I put one in the glasshouse and one outdoiors.
The outdoor one didn't fare very well at all but quckly picked up again when I brought it indoors a couple of weeks ago.They are both looking good now and have loads of fruit forming. I checked these in the local GC and they are selling for £40 each!
I agree with Chrisdb above, it deffo needs to be inside not only for the winter but in my location the summer as well to prosper

[veggiechicken]

Hi Dave and welcome to the Vine
Do you know anyone who could look after it indoors for you? It would be a shame to lose it now.
I had a lemon tree that had sooty mould so I put it outside for the summer and forgot to bring it in overwinter - it died

[DaveJC]

Thanks for the replys,
I really wish I could bring it inside. The wife would literaly murder me if she came home and found it in the house hahaha
To be honest though, the only 1 place i could possobly put it would be my hallway and there are no windows in there..

It spent last year outside with a thin frost cover over it, but at that time it had no fruit,, just blossom. The plant was ok but the blossom all fell off.

[Alison]

Mine is an inside for winter, outside for summer and I find that ideal as it always tends to be looking ready for a change when I move it. I have had ones in the past which I tried to over winter in the greenhouse which didn't end well and that was with reasonable shelter and much further south. Last winter was very mild, I suspect you wouldn't be so lucky twice unfortunately. Personally I think they make lovely looking plants, can't you get a pretty pot and bring it in, they tend to be far nicer than most if the other house plants so I don't understand the problem.

[starloc]

I would put it in the middle of the dining table...It will die outside in the UK especially Scotland,
In the UK got away with it in Liverpool with fleece and bulb type christmas ligghts (not led) and a 100w old style 240v bulb to add more heat, you need to stop any frost,ice or snow touching the branches or leaves and even an hour without the bulbs on showed massive damage at -10C a tree that big will die as there is no thermal ass to keep the roots warm, and frost can penetrate right through it due to the size, I often lost a coupe of foot round the edges of the tree at -10C ,mine was in a 200l pot and 15 or so foot high and it didnt like it a small one hasnt got much to loose if it gets too cold, now i have moved to Bulgaria i have them in an upstairs room with constant light, no direct sun gets the plants, temperaturs down to -15C on a few nights inside this room of the house and they sulked...looked ill but were fine afterwards...very little leaf loss. to keep it outside an option would be to dig an in the ground greenhouse with glass roof 1 meter deep to keep it in.

[Kirk]

They are reasonably hardy but not fully and I doubt it will survive in a winter up in Edinburgh, and outside Edinburgh will actually be colder then in Edinburgh. I had one that I tended to leave outside and one year it didn't make it.

A shed will also likely kill it, as you say no light and they need the light. Even moving it will result in leaf loss.

Tend to follow your thought of one of those green plastic "green house" things. You would likely have to tie it down well - maybe try camping tent whatsits that the tent ropes are tied to. Sure you will find something.

Suggest one of reasonable size, saw 2 different ones at Wilkinsons last week, so if one is near you have a look. The "small" one they had is likely too small but the "bigger" one would I guess be a good option. I looked at it as an option to overwinter some veg plants.

Place it somewhere that is out of the wind (less chance of damage to it) and also if possible where it will get a bit of sun. Would also suggest that the lemon stands on somnething up off the ground a little.

[starloc]

They are OK... in complete darkness if they are below 5C to as low as -5C , they will go totally dormant but they will loose some leaves its difficult when you get them out again as they are not used to light so needs to be done very gradually as they warm up a bit at a time in the spring

in some countries people put them in the cellar for winter...but always best to keep them growing with some indirect light in winter citrus are natrualy an under canopy plant that grows in the shade of other trees so thy dont need a lot of light

Cold roots below 12C and direct sun will give massive leaf loss `winter leaf drop`

[Alison]

They are reasonably hardy but not fully and I doubt it will survive in a winter up in Edinburgh, and outside Edinburgh will actually be colder then in Edinburgh. I had one that I tended to leave outside and one year it didn't make it.

A shed will also likely kill it, as you say no light and they need the light. Even moving it will result in leaf loss.

Tend to follow your thought of one of those green plastic "green house" things. You would likely have to tie it down well - maybe try camping tent whatsits that the tent ropes are tied to. Sure you will find something.

Suggest one of reasonable size, saw 2 different ones at Wilkinsons last week, so if one is near you have a look. The "small" one they had is likely too small but the "bigger" one would I guess be a good option. I looked at it as an option to overwinter some veg plants.

Place it somewhere that is out of the wind (less chance of damage to it) and also if possible where it will get a bit of sun. Would also suggest that the lemon stands on somnething up off the ground a little.

I really don't think that this will work. You get very little temperature raise with this option and, considering mine didn't survive in a proper glass greenhouse, you are basically gambling on a mild winter. Citrus are not designed for frosty conditions.

[DaveJC]

Thanks for all the replys guys, much appreciated!

It looks like my only 2 options are -

buy a plastic or fleece greenhouse to put it in over winter
or
put it in my hallway in the house. The only problem with bringing it into the house is that it would get very little sunlight as, there is only 1 window which is on the door and its north facing. The tree would stay warm over the winter but get very little light

which is worse?

Regards
Dave

[starloc]

I would put it in the house with the tiny bit of light, direct sun or strong light is bad in the winter , if the low light becomes a problem (unlikely) you can get led or cfl grow lights that use very little electric but you will probably have enough light

[DaveJC]

Thank you!

Into the house it is!

Best regards
Dave

[DaveJC]

I brought the plant into my house soon after my last post and have noticed that the leaves are starting to turn slightly yellow. Leaves and a few little lemons have also started to drop off.

I have read that this could be due to over watering, which worried me as I have had to plug the drainage hole on the pot so that it could sit in the house with out leaking all over the floor. I have watered it several times but each day when poking my fingers a few inches into he soil, it feels dry.

Its quite a big pot with a layer of stones at the bottom (about 3 inches) was hoping this would act as drainage when brought inside.

I starting to worry that im going to loose all the fruit.