MrsG, I would contact Four Winds about growing a blood orange indoors. I wouldn't say they are any more sensitive than other citrus with regard to having wet roots - all citrus do not do well with that. So, make sure you have well draining potting mix for any of your citrus. And, not necessary to set up a light box as Steve has done. This is his choice, but not everyone is going to be so inclined or have the ability/space to do something this drastic. You can place your citrus in a bright south or west facing window, and if you can provide additional full spectrum lights, that should be enough to keep any citrus growing indoors. MeyerMike and several other folks grow their indoor container citrus in this manner with lots of success. You don't need to provide additional heat, if you house is comfortably warm. As long as your temps aren't below maybe 55 or so, your trees will grow just fine, and continue to flush and bloom inside. For Blood oranges, they will color up if there is enough change between daytime and nighttime temps, so, being in a house with steady temps, you may not see as much coloring as you would with a blood orange planted outside. But, they should still be very good. I would recommend a Moro orange, as they have the most pigmentation, and you'd stand the best chance of getting the most pulp pigmentation with a Moro. I've included a great link to Four Winds web site about growing citrus as houseplants. You have the ability to bring your trees out in warmer weather, so they should all do well, including a blood orange :-) Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds Growers: Growing Citrus as Houseplants

wow, those are tiny, i agree with John, they do look like rooted cuttings. since you're up north in the cold, i'd also recommend Al's gritty mix. since cold temps and too much moisture in the soil will cause root rot. citrus do not like wet feet. FYI before it gets cold, once your night temps drop below 40'F you'll want to bring your citrus indoors, provide ample lighting, decrease the amount of water they get. you can look in the 'growing under lights' forum to get some ideas. possible setups: 4' shoplight with fluorescent tubes, metal halyde lamp, high pressure sodium lamp, high wattage CFL's (spiral bulbs).

Take a paper/plastic cup and punch a small hole in the bottom. Fill it with your mix and then put your finger over the hole while you fill with water. Remove your finger from the hole and leave it to drain. The perched water will remain. You can see it if you have used a clear plastic cup. Insert a toothpick into the hole. The perched water will drain out. The toothpick acts as a wick and will demonstrate why you generally need a wick in anything other than gritty mix. This test will show you how much perched water your mix retains but bear in mind it will hold more over time as the mix degrades. Organic mixes will degrade faster. I use a mix similar to the one you are considering in pots that I expect to last a year or so before re-potting or planting. Just buy a rayon mop and use a few strands to make a wick. Tie a knot to keep it from falling through the screen that you use over the drain hole. I put about 4" of mix in the bottom while holding the wick vertically. You can find pictures in Al's thread on water movement in container soils, which you should read carefully. It has lots of great info but bear in mind they are mostly talking about wetter parts of the country. If you buy the typical nursery citrus in heavy organic mix, I would remove all the loose parts. After setting the loosened rootball on the mix and confirming planting height, I usually add a bit of mix at a time and use the Dramm Water Breaker nozzle on my hose to gently loosen the roots and let the nursery mix and the new planting mix combine. You want to avoid any sharp changes in potting mix. This is the opposite of just plopping the plant in the pot and filling it up with planting mix. This post was edited by GregBradley on Fri, Oct 11, 13 at 11:57

I have a small Lime Mint pot I could take a cutting from and, rooted Orange Mint, and some Lemon Mint seedlings if you're interested? I would be interested in trading for Purple and Pluto Hens and Chicks.