Mike..So did I!! I can't even believe how much the Citrus Trees have risen here in the past year.. The ones at Lowe's which cost just 16.99 last year are now 24.99! That is what they were at the Nursery last year..This year those same little container ones are 29.99..lol The big grafted ones I saw today were 79.99 which were just 49.99 last year.. I guess the popularity of them is increasing along with the PRICE,,Sheesh.. Lowe's had over 50 little potted limes and meyers...I think since over half of them will be left behind by fall, if they survive, I'll wait for the sale.. MIke This post was edited by meyermike_1micha on Thu, May 22, 14 at 18:16

Erm, sorry, those instructions are not comprehensive. I didn't talk about particle size or fertilizing or anything in that post as I was just trying to clarify the proportions and make it seem less esoteric for you dsieber. Sadly, I don't know of a single thread or post that gives every detail of the process from sourcing to mixing and fertilizing. I'd edit that to be a complete response but we can't edit. So brkieffner if you are serious about trying to keep an indoor citrus I'd check around for more threads with information on Al's gritty mix. Maybe sometime this week I'll throw all of the information up on an external blog or something that is editable in case I get something wrong or people want to add to it. It would be so much better if we could edit here :( Part of the issue is that there is a lot of variation. brkieffner: I successfully overwinter lots of citrus indoors but I certainly wouldn't call citrus trees "house plants." Do you know if it's grafted? If you purchased it at a big box store in IN rather than a nursery then it might not be grafted. If it isn't then it will get very large in a hurry (for a perennial anyway). The tree won't give off a strong scent unless you cut it as you did (kind of a sickly sweet smell to my nose when you do that), leaves drop, or blossoms open. The open blossoms smell quite nice but on larger trees can get overpowering indoors. I think the gritty mix will be your best bet for keeping the plant indoors but there are some things to consider. The gritty mix is very free-draining - that's its purpose. It's great for the plant but it means that you will need to water more often and that when you do you will get a lot of runoff. Outside this isn't a big deal but indoors it starts to add up quickly and the usual saucer underneath the pot will be full after just a few days. Larger catch basins fill up quickly as well. Since the gritty mix is also physically heavy picking up the plant to empty the basins is more of a pain than usual. Some people use large turkey basters to get in there and suck up the runoff but that gets old very quick. I'd suggest modifying a pot with some tubing and elevating the tree so that you can catch the runoff in something that you can empty easily. Since the gritty mix doesn't wick you will need a way to water it evenly. This means a watering can with a rose or some dispersal mechanism. It's not like an ordinary soil that you can just water on one side and the moisture will move all around for you. Also remember that if you go the gritty mix route you either need to use a fertilizer with calcium and magnesium already in it (rare) or mix gypsum (for calcium) into the soil when you make it and then feed the plant some epsom salt periodically when you water (for magnesium). Don't get confused and use Garden Lime or dolomitic lime in the gritty mix. These would provide Ca and Mg but they also raise the pH and the gritty mix is already about as high of a pH as you'd want to go. Since you're making the soil it will contain zero nutrients so don't be fooled into thinking that a "Citrus Fertilizer" will have everything you need. You will need to provide a complete package of nutrients Major,Minor,Micro which very few fertilizers actually have. Were I you I would mix Osmocote Plus (time-release fertilizer) into the soil when you make it for insurance and then use Foliage Pro or something like it with Ca and Mg. If you don't use something like Foliage Pro then you might want to buy some STEM (Peter's Soluble Trace Element Mix) and then a 3-1-2 or 5-1-3 ratio liquid fertilizer like Miracle Gro and then mix them for your fertilizing. Just remember that straight Miracle Gro or Brand X "Citrus Fertilizer" will almost certainly not have everything that you need. You will need the STEM. Ask if you need help deciding. Particle size matters in the gritty mix so be sure to track down the information on bark size, granite size, and make sure you buy the correct Turface or Axis product (I don't remember which ones you want offhand). There are some substitutes for these ingredients if you can't find them locally but don't assume that because you've seen 1 post where someone is using a substitute that it will work for you. Make sure to ask if you try to substitute. Somewhere Al has a list of substitutes and you can see that it changes the proportions when you do that. I use T5 lights to overwinter citrus and I have all of them either in a sunroom or in front of large windows. If you don't have a large south-facing window then you might want to think about some sort of grow light. Aphids, scale, and mites are a big problem for me in the winter so you might also think about a location where you can spray the plant periodically with your choice of products. If it's still very small you can move it to spray it but once they get larger you will want to be able to hit it with neem or other nonsense indoors and that can be an issue. I'm going to try a much more organized release of lacewings this year to control my indoor issues. That might work for you. If you see ants on or near the plant when it is indoors make sure to kill them with baits immediately. They are farming scale or aphids on your tree and they will cause serious problems. I'm sure there is more but that's all I can think of right now... goodluck

Good Afternoon All~ I love these picture threads! Here is my .....well what I believe to be a Satuma Madarin from a rare seed Tim found inside of one from his mother's tree about 13 years ago. This is the very first year it has produced fruit. They will be ready in a couple weeks but of course I could not wait and picked the orangest one and gobbled it down! It was delicious and soooo juicy. No seed either! I guess it will be just like it's momma! :)

Here are the same plants above, pics taken Dec 31. Tangerine. It is way more yellow than it appears in the photo. Seeing how dark it was back in Sep/Oct is discouraging, but at least it hasn't lost any leaves. Lemon. Holding up pretty well. No yellowing. Has some new growth but as you can see the new leaves have so far stayed very small. Hopefully they'll grow more as the days get brighter. Kumquat. Some yellowing on the top leaves but the rest of it looks good. Has some new growth coming on in the middle of the plant but you can't really see it in the pic. I'll take some more pics in the Spring. They sit in a sunny windowsill during the day, and before I go to work in the afternoon I put them under a daylight CFL in a foil-lined box.