I think you would be ok with the blood orange indoors. Due to unusually cold weather mine are inside and not getting very much sun if any (about two and a half weeks). They are doing much better than any of my lemons. There was a recent post or two that mentioned severe leaf drop when inside, but I am good so far. Hoping we get a weather break next week so I can put them outside. Both of mine are Moro that I was able to find at a local specialty nursery. A lot of forum members talk about Fourwinds nursery.

Arkberry, thank you so much. Will look up Fourwinds nursery now. Do you just prune it to keep it small? How large a pot it is in. My Meyer's are in very large pots. I'm used to leaf drop with my Lemons, but they always seem to come back, thank goodness. Thanks, again! Mrs. G

If 7 RI stands for Zone 7 Rhode Island, I would strongly suggest that you stay away from blood oranges. They do porly in wet soils and have no tolerance for low light.

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Tjhe tree marked dougs nagami kumquat and the 2 blood oranges were in the same window sill. The blood orange trees were larger and healthier at the end of summer. They were brought in over a 2 week period such that the trees lost an hour of sunlight each day as the suns path lowered in the sky. NO ROOM FOR HUMAN ERROR. They did well for about a month then the winter sky's moved in. The blood oranges started looking very sick and lost ther leave followed by twig die back. I took the 3 trees and placed them in my grow box. one of the bloods may live the other is critical. The nagami looks as though it never lost a ray of light.
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seed grown sweetlee tangerine trees, meiwa, nagami kumquat bushes. Plus Doug's rescue bloods

Washington naval and Valencia trees grow much better in low light and damper soil. owari satsumas are also much better than bloods

An exccelent source for those can be found below

Here is a link that might be useful: http://ediblelandscaping.com/

I forgot to state above that if you want blood orange trees you will need a setup comparable to the box above if they are to do well. The trees I suggested can do well in a south window and an added light. Much less work. The purpose of the box is to get the trees up to size about 3 times faster. They will be on there own next winter and will not need the extreme amount of light.

Steve

Poncirusguy, thank you so much for all of the information. Unfortunately it makes sense. I find your grow box intriguiging. The only place I could have one is in the basement. Hmmmm. Right now my citrus in a bay window (southern exposure) in the dining room with radiator heat as my house was built in 1893. I just took a look at my Key lime and it is blooming like crazy and yet another Meyer Lemon is now loaded with blooms. Wow what a show. Blood oranges are make the best juice in the world in MHO. And I would give anything to grow my own, even if I only get 8 of them a year. I do not what size (as in height) with my trees. I want fruit. Many thanks again, Mrs. G

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

The only place I could have one is in the basement. Hmmmm.

That is where mine is or my wife would have left me.

Steve

Steve,that is hilarious! I hear ya!

Patty, how great. My citrus spends the (late May) summer into October outdoors. I really do want the 'Moro' as it has the darkest red flesh. I think I'll try one. I must say, 'Al's Gritty' mix works beautifully for me. My pots are huge and will not need repotting for years. They also have huge saucers that are at least two feet in diameter. I read all of the growing instructions and it is worth a try. I have been having excellent luck with my other citrus and living in New England growing your own citrus is not only remarkable the taste is superb. I wish I had a greenhouse, but then my fruit tree addiction would only become worse. I just know that one blood orange tree is a lot less expensive than a trip to Milan to drink juice there! Mrs. G

MrsG47,

If you the experience and ability to grow a Meyer Lemon and a Key lime, then you should feel confident adding a Moro Blood to your collection. Just give it the same growing conditions and you'll be fine.

I've had a moro blood for about a year now, and despite the grey winter I've been having. It's just now about to bloom for me for the first time. It does sit in a 2nd story south facing windows.

It does seem to want to grow long branches with large leaves. Resembles the way my Persian Lime wants to grow.

Just like you, I to keep my citrus outside from late May to October. Depending how small you keep it, I'll be surprised if you only get 8 oranges/lemons/limes from any citrus. Just make sure you're feeding them right.

Just a side note. I made the mistake, when I got my first citrus tree. Thinking it would need a lot of growing room, I got a huge pot. Its so large that I struggle to move it by myself. Since then I've learned that I can have happy trees in 12"-14" pots. On those October nights that you don't want to take a chance of it frosting, its not nearly as big of a chore to bring them in for just the night.

So far I have never trimmed the tree and I keep it in a pretty good sized pot about the size of the pot of my Meyer tree. Right now the blood oranges look ten times better than the lemon

When I asked 4 winds about growing oranges in a similar fashion they pushed me towards a trovita instead of a cara cara or the others.

I've had a Moro since 2010, and it has done very well indoors for the winter. It's easier for me to keep happy than my Meyer lemon, that's for sure.

Josh

Trovita is the only orange tree that doesn't require high heat to ripen its fruit. Excellent choice. It is the only citrus I might have considered other than kumquats. It is less sweet or acid so it might be a very good choice. To my knowledge the juice is not good for cold storage being it is a navel type orange. It tends to get an off flavor. The blood, I don't know what it is. Look up blood oranges in the citrus forum and read for your self of the troubles people have before making a decision. There is a long list.

One thing to consider about citrus, 2 month in side is a hassle, 3 months and you run into problems, 4 months is what I feel is the real limitation to growing citrus at all, 5 months is down right devastating to the poor plants, I am at the 6-7 month range and that is virtually a death sentence to most citrus trees with out elaborate setups.

I agree with CitrusWeekendWarrior, Josh, and arkberry. The Meyer lemon and key lime are the hardest of all. Go for it. I over looked the varieties you listed as already growing when I made my original comment.

Steve

This post was edited by poncirusguy on Mon, Feb 10, 14 at 22:33

Wow, what responses, I cannot thank you all enough. I discovered early on that not only my orchard of pome fruit and stone fruit, my citrus would take patience as well. I feel as if you all have given me the 'go ahead' to buy a 'Moro' blood orange, as the temps climb into the fifities. I will keep you posted as to how it works out. I appreciate all of your knowledge and your suggestions of varieties and care. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! Mrs. G