limes are probably the least cold resistant of most citrus. so i'd guesstimate when night temps are above 50'F

Thanx houstontexas123,

But what about day temps?

Thanx houstontexas123,

But what about day temps?

day temps don't really matter as long as the night temps aren't too cold. in most climates the day temps are 10-30'F higher than night temps.

houstontexas123,

Well, I hope summer comes soon. :)

measure the temp on your balcony - morn,day,evening to see the fluctuations. you don't wont to stress the indoor plant with hi fluctuation. if you're willing to bring it back every day until nite temps go above 50F, you can give it daily air-outs on the balcony. i'd make it 55F: below 55F growth goes dormant; so if you have new leaves going indoor now, you don't want to shock it. however for the first week i'd keep it out of strongest noon sun, or even out of the sun all together: the light level outside is always so much stronger that it can burn indoor foliage, even if the plant was in full sunlight indoors. if you get a light meter, you'll see the diff yourself.
i have calamondins that i put out. i am in NYC in a hi-rise. i think they're quite cold hardy. in the fall i bring them in after the nites drop to low-40s. and then i keep bringing them out until days drop to mid-50F. but in spring after being indoors and coddled and growing already (mine are in the west exp for the winter) they're quite tender. so i wait for higher temp range as above.

Here in Northern Calif. we had multiple nights where it dipped to 22F-24F for a few hours this past January. Bearss Limes and all other citrus were stressed and damaged a bit, but fine. The Tahitian Pumelo was nearly totally destroyed. That TP will be transplanted to a safer protected location in a few weeks.

I'd say, frost or 28F is the line for the TP.

petrushka,

Putting the plant in and out until the weather is okay is exactly how I was going to do it. I did that with my monstra and it worked out great. Didn't loose any leaves at all.

Thanx for reminding me about the full on sun. I'll be sure now to keep the lime tree in the shade for the first while until it gets used to it.

The other thing is that they (lime tree + ficus elastica) have been repotted just 2 weeks ago and even now seem to 'soften' (actually,... lime droops, ficus softens) considerably when put in direct sunlight indoors. I've been keeping them about 2 feet or more away from the window so they dont get exposure to the suns full rays. While this has helped it's still far from perfect and I wish their roots would hurry up and form. My other elastica that has not yet been repotted is firm even when in full sun for hours.

GKGK,

Awww, sorry to hear... There has to be a way to protect them when it gets too cold. Like a tarp of some sort?

after repotting i always bag them in drycleaners bags and keep them in diffused/lightly dappled conditions. yours both love increased humidity. at least mist them. if you put them in a gritty mix - remember they will need to be watered more often then before. check with a wooden chopstick if it's dry and how deeply dry. lime resents root disturbance. they both might drop leaves.

petrushka,

I put a clear plastic bag over the lime then misted it very well. I also moved the plant away from the water heater for tonight. The water heater is near the window though so this can be an issue.

It seems that at night and definately in the morning the plants are much more firm and happy. Once the sun comes out they become limp, even with frequent heavy misting.

I've been watering about ever 1-2 days as well as spraying the top of the soil to keep it moist. I have to say that all plants are getting progressively better and I can see and feel improvements every day. It just seems like this recovery is taking a while. So far its been almost 2 weeks and they still don't like much sun.

Anyways, I'll be getting another couple of clear plastic bags for the other plants.

Okay, so it's the next day and I've bagged my plants. I used green garbage bags for my elastica's as it was night anyways and I don't have any extra clear. And WOW, they are more firm then they have ever been. I definately will get some clear bags for the daytime today.

don't just water and water . the plastic bag creates the terrarium and misting very hi humidity - the soil should be just slightly moist, not drenched. usually when bagged the plant needs to be watered slightly may be once a week. if large pot, even less. you need to stick a dowel/long skewer/wooden chopstick,smth long inside deep and then check : if wood is damp most of the way, don't water. even if half way damp - dont' need to water. the roots closer to surface will need some moisture though, so if it's 3/4 dry, you can dribble a little water for the top. otherwise could be fine for like 10 days. just keep misting, but not to dripping point. usually even misting is required may be once in 4-5 days. the bagging and hi humidity raises the temp inside. so if at you have 15C in the room the temp in bag will be a few degrees higher. don't worry about them not getting enough light. you'll need to wait another 2 weeks proly. the roots can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks to form. every 5-6 days remove the bag and let it dry for 30 min. when you see new leaf growth - that means the roots are growing. then remove the bag for half a day each day - for like a week to acclimate the plant to lower humidity. and after that you need another week to slowly start giving it more dappled sunlight. and only after that move it in normal light.
same slow acclimation will apply when you move plants outside into sunlight. the first week they need to be in shade, totally out of the sun. if it means just half a day - that's fine too. better to start moving them out when it's overcast for sev days - less hassle.

petrushka,

Currently the terrarium is sitting at 25C with 70% humidity. Outdoors is 0C and indoors is 17 - 20C with 45% humidity. I took the plants out, dried them, then misted them evenly as you said and put them back in; no big droplets.

I presume you are talking about 4-8 weeks for the below soil roots and not the arial roots (As these plants have all been repotted).

I'm thinking about getting some PVC tubing and plastic that is more clear, and making a slightly bigger terrarium. The advantage is that when it gets time to put the plants on the balcony I could easily take it apart and store it and it would also allow better viewing, more light, and be easier to get at for misting and checking soil dampness.

The pic below is just for those interested. I figure if someone takes the time to give a reply I can at least give them a picture back to show the results.

looking good, the meter is very useful. yah, i got confused with your other arial root var ficus - you could stick it in the 'terrarium' - it's perfect for that. usually the repotting after 2 weeks shouldn't be drooping - so i assumed that you had a lot of root damage.
citrus hates root disturbance: i hope you didn't bare root - that would cause drooping. some plants just hate it.
but it could be also because of overwatering, too wet. you don't need to mist that often either. just when humidity is dropping. there is evaporation from the soil too. when humidity is hi - the soil won't be drying , keep this in mind.
now that you have that set up you could use it for other tropicals too: they usually get mite attacks in winter. and mites hate humidity. citrus is quite prone to mites.
terrariums could be just left to themselves, no more work, just check it visually.

petrushka,

Yes, I bare rooted it. :'(

yah, well. i wish mr gritty won't insist on doing it to all plants on all occasions. i saw a couple of other 'bare root' laments in old posts.