Supposed to drop to near record lows here too (upper 40's). I only moved in (temporarily) the coconut and the pineapple. Once temps start falling regularly into the upper 30's, the citrus start going into the greenhouse but a brief flirtation with the upper 30's should be okay. I see highs near 80 F toward the end of next week so hopefully this freaky chill will not be too long-lasting! Good luck.

Mike -- where are you located for such cold temps this early in the year? In the next day or two the NWS is going to release their updated winter forecast. Rumor is that this coming winter won't be that much different since a La Nina event is forming and is now considered "weak". Last winter's was "strong". Will be posting info when released by NWS.

P.

Mike,

Feel your pain here. We are seeing temperatures dipping into 39F with risk of frost tonight and 37F tomorrow night. What's going on, it's too early for this kind of thing. My neighbor's AC was running like crazy just two days ago. I spent almost an hour to move all plants except Camellia into my garage and solarium. But there is hope, the long term forecast said it's going to warming up to above normal for another two weeks. Looking forward to it.

Please don't forget that citrus can take cold temperatures. Don't worry about light frosts or temperatures that drop into the very low 30s. I wouldn't get high blood pressure over something that simply won't harm your plants.

Would such a low temperature will set back the citrus for a while? I read somewhere that once citrus experienced this kind of temperature shock, it takes many days of warm temperature to resume growth. Since I don't have that many days of warm temperature ahead, I will have to move it indoors to make a better use of future warmer days. Am I wasting my time here?

This from my cell. Lol computer down.
I have heard the same thing Yellow and in fact experienced that. I have also experienced a severe yellowing and curling of tree leaves once temps drop below the 50,s never mind the thirties. This is why I keep them either consistently warm or consistantly cool.
In winter I keep them so cool keeps them working slow and they maintain their shape and good color
Warmer than that they are actively growing and will be looking for mote good and light to stay healthy and green.

Now if this is just in my head, please let me know it is the same thing year after year. My tree will curl and fade from green if I keep exposing them to , this the the point., very cold temps to be met by warm temps by day.

Now I tend to believe everything Rhizo has to offer for many good reasons. Hopefully she will see this or I will notify. It is 55 this am in the greenhouse and they are happy. 39 outside as we speak and the few o left out there not so happy
Thanks v

Dam. I spelt wrong! Keeping my tree warm they will be looking for more food and light to stay actively healthy.
Since I can't provide tons of sunlight I keep them cool. But this time of the year it gets warm by day and very cold by night which does affect the rich colors of my trees and their over all health.
I would much prefer to keep
The actively happy by keeping the temps above 55 for mine while they are actively growing with all that warm sun by day.

I know the cold will not kill them, but from experience with my potted ones, I know they don't like it and behave poorly. I work hard at keeping them happy and therefor no pests or sickly looking leaves.

Mike

Ok..Here is the scoop this am.

The trees I left out in this cold are not happy and will stay that way until the soil temps in the pots rise above the 50's. All the new growth is completely wilted and the older leaves tightned, and now the hot sun will just cause damge until the ambient temp rises in the pots enough to hydrate the above leaves. Roots will NOT function under 55 degrees.

The flowers on these have not opened at all.
Either they will burn or grow deformed.

The trees in the greenhouse are very happy and all the new growth is still straight up with no curled, tightened leaves. The flowers are openening.
They don't seemed stressed which is wnat I do to avoid possible issues down the road.

You must think that potted citrus and inground ones are entirely different. I would have no concern at all with temps that get that low because the ground does not cool off like a potted one.
I do know that they will not die right away in containers as cold temps as so, but they will perform badly,be held bad in superior growth, have to play catch up, or even possibly die.

Maybe there is a difference between just a brief cold shot verses one that lasts for day? I wonder?

Mike

well right now i have done nothing but water less. Last night we had a good cold front come through that drop the temps into the low 50's. Considering that on tuesday the high was 101 it felt nice and actually chilly. I have been in the process of rebuilding my greenhouse and plan to finish it this weekend. Fortunately our highs for the next 10 days are supposed to be in the 80's and nights in the 60's so i have some time. We shouldnt see any lows in the 40's for another couple weeks. I dont get to worried about the citrus until they see low 40's anyways. My plumeria are starting to look sleepy and my bananas, hibiscus, aroids, and palms all still look ok.

mike

The way they were talking about the cold on the local news the other night, you'd have thought a Siberian express was coming into town. It was not as cold as they predicted here, never dropping below the low 50's. Ocean temps still in the mid 70's--still, it was a strong cold front and pushed a very tropical air mass out. I am definitely not ready to move the citrus anywhere. First frost usually comes in the first half of November. October can still get hot here and if I put them into the garage too soon, I won't be able to keep up with the watering as their protected site can be sunny and hot. Come to think of it, I've never lost Citrus to cold--always seems water or soil-related.

Hi Dave!

You are not kidding! What the heck are the weather men trying to do to us?lol
I have lost citrus to very cold temps and that was likely due to a combination of COLD and WET mixes. But the wet mixes are now gone and they could handle the cold I am sure, but not to my liking. I will do anything I can to keep them looking rich green. Either I am a perfectionist or I have OCD.lol I can actually say that I have mastered the art of keeping them from pouting.

Mine do not perform anywhere as good as I like when the temps are not averaging above the 50's, keeping the roots functioning properly consistantly and keeping them on in a vigerous condition. They will show signs of yellowing and get pale very quickly.

I will do anything to keep them from being stressed over and over again and to keep them actively taking up nutrients and water until it's time to rest them.
So there I was hobbling around for 2 hours until I got my most precious ones out from the 40's and they look much better than the ones I left behind.lol

If the temps rise again staying above the 40's consistantly , well, out they will go again..lol

Let's hope they are not exaggerating when they say it is going to warm up again!
I have a picture of a palm plant for you soon.:-)

Mike

40's!?!? Wow, and I'm upset about it hitting 55 at night. Temps here in SE WA are low 90's - high 80's durring the day and mid to low 50's at night. Sorry I haven't called you yet Mike things have been a little hectic around here. I'm going to get some pics in the next few days and post em all so you guys can see the DRASTIC changes in my amazing little lemon tree.

Hi Mike!
I'm sorry to hear your weather has turned so cold already.
And most of the others here. I think me and pgde are the only warm ones.

Mike,
your frog will know what's best and probably run off to hybernate. The fish, you may need to look into a heater.

pgde~ Mike is in MA. Poor guy will be up to his eyes in snow before long. I keep telling him to move to Tucson. lol..

Around here (Tucson) most folks don't fuss with plants till we have a hard freeze, or a few that just can't take frost. The citrus do just fine as rhizo says, so I am curious to as to why yours sulk Mike. I wonder if it has anything to do with the size of pots?

I hope you get some answers.

JoJo

Hey Jojo!!!!!

I am so happy to see you back!

As for the citrus, they shut down once the root temps in pots drop below the 55 degree mark. So If I want to keep them actively growing the best possible way, I MUST keep them above those temps to continue to produce healthy rich green leaves and avoid stressing them. They will survive, but will behave very badly as all citrus do up here in my region in pots exposed to temps that cold.
That is why even the nurseries here refuse to let theirs sit out when temps drop that much.

Once it gets way to cold to even keep them in my greenhouse, I will bring them in with room temps hovering around 50 but never above the 60;s and they are just put on hold. They stay green and keep the fruit. They may not grow much, but I also avoid leaf drop and many other stress related issues.

If I want to keep them actively growing all winter, then I give them sun and artificial light well over 12 hours in room temps higher than the 60's and they thrive once again continually growing and taking up nutrients.

If I lower the sunlight level to less than that in rooms that warm, they dramatically drop their leaves, loos their rich greeness and invite pests.

If I provide sunlight levels to lets say just a south facing window through the winter or less, then they can handle regular house room temps without drawbacks, but if they are in windows that can not provide as much sun as a south facing one, then they MUST be in a much cooler room and stay that way until I am ready for active growth again come the spring.

As you can tell, it took me many years to accomplish this and many years to understand my citrus trees react the way they do in CONTAINERS and how to avoid very stressful situations on them. So far so good!

Yes I may not kill them, right away that is, but they will produce poorly and not live up to my standards.

Now if they were in the ground, then that is a whole different story! I would care less if we had many frigid nights knowing that the ground temps will not coll off as fast as a mix in pots no matter what size.
I have a friend that lives in Daytona Florida whom gets lots of freezes, and as much as he will loose some branches and leaves, he never looses the whole tree because the ground stays much warmer than his potted ones. Those have to go in for him.

Ok, I am all breathed out..lol

Jojo, WELCOME BACK! Maybe we can have a bit more fun around here.

Mike

Hey, guys and gals, it is great to see everyone!

Mike, I see where your concerns are coming from, and I don't fault you for wanting
the best for your trees.

Indeed, in colder climates where containers won't reliably warm back up during the day,
I would err on the side of caution as the ambient temperatures begin to drop below 50F degrees.
For containers, this can be as simple as setting them next to the foundation of a house or pulling
them under an eave/onto a porch.

I'm just glad that I don't have to deal with low night temps for another month or more...

Josh

Yes, you see!

Containerized citrus BEST perform with temps in the range of 55 to 85 degrees, maybe pushing 50 and over 85

They sharply reduce uptake of nutrients or water with temps less or higher and certainly almost grow at a stand still, which explains the symptoms I explained earlier.
I guess once in a while would be ok, but constantly subjecting them to those temps will definitely put a strain on my trees. I can tell you they would not look good if so and might survive, but I would rather have healthy looking trees most of the time than ones that seem to be hanging on.

Call it fussy or what ever, if my trees do not look the best they can be, then I do not want them.

Mike

Hey Mike..Your weather is similar to ours. Last week, two nights @ 49F degrees.
Day highs were between 50 and early 60's. I think the high was 68 one day.

BTW, I feel for you with your injury. You definately need someone to help you carry your plants indoors. Your foot won't heal if you continue walking, let alone lifting heavy items.

I realize how much work and effort you put into your beautiful Citrus, and don't want to lose them to the cold, but Citrus are pretty hardy, as long as temps don't drop under 37-38F degrees.

Still, years ago, I deduced, the longer and colder Citrus were left in the cold, leaf drop was inevitable. However, the last five or so years, don't know what changed, but thank Good, my Citrus haven't lost many leaves even when left in the cold for prolonged periods. What's with that? lol

Hopefully, the temps will go up and your foot will be much better. Toni