My Citrus cool room finally set up! Hope they do well:-)

11 years ago

Hlelo everyone. I have finally been able to clean this spare room out and set up all my citrus for the winter.

Some have already been in here for a couple of months while others were scattered about the house until I finished.

I wish I could just leave them all outside, but I finally had to give in last month on the rest:0-(

Looks like so far they are all doing ok. Many are flowering and fruiting while others just wait for the signal:-)

Variegated Calamondin

A Ponderosa lemon.

A Lemon Meyer

A Washington Navel starting to bloom

A variety mixed together

Here are a few little trees that I started from cuttings over the past summer loading up with blooms and fruit:-0)

Caalmondin about 7 inches tall

An eight inch tall orange tree LOADED with buds.

Thanks for all your help on my trees:-)

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Comments (23)

houstontexas123
11 years ago
looks great Mike :)
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
11 years ago
Oh my GOSH, Mike. What an awesome room! I have never seen so many citrus doing so well. Really well. You are now dubbed the "Citrus Whisperer", lol! Is this room connected to your house? How are you able to keep it "cool"? And what incredible light, it looks like you have windows perhaps on all 3 sides of this room? I see your Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera) is getting ready to burst into bloom. What is the strappy plant, perhaps an orchid? (a Cymbidium of some sort?) And what is your orange tree cultivar? My gosh, I don't think I've ever seen so many blossoms. I bet that room smells out of this world! Can you leave the door cracked open to the rest of the house to enjoy the smell of all those citrus blossoms?

Patty S.
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Hello Everyone, Hey Bill, Glad to hear that all is well in Costa!! You all are so lucky to have missed those nasty winds..50 miles isnt that far!!! Lets see some pics of Psycho and Kimi...Those beauties will make the Winter a little easier to deal with!!! All of the inflos that i had are dropping buds everywhere. Hi CHuy, Glad to hear you all are doing alright too! That was a mess out there...so glad no damage! Hi Iso, Glad to see you are doing well!! I know how sad it is to see all of the leaves falling ...glad to know that you still have some blooms! The trees that i left with leaves and are inside in the living room and then some upstais under lights are doing well. The others in the backroom are finally settling down and resting... I cant wait for spring!!! Hey Sun!! Do you live north of Bill? I hope you have some help with your trees... Im having issues with my greenhouse too! Hopefully while i have some time off this winter, i can get it straightened out... it is very frustrating!!! I was thinking of you all and seeing all of the damage made me want to check on you guys!!! Glad to see everyone is doing well!! : ) Take care, Laura
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Good evening, I’ve added some more pictures to get the whole picture. the layout is that you come in my kitchen door into the kitchen and dining and then an L shape into the living room. The demensions are as follows:left wall with the fireplace is 4 feet wall to the fireplace, 5 foot fireplace then 7 foot wall to the end of the room. The back wall has the windowed centered, window is 6 feet with 4 feet on with side, the right hand wall starting form the end of the room is 10 feet then the big window of 8 feet., then 10 foot wall to the end of the room.part of this wall is actually part of my dining room. I hope this makes sense. Let me know if it doesn’t. As you can see nothing is really centered except the window at the end of the room. I have beautiful views from all my windows, so really don’t want o be facing the fireplace all the time...thank you sooo much. N
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arkberry
11 years ago
Are your summer cuttings grafted or on their own roots? I have two Meyer cuttings on their own roots. About 2.5 months old. One looks great and the other not as great, but still green.
moro_blanco
11 years ago
Thats quite a multitude of happy plants you have, Mike! Very impressive!
jojosplants
11 years ago
~~**~~You are now dubbed the "Citrus Whisperer"~~**~~
ROFL! I love it Patty!
WOW!!! All your plants look amazing Mike! Flowers and fruit everywhere!

Beautiful and great pics too! I love how the light shines through on the plants! So relaxing!

Mike,
You did leave me a chair, Warm blanket, a table for my coffee, and a napkin,? right?
Boy,
I would love to hide in that room for a few hours! All the sweet blooms and beautiful plants!
Thanks for making a long day, bright at the end. :-)
JoJo
foolishpleasure
11 years ago
Mike

You have nice trees congratulation. All I have is one orange and I ordered another orange and a lime tree.
Abe
hoek
11 years ago
Very nice. I'm new to the forum and have noticed you favor Foliage Pro. Is that all you're using on your trees? The leaves look very healthy. I'm trying to grow a meyer lemon in my basement using a led light and its budding also. I bought the tree in August. So far so good, I just need to find the right food for it. I have a hydroponic setup using RO water and adjust the pH to 6.0 for the tree. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
11 years ago
Hello everyone and happy Thursday, once day away from Friday, thank goodness!

Hoek, welcome to this forum. I hope you have a great time and learn lots from all the good people here.
Yes, Foliage Pro is all I use. I have no issues at all with it and in fact my plants thrive, unless of course the pH in my faucet water causes issues and then that is where vinegar comes into play for improvement.
You might find some comparable as I would look closely at the numbers on the label and all the nutrients supplied, especially Calcium and Magnesium.

Abe, thanks!

Jojo...Well, if now I could just get my own show together..lol
Thank you and what a great surprise to see you!:-)
Oh yeah, a heated blanket at that. I think you would feel freezing in there at 55 degrees, lol

Moro, thank you:-)

Hi Arkberry...Yes, the cuttings are on their own roots and I have never had any issues growing them that way in pots.
It' s very fun to see such small plants give off fragrance in an entire room and to even get a fruit or two.

Patty! They almost look as good as yours do!!! I love all your potted trees Patty!
Thank you so much for your kind comments Patty. And I wish I could walk through your yard right now:-)

Yes, the room is connected to the home. It's one of my upstairs rooms that faces the sun unobstructed from trees.
I wanted it bright in there by adding lots of wall mirrors, mirror strips along the windows, and added skylight too.
On cloudy days, boy, it's still dark in there all day.
Cracking open the door ton that room is such a great idea.

Would you believe that strappy plant is a spider plant? I am just getting it started. Yes, now the flowers are in full fledge! They are a weird color.

Houston, I hope things are well with you.

Thanks again everyone:-) I will post more pictures later.

Mike
jojosplants
11 years ago
My Dear Friend..
You know me too well! ;-) Well...Yes! Heated of coarse! LOL!

Hope your feeling a little better!
Hugs!!! Mom too!!!
JoJo
Andrew Scott
11 years ago
Hi Mike,
How ya doing? I need to get in touch with you but I think I accidently deleted your email address! Grrr...now when I could really bounce some ideas off of you!

I love this room and in fact, I am in the process of doing the same exact thing to a spare room that I have. My Star Ruby grapefruit is just getting too large to keep it where I have it now, along with my larger fruit trees, 2 mango trees, and then my figs and citrus.

The only issue I will have is that I cannot possibly keep it as cool as what you do because I will have to use 2 halides or HPS lights. I really wish I could keep the temps down to help keep the bugs at bay. I am thinking running more fans will help.

One of the things I wanted to ask you is regarding my Star Ruby grapefruit tree. This tree has gone bezerk in terms of growing but if it has any issues right now, I bet you can guess what it is! The darn SPIDER MITES!!! GRR! My solution, to defoliate most of the tree and treat the remaining leaves as much as possible to rid the damn things but I know that it will be a constant battle for me until the tree can go back outdoors in the spring. We are expecting some very unusual warm weather in these next few days. Temps are supposed to be in the 50's and by Tuesday they say we will be in the low 60's! I cannot believe it but I think I will put it outdoors to get some fresh air and also it will give me 3 good days that I can spray the tree more for spider mites. Right now I think the biggest issue is killing the eggs and then hopefully I can keep them under better control over this long cold winter.

My main concern is that my back surgery is scheduled for December 17th and I need to make sure that I take care of most of the spider mites before so I can hopefully get a way with spraying my trees 1x a week for at least the first 3 weeks I am recovering. This surgery is really going to need more time for me to recover, more so than the last 2.

I also wanted to get your input on starting cuttings. I realize this time of year isn't the best time to do it but maybe with my 600 watt HPS light it could be possible? Anyhow, the small meyer that I picked up a few weeks ago is doing very well, and yes it is also on it's own roots.

Well Mike I am going to get going but before I do, I wanted to congratulate you again on such a great citrus collection! They all look so wonderful, and I too would love to smell all those wonderful flowers!!

Take care,
Andrew
tillygrower
11 years ago
Mike,

Those plants look so happy!It looks like you are not having a problem with leaf drop, which always seems to plague my Meyer lemon when I bring it indoors. I thought I read in these forums that leaf drop is aggravated when there is a mismatch between the soil temperature and how much light the plant is getting. Warm roots/lots of light or cooler roots/less light I thought was the way to go. In your room, which is kept very cool, I would have thought they were getting too much sun. Obviously, not the case. Can you please help me understand what the best conditions are? Is it advantageous to keep the plants in a very cool room?
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey Andrew, I am soooo sorry to hear of your back surgery again! My goodness, you must hate what you are going through pal. I will keep you in my prayers Andrew.

I would not even bother to bring them outdoors Andrew. I would keep them use to what they are getting now but get a handle on the mite problem.
All I use is Neem Oil when they act up or some sort of light dormnat oil which suffocates them entirley including the eggs.
You will just create a huge amount of work for your back when you can rid them right in your room.
Too, you will not be able to rid them completely anyway unless you can treat your trees for weeks outside or leave them out there hsoing them down consistantly or let the natural predidators do the work which are now non-existent.

Excuse my spelling, but I don't have time for word check. I just wanted to get back to you as soon as I could buddy!

As for cuttings, you could get a back of vermiculite and roots cuttings in just that alone under lots of light and moving air. You would also need to take from a newly wooded cutting and cut most of the leaves on your cutting in half.

I hope this helps. I hope you are ok these days. If you need my e-mail, let me know, ok? You have been thought of buddy.

Tilly.......That room only get the allotted amount of sun that winter can provide which is not too much. It can get that bright, but it only lasts for a few hours, like less than 6 if that, and then none at all when days are cloudy.

It is the brighter of the rooms though but those trees only relyn on the sun at different angles all winter from the south.

Just to show you how a citrus can take low light to carry it through the winter.

I just found one of my orange trees buried under my others in the darkest spot of that room, fully green and still looking very happy.

I experienced NO leaf drop thus far. But I guarrentee you that if I were to put the heat on in there and rise the temps into the 70's, I would have drastic leaf drop and lots of bugs!

Jojo, MOM says, right back at ya! She truly cares for you
:-)

Mike
krismast
11 years ago
Meyermike, I posted this on your other thread but maybe you didn't see it so I'll just copy and paste it here.

"Meyermike, what is your feeding regimen during the winter months? I have my meyer in a cool sunroom that I have the thermostat set to 65. As much as I call it a 'sunroom' there isn't that much sun. We have a lot of evergreens and conifers outside so there isn't much direct sun coming through the windows. I have a 600w MH light on for about 3 hours a day and the plants seem to like it so far."

Kristopher
Loveplants2 8b Virginia Beach, Virginia
11 years ago
MIke I hve been Hiding in yout tropical room all week!!! LMAO!!! I make myself at home when you are gone and the im back in my oasis later in the dAy!

I want to thank you for sending me this beautiful Maple to me. I jut love it and i am so thankful..I still dont know why you scent it to me? Mmmm?

You know i think the world of you both and i am so thankful that i have had the opp to meet you both !!

You are both th best!!! I textes you after you left a messase.. you and i have a hard time getting together, we are so busy!!!

Hi ANdrew!!! Ill give you a shout soon!!

You all are the best!!!

My Rosa is looking beautiful and i have an Orchid that just opened from last year.. it is beautiful!!!

Take care, Mike Thiking of you!!!
Laura Hugs to SISSY!!!! xoxoxooxoxox
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
11 years ago
Hey, Mike!
I posted to your other Thread as well, but I must have killed the Thread....
The room and the Citrus look great. What I love is that you grow in containers
that most folks would say are too small, and yet you get excellent flower and fruit set!
Awesome...!

Josh
mgk65
11 years ago
Hey Mike,

All your plants always look great!
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
11 years ago
Wow, look at all my good friends that stopped by and had kind comments to share. Thank you so much. I hope many new ones coming here can see the kindness that everyone shares here!

It means a lot for you all to comment on my trees because no one in my living area seems to be interested at all which totally discourages me. My x-girlfriend loved my trees, now no one seems to care until they smell the blossoms"-)

Josh, you noticed that! Thanks:-) You pretty good too pal!

Mike goo to see you buddy!

Laura, I am so happy to hear of it! You have been missed here and I should not complain since I have not been at your favorite forum for so long. But you know I think of you often:0) Thanks so much for stopping by and I am so happy you love that Maple.

Hey Kristopher, I am so sorry about that. i have been so sick. Better now though.
I feed all year as often as I want. i feed a low dose through the winter thenup in come March. I use Foliage Pro and use 1/4 teaspoon once a week all winter.
I hope this helps. if you need further info, just ask:-)

Mike
krismast
11 years ago
Hi Mike, didnt know you were sick, but glad to hear you are feeling better! Thanks for the info about fertilizer, I'll try that on mine too!

Kristopher
Rebecca4ster
11 years ago
Hi Mike and all of you. Your room looks fantastic. I just wanted to be sure, when you guys mentioned cuttings were you taking about trimmings from the trees that had sprouted roots in a jar of water? If so I didn't think they could do that.lol
meyermike_1micha
Original Author
11 years ago
Hey Kris, thanks:-) Yes, give it a shot and see what happens. I hope it woorks for your trees too.

Rebecca.....Thank you. Appreciate that. Many people have all sorts of different tricks to rooting from putting cuttings in a jar of water to sticking them into just vermiculite and lots of light and warmth.
I just tick mine in my still pond and by summers end, I have lots of rooted cuttings.
charleslou23
11 years ago
mike, what's your potting soil mix recipe?
dancinglemons
11 years ago
Looking REAL good Mike!! I called DH in to see your photos and he about went nuts :-)) He asked if I would end up with that many trees and I just smiled...... He put up a hoop house for me in 2011 to keep my babies out of the house.

Hope your trees love the new room!!

DL
jodik_gw
11 years ago
Again, Mike... solid work! I always miss your posts in the citrus forum, not being a frequent visitor as yet. But you really do have some beautiful things happening, there! Fruit and blooms... everything looks great!

My Citrus cool room finally set up! Hope they do well:-)

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houstontexas123

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My Citrus cool room finally set up! Hope they do well:-)

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