That's great Mike! Your trees look great! You know my setup...65-70 during day- upper 50s at night (in my sunroom). They seem happy enough except for the mite issue.

Ugh, I'm having trouble. I read the article posted by Vladimir on winter leaf drop ( http://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=13332.0) because after one month of being inside there are leaves are dropping off both my trees at the rate of a 1-2 each day for the last week. I have 14 large lemons ripening, but suddenly all the marble sized lemons have turned black.

The trees are in a south facing window (gray and rainy Portland skies) and have supplemental lighting. Planted in a loose soil mixture, though not the 511.

Daytime ambient temp is 64*, soil temp 64*, 54% humidity.

Watering when the top several inches of soil feel dry with room temp water with Foliage Pro 1/4t/gal.

If I read the article correctly since I can't lower the room temperature I should set the pots on warming mats and warm up the roots a bit??

Arrrgh! It's so confusing!!!!

I have two setups:

1) The green house is set at 60 F but it climbs into the 80's for about 7 hours each day and gets sunlight. The GH trees spent about 10 days indoors and as a result some lost leaves. Most have now stopped losing leaves.

2) Indoors is set at 65 F but goes to about 70F for 4 or 5 hours every day and gets window sunlight and 12 h supplemental light (three 23 W CFLs).

The ones indoors are indoors because I want to encourage them to grow. They are getting 1 Tb/gal FP at each watering. The ones in the GH that are putting out blossoms and/or forming fruit are getting 1 Tb FP/gal while the rest get 1 Tsp FP/gal.

Mike, what lovely trees. It sounds like you know what your doing and are giving your trees the right care and growing conditions along with a lot of love.. So beautiful!

Cory, beautiful pictures of the blossoms. You have such a wonderful setup in your greenhouse and basement. I can just imagine what it is like to be able to spend time in both rooms during the winter. Lucky you. Great job!

Laura and Vladimir, you both have a nice setup and I hope your beautiful trees continue to do very well for you throughout the winter. :)

So based on what some of you are doing, I now worry I am underfeeding my trees. They seem ok so far. I have been giving them just over 1/2 tsp of either Peters or FP per gallon along with pro-tekt and vinegar. I also mist sometimes with a little FP and pro-tekt. Perhaps I'll bump it up a bit. This morning it was 55 in my sunroom at 6:30 when I turned on the lights. I have gotten a little leaf drop on my two biggest trees - Alexander and Seth (the Persian lime), but they are really old leaves and they are both pushing out growth and buds.

A quick rundown on my setup. Most of my citrus are in the sunroom and it gets a lot of natural light and sun.

My trees have been indoors now for over a month. My barenaked ladies started yellowing and dropping leaves before I brought them in. After a month they shred even more.. The other citrus shred a few older leaves but not very many at first. It was not until the trees have been inside for a month before a few more, like the Genoa Lemon, Cara Cara Orange and Trovita lost at least a dozen more leaves, but it seems that the leaf drop is stable now. I think leaf drop was due to trying to figure out the water schedule. Most of the trees are in a gritty mix with a few still in the 5-1-1 .

I have my lights setup and it is pretty bright in there. But, I still need my hubby to put together one more set of lights then we should be good to go..

The temperature averages 66 degrees on average and up into the 80s on a sunny winter day.. I supplement the heat with a small propane heater when the outside temperature drops down into the thirties and lower. It was cold and windy yesterday and we had a few inches of snow. Last night the temperature outdoors dropped down into the high twenties and I had the propane heater set on low in the sunroom. The temperature stayed at a comfortable 56 degrees.

I am still fertilizing most of the citrus at full strength since most of them are actively growing, blossoming and setting fruit yet. The smaller, younger trees get a weaker dose of fertilizer. 1/2 tsp per gallon water.

Mike and Cory, wow! Your trees look awesome and I love seeing the different blooms the various varieties put out. Thanks Jinnylea, Cory and Vladimir for sharing you set ups. I don't think I'm too far off. I think I'll try opening the vent so it gets a bit warmer in the room during daytime hours. I'll need to up my fertilizer also. This morning both trees are relaxing in the tub after taking a spa shower ;)

Wow everyone, it seems you have all your trees faring just fine for now. I can't even tell you how proud I am of all of you and too know how many of you have come from not knowing much with all kinds of issues to how much you know.......

I see many are aware of the light, temps and pest issues that could wreak havoc and yet how good you are all doing to avoid these as much as possible. So many can learn from us and all the different set up. If it works, then it's not wrong!

The key is to keep them that way right through December and January, the coldest and most brutal time of the year. That is when most problems pop up for most uninformed potted citrus tree growers and to think that all of us were not aware of this just a short time ago.

For instance.

Cory sprays just as soon as she sees pests and is very well aware of the potential of them. She keeps a watchful eye on this and knows what to look for. Therefore, share this with us so we can do the same. She has had big issues in the past and from her great experience in controlling them, we can learn. Her pictures prove in a million words that she uses a good mix, know how to satisfy her plants much needed temps and sunlight sources and good controlled heat...Thank you Cory!FANTASTIC flowers!! I never saw pics of just flowers like that to so many different trees. I love them all Cory. They must smell awesome

Laura, growing in doors has discovered her trees are doing so well and that they are 'actively' growing has decided it might be a great idea to feed a bit more. Laura, you also know with confidence that you can control any mite issues that may crop up by December and if they do to spray and cut back on fertilizer..Good work.

Jinny, way to go. Perfect set up with light and heat and you should have constant growth...

Vladimir. nice. He has decided to keep some cool and yet some warm. And depending on what they are getting, provides just the right amount of feed and temps to keep things going good.........

Jinny is growing in the 5.1.1 mix and I assume that most others are too or at least in a good porous mix which makes all the difference in the world. If the roots are healthy, the trees will react greatly with strong growth and pest resistant leaves...Perfect temps Jinny and nice explanation of your processes...

I have yet to tell you about the others I have in my warm room, greenhouse and on my window sill...How I feed them, how much sunlight each gets and the temps... Most importantly, how they behave or act...

Please, share your success and failures and tells us what you do, what you have learned, what you do differently, how you treat your trees and how they react...Great info thus far.

I am thinking that everyone here should BOOKMARK this for further ideas and options..

So far all seems good in my room, a tiny bit of leaf drop on a few trees but most are still actively growing and setting some fruit.

My HO T5s and 6500k cfls are set on a timer to come on at 7 and shut off at 7 plus natural sunlight streams in through a window.

Temps seem to be stable at between 50-65 and I haven't even turned on my wall heater yet, that's just from heat from the lights and the sun.

I would say I have been fertilizing with FP at about half strength and I was thinking I may step it up like Laura. My new growth is not purple like it usually is in summer so what do you guys think? Or maybe sprinkle some extra osmocote on top instead?

I think my trees are doing alright. The greenhouse gets down to about 44F, and I have a small space-heater on a timer for the coldest part of the night. I'm keeping a lot of waterjugs in the greenhouse to help moderate temp's and save a bit on the electric bill.

My Moro is still outdoors on the back deck. That tree has seen 34F so far, which isn't too bad.

Hobby, my plants are in bark-based mixes, so I'm still fertilizing at full strength Foliage Pro or a little above.

Josh

Thanks, good to know Josh! I think I will increase a bit then. My trees with fruit are looking a bit pale.

My trees are spending their winter in my dining room. The Temps are of 66 overnight, 68 during the day, goes up to 72 in the evenings when i cook and hubby turns on the fireplace.

I haven't fertilized in over a month when i brought them inside. They had a slight leaf drop problem when u first brought them in, but it seems to have resolved itself after i added two grow lights right under the canopy.

In watering them every 7 to 9 days depending on the soil. Which Incidently is 511.

Despite not giving them ANY fertilizer to avoid pest susceptible spindly growth, one of the trees is being very stubborn and keeps on sprouting new branches and leaves (see pic). They are born in full bloom, just to nag me;)

I just cut two lemons off the small tree. More to come in the bigger one, but they are still greenish and too hard.

God bless,

.

Atheen

And now the smaller one.

And the lemons . . .

Let the suckers above the graft line grow. my trees put on most of there growth fall and winter. They seem to grow just a little in spring and summer. I help my trees to grow well while inside for the cold by foliar feeding and lighter root feeding.

6b Steve

Looks great Atheen! I agree with Steve. Many of my trees are actively growing so I have been fertilizing although not at the concentration I gave them when they were outside. Question: what type of lights are those you have pointed up towards the canopy?

Did a bunch of tidying up and rearranging in my room yesterday, in addition to watering and fertilizing. I also ordered 6 more of Laura's ikea lamps to supplement some dark zones.

Everyone is looking pretty good aside from a Meyer that I think I underwatered and is now dropping semi crunchy leaves but it will come back I am sure. Oops!

Steve and Laura, thanks! I'd really love to fertilize a little, especially if they are going to sprout growth everywhere anyways, but I'm afraid to promote pests invasion on new waist growth... I'm really torn on that one :(

Laura, those are the lights. I bought them at the time i got my Meyers, was then told it wouldnt do much for them if not really close. Since i believe the initial leaf drop I had this year on the bigger tree when brought inside was due to not enough light being able to reach the underneath of the canopy from the window, I figured I'd just point them right at it and had nothing to lose;it seems to have done the trick. https://www.amazon.com/Definity-Digital-VGRO-WFL-120/dp/B00I38DZS0

Hobby, beautiful trees, omg! Can you add a pic of your thirsty tree? I'm curious. Also, post details about those ikea lamps. I might have to supplement the lights at some point.

God bless,

Atheen

Half of my tress are at my dads house in his sun room this winter. It's very sunny and warm, so I'm planning to continue fertilizing with foliage pro when watering. Osmocote plus too if they need it. They all have fruit, except one. They look happy. No signs of bugs or desease yet. They dry out quick over there. A good excuse for me to go over often and spend time with my dad who has come to LOVE eating calamondins out of hand.

The other half of my trees are home with me in sunny windows. It doesn't get below 68F at night inside our home. It's well insulated. In the daytime I've been bringing them outside for more sunlight. When the nights are warm I just leave them out (like last few days it's been like spring). I need the exercise. I sometimes get a bee in the house however doing this. They are doing great. I'm going to continue fertilizing them this winter too. Broke a Calamondin limb off carrying one out, turned it into a cutting, will see if it roots.

Last winter I didn't fertilize much at all. They looked hungry. This winter I'm going to try feeding them more. They look like they are liking it so far.

Dave and Atheen, I'm glad to hear your trees are doing well also. Dave, my parakeets chewed a small branch off a kumquat that I have also tried to root. I've never been successful at rooting a cutting, but figured it was either that or feeding the leaves to the guinea pigs ;-). Hobby, what is that variegated tree in the pic of the smaller trees? It's tall and to the right and back. It is very pretty. Variegated calamondin perhaps??

Hi atheen sorry I forgot to take your pic but will do this afternoon :).

Yes Laura that is my variegated calamondin. It has about 8 decent sized adorable fruit!! Will take a better pic for you this afternoon.

Okeydokey here we go, the Meyer that was entwined with the limequat in the same pot. It just dropped quite a few very crunchy leaves so I think I let it get a bit too dry. I'm trying to be very careful to let everything dry out well this year between waterings.

That being said, the leaves were always ugly from day one so I am kind of glad it dropped them so I can get a new flush. This Seems to be a trend with my record buck trees, they all kind of freak out and totally regrow new leaves and then are fine. My grafted trees never do that so it's weird.

Here's the variegated calamondin Laura, isn't it cute? I kind of like it small like this- can you see all the fruit? Does anyone know how to tell when they are ripe?

Hobby, the calamondin fruit are ripe when they turn orange; however, many people use them before they are ripe for a number of applications and kitchen uses.

Josh

Oh Atheen the lamps are lersta from ikea, very cheap and bendable to point the light the way you want them. Laura discovered them!

Beautiful Hobby!!!

Thanks Josh, I didn't realize that the variegated will turn orange too. Cool that will look amazing against the foliage. Thanks!

Thanks Mike! Wait, how would you use underripe ones Josh? Juice over fish, asian sauces that kind of thing? I know that's your wheelhouse right ;)?