Sorry, I forgot to say: I live in zone 4.

Nice looking greenhouse you have there! Nice to see other northeners to grow citruses. I did order some Poncirus trifoliata seeds too, I assume they do tolerate some frost?

Anyhow, good to hear that citruses can be put outside here too..

Springs and summers tend to be warmer and warmer each year. Right now its cloudy and foggy, +0,2c at the moment. We surely do get at least one period of cold weather, then it should get warmer in march. Two weeks ago we had -28c and it was the coldes period this winter.

citruses do best outside so keep it out as long as the temp is within permissible range .

Welcome! I would definitely put them outside as long as the weather allows....they need rain, wind, sunshine, and even beneficial insects. I leave mine outside as long as possible.

Thank you all for replying! :) I definitively will put them outside. Now they have not so beneficial insects, fungus gnats that did eat one of my kumquat seeds that was sprouting. Or the larvae did eat.. I've sprayed the top soil with soapy water after watering and have lots of yellow sticky traps.

My Chamaedora elegans had a lot of thrips, and not even pesticide sticks did'nt make a difference. I just had to toss it away after two months of fighting.. Ficus elastica did also have a few, but regular spraying with soap water got rid of them.

I just have to check my plants every or every other day in case of aphids. There's a big birch next to our balcony, and last year it was full of aphids.

Last summer millions of aphids was brought by strong winds from the south to the Scandinavia. In the newspapers there was pictures of trees and bushes covered with hundred thousends aphids!! Even the trunks were fully covered.

We've had such a mild winter so im a little nervous how well they have overwintered..

I will take couple of pictures for you to see my settings..

Putting soapy water on soil is not at all recommended. The soap damages roots. The most likely cause of fungus gnats is wet soil and lots of organic matter in soil. If you let it dry out between waterings then it will keep the gnats in check. And having a well draining mix is the best. If you want a quick acting stuff then Mosquito dunks or BT based pesticide can kill those larva.

Ok. Thanks for the info! I have a 5-1-1 mix, and yes, some plants I have likes it moist. So the actual source of gnats aint the citruses themselves. I've been thinking to transfer those plants to hydroponic setup.

I just have not recognized any difference if i mist the top soil with weak soapy solution.. I use organic soap, and a very mild solution. I try to kill the adults as a first aid.

Although the population of gnats is a lot smaller that it used to be in the autumn. So the sticky traps and/or soap misting does its work. I'll win this battle for sure! :)

A lot of people use a dilute mix of hydrogen peroxide and some add a bit of Neem oil and a couple of drops of dish soap. I've found it to control fungus growth and haven't had a problem with fungus gnats. Jury is still out on scale and spider mites, but I may not be spraying enough to get them.

Hi Jason, nothing against you but here are my thoughts.

It is better to use hydrogen peroxide by itself. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a very unstable molecule. It readily will give up one its oxygen atom to become water (H20). What it means is that when you mix that with anything else it will give up its oxygen and become water. The extra oxygen will react with anything that it finds. And especially organic material such as oil will serve the purpose. But it is that extra oxygen that gives it the anti-whatever property. That oxygen atom is like a child with infinite energy and will actively find the first buddy that is (un)willing to play with it. If the first thing happens to be a bacteria or a fungal cell it will turn it into mush. But if it finds another organic stuff in abundance then it will turn that into a mush. In other words, hydrogen peroxide will fairly quickly lose its active property when mixed with anything else but water.

Both fungus and fungus gnats tend to prefer wet soil and organic matter, especially near the surface. Pine bark is not a favourite of either unless it is well composted (it takes about 2-3 yrs in containers pine bark near the surface to be composted well). Besides pine, in a 511 mix, the organic matter is mostly dead leaves and flowers and may be even bird poop. All soil will have fungus and majority are harmless and considered beneficial. Most are invisible and are present in sub-surface. Now if you see fuzzy stuff on the soil then it indicates a cultural problem. Water retentive soil, not letting the top dry out and not enough air circulation will cause both the problems. Even a very water loving plant can be let to dry out near the surface between waterings.

So a long winded way of saying that visible fungus on surface and fungus gnats is more of a cultural problem.

I agree with tropic , i would recommend using the hydrogen peroxide diluted solely with water . I use it esp during winter if I suspect root rot .

For foliar spray you can certainly make a mix of neem oil and castile/insecticidal soap but for soil i would avoid pouring soap in it .

watch the watering , let the top dry out between watering that should reduce fungus gnats . I douse with diatomaceous earth when I bring in during fall that seems to help .

Actually, I do have some hydrogen peroxide what I've been using to treat cold sore that I get sometimes. Nasty thing..

Its 3% solution, bought from a farmacy, can I use it when I water? And if, how much should I put per one liter water?

I've read that you can use hydrogen peroxide, but I'm unsure if hydroxen peroxide made for medical use is useable and safe for plants..

What do you people think of this; I have a Cofea arabica, a coffee tree, also growing besides other tropicals. I've been watering it with 25% coffee solution every third watering, and it's growing great. I also use water soluable fertilizer with NPK 13-7-20, once a month for it. Could I water my citruses with coffee? You have any experiece on this? Or is it just stupid?

Coffee plant seems to be liking it though.

And I fertilize my citruses with the same fertilzer + epsom salt now and then, and I sprinkle the top soil with a little of iron sulphate in the springtime.

It sounds real good. I to use coffee grounds around my in ground trees as feed. Your 13-7-20 sound perfect for winter. For Summer you will need to up the nitrogen to get close to a 5-1-3 ratio. I use grass feed to up mine and use a portion of each to get a 30-5-15 or close to that.

6b Steve

Allrighty, thanks for the advice! Can't wait 'til summer.. Now it looks like the coldest period is getting over. Sun is rising much higher and we have 5.5 hours of light per day, yay! Darkness has its own thing, but I prefer sunshine :)

I use the pharmacy 3% Hydrogen Peroxide , you can see the H2O2 mixing chart .

Coffee grounds when put in the ground is usually OK. It will compost pretty quickly. In containers, it can affect root growth for some plants. I do not know particularly which plants are more sensitive to it. I do not use it in containers anyway. Google allelopathic effects of coffee. I think it has been used as weed suppressant.

H2O2 in right concentration is safe for plants. As usual roots tend to be more sensitive to higher concentrations than leaves are.

I did water some of my plants today, and I did put some H2O2 according to devsense:s link. Thanks! :)

Today I found out that Ficus microcarpa was/is infested with couple of thrips.. It needed some pruning and re-potting, so i dug it out of its pot, cleaned the roots(also did some minor root pruning) and submerged the whole plant in mild soap/alcohol/water solution. I did it in the morning, and it didnt even droop a bit.

Lets see how it recovers.

During a trip to town, I visited local nursery. They had nice lemons for sale! 1,5 meters tall, non-grafted a with a nice thick trunk. The price was just a bit salty.. and space is also limited for now, we're been looking after a bigger apartment.

I these lemon tree are from seed they will not fruit until they look like this.

6b Steve

I did ask the owner of the nursery and according to her they were from seed. They have been much larger, one could clearly see the pruning point and the latest pruning have been done before shipping. Those "stumps" from the pruning were like my thumb in size. New shoots were emerging but not as many as in ideal conditions.

They were imported from somewhere because many people have been asking of citruses and some other subtropical/tropical plants. I just didnt ask her what else they are going to buy to their stock.

Hey hey, hold on poncirusguy! In the thread for season 2017 pictures, you posted a picture where you had coffee grounds and powdered eggshells.

Some people around here that has a couple of citruses, have told me that eggshells aint suitable for citruses? That citruses dont like much of calcium.

I guess I've been mislead by them? If so, I'll give them a nice sprinkle of eggshell powder in the morning.

For now, goodnight everyone!

The coffee grounds and powdered egg shells are for my rooftop garden. I don't use them for citrus trees. I do use powdered egg shells for my citrus trees.

6b Steve

Oh yeah! First seed of Poncirus trifoliata has germinated! Then its just and wait for key limes to germinate. Then my citrus collection is complete, at least for now.. :)

Well, here we go.. Today I went with my two oldest sons to IKEA, and found out they had citrus in stock. Grafted calamondins and limequats. The only good looking(others were badly mishaped, bad grafting and so on..) were a calamondin. And I must admit I bought it.

Well, I did also buy a bag of IKEAs growing media(pumice stones, I guess, some sort of lava rock) which I added in my 5-1-1 mix.

I ripped off the unripe fruits(I counted 19 of them), did some root pruning due to it was badly rootbound. I also raked the roots to get rid of old soil and washed the whole plant under warm water.

Let's see how it recovers. It has a few buds, and three of them looks like they are to open any day soon.

Beautiful plant, and kids loved the juice of the unripe fruits. They just got a bit of it, I dont know what chemichals they use in the nursery..

I doubt the IKEA out here has any citrus but I should check it out anyway. Sounds like you are enjoying your new acquisition.

Tropic This would be a very bad time of the year for either you or I to get a citrus tree.

6b Steve

Tropic: Yes, I do like it, its about the same height as my mandarin from seed, but a lot more bushier.

Steve: Why would it be a bad time for you to get a new citrus? You got the lights and fine setups for others, its just and build one more, right? :)

It is alway hard to move a citrus trees to a new location. UI would be moving it home to just be moving it outside in 2 months. I would buy the tree when it is time to put it outside. let the store hold it over the rest of the winter then if it still looks good buy it or if it looks bad barter on it's appearance. Always buy in the spring at set out time

6b Steve.

Well yes, it surely affects blooming for the most part.

I will usually visit nurseries in fall when they are more willing to give a discount. Obviously choice is limited at that time. Last fall I picked up a 5 gallon mature fruiting Angel Red Pomegranate for $20 (down from $80). Great bargain - two ready to eat large fruits and a mature plant.