How strong should lighting be on citrus indoors?
Heruga (7a Northern NJ)
last year
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poncirusguy6b452xx
last yearKen B Zone 7
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best indoor lights for troubled citrus?
Comments (13)I agree, with Benny. I NEVER use a moisture meter, I think they cause a lot of trouble. I rather prefer to determine the water content of containers by two methods, 1). weight of the container and 2). The use of my finger. After you have had a tree for some time you get to know whats going on both above the soil line and below. Till, the reason people are recomending a smaller container is because you stated that you "soil" has remained wet for over 3 weeks. Except for the top inch or two of the "soil" in a container, which can lose moisture from evaporation to the air, the primary, and almost only way moisture is ever removed from the rest of the container is through root absorption by the tree. If your container is still wet after 3 weeks (if additional irrigation has not been given) then that demostrates that the size of the root ball to the size of the container is out of balance. Especially at this time of the year. I think your trying to hard to figure out the meaning of the word "draining" as it is related to a container medium. It means that the medium when irrigated can hold a substancial amount of water while not losing its ability to also hold a substantial amount of air. The over flow drains off quickly instead of remaining to waterlog the potting mix, as happens in highly dense mediums. The volume of air space in a container should never be below approximately 25% of the containers volume. I like 30 - 35 percent. For recomendations on lighting type the word "lighting" or something close into the search function in this forum. Millet...See MoreWhich citrus should I grow indoors?
Comments (6)lol being picky can be good i guess! knowing what you want is the first step. I am by no means an expert, but hopefully i am on the way to being one! citrus like to be outdoors in the warmer months, so it could be good if you could put it outside during the warmer months weather permitting. if you want to grow from seed, it'll be 10years or more i think before you can start thinking about fruit. i also understand that not all seeds will produce fruit, some are sterile, and over 10 years is a long time to wait and see if you have a sterile seed. and if it does fruit, chances are it will taste nothing like the original fruit you got the seed from, and i have heard they rarely taste good when grown from seed. to my knowledge, most of the flowers on citrus are fragrant, as are the leaves if crushed! in terms of thorns - i have a tahiti lime that is riddled with them, but my two calamondin andmy lemon dont but im not sure if any are thorn-free. containers limit the size they grow to, but constricting it too much cant be good! the minimal-moderate care issue may be a problem - they need good light, good humidity and extremely careful watering and a close watch on fertilizing. those are basics i have learned in the past couple of weeks on here. You might be best off buying a young plant from a garden center/nursery as they are likely to be grafted stock, will in all probability flower and fruit, and are already a couple of years old so not so long a wait for fruits. Like I say, i am no expert, but from what i gather growing from seed is not the easiest or most satisfying way of growing citrus. buy a lemon or a calamondin (little orange fruit) from a nursery - from what i have read and experienced they are the easiest to start on. I did, and I haven't a single regret, I love them. However, i also love growing things from seed, so i have recently planted a few grapefruit seeds. i dont plan to have magnificent plants that flower and bloom prolifically. its just for the joy of growing :) hope you find what you are looking for :) dan...See MoreIndoor Lighting for Citrus
Comments (3)Hi Chops, I know how confused you are. The last 3 winters the more I read on the lighting forum, the more confused I got. I now have a 3 season sunroom addition with big windows facing south and a big table there with plants on. Neighbor has a big tree there but when leaves fall off, I'll get sun from about 10 till 3:30-4. I used to have 2 40 watt flourescents, 2 - 90 watt halogen spotlights and two of those blue plant lights (look like spotlights) 120 watts @. Now I only use 1 blue light (other burned out LOL) and New flourescent fixtures. One has 4 lamps & 2 have 2 lamps. They are T8 1" diam lamps at 32 watts each. They are brighter than the 40 watts! They last longer & all in all are better for plants (& use less electricity) You'll need to buy the special fixtures for them --you can't put lamps in those 40 flor. fixtures. All 8 lamps are 4' long & right above the plants on ceiling. I put them on timer switch so they go on from 8:30 - 10 & then at 4:30-- 8:30. I'm saving much more $$ on Elect. using only 240 watts & the 110 watts from blue bulb. Plants are also on a mirrored table. This is working just fine so far. I have healthy blossoms on my buddha! Last winter I also used one of those floor standing 2-lamp halogens at 500 watts each lamp! I bought it on sale & it frizzled out...broke. Anyway, you don't need all those expensive light set ups esp. if you have plants in a south window. Just use extra lights maybe 8-10 and/or from 3:30 till 8. Flourescent light is the closest to natural sun. What does your light meter read? I sure wish I had one. The few I've seen were real expensive. Can I borrow yours ?LOL I will have to put a pic on of my set up. Patty...See MoreCitrus indoors without supplemental lights.
Comments (11)Alanna, the cuttings are about 6-8” long. I remove all the leaves except the top 2 or 3. I use plastic pots which are 3” diameter by 5” tall, which gives me room to put about 2 - 3” of the stem down into the soil. I cut the end at 45 degrees and scrape the side of the stem about an inch up, then I dip the cutting into rooting powder (including the scraped bit). I wet regular potting soil and poke a 2-3” deep hole with a chopstick, then put the end of the cutting down into the hole and squish the soil around it. Then I cover with a zip lock bag partially taped to the pot leaving a gap so there can be a little air circulation. If the bag doesn’t support itself, I’ll use three bamboo skewers pushed into the edges of the soil before putting the bag over, so that the plastic bag doesn’t touch the leaves. I put them in a tray on my sunny windowsill and water the tray every few days to keep moist. I think it takes about two months before it roots....See MoreHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
last yearHoward Martin
last yearKen B Zone 7
last yearponcirusguy6b452xx
last yearHoward Martin
last yearHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
last yearponcirusguy6b452xx
last yearHeruga (7a Northern NJ)
last yearKen B Zone 7
last yearHoward Martin
last yearKen B Zone 7
last yearponcirusguy6b452xx
last year
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