Like I said in my previous post, I don't know why outdoors would be different. I know about WLD from previous experience, and from knowing a lot of people who grow citrus commercially and have been growing them for dozens of years. Leaf activity, eg photosynthesis, reduces the colder it gets. So if it is cold outside, roots won't function, leaves won't function...it is essentially dormant. Perhaps this is why WLD does not occur outdoors. As stated, I don't have the reasons, I just know from experience the roots do not function below 55.4F. Whether or not you choose to believe this is your choice. A link to any site would not be suitable, to prove for or against, but if you want to know more, do a google search for winter leaf drop with citrus and read peoples experiences. From there, whatever you choose to believe is entirely your prerogative. Best way to know for yourself is to experiment, Buy a citrus, sit it in a cold south facing room (below 12.5C but above 5C) and see what happens. I keep all of mine indoors from September onwards when it starts getting cold, and I have a lot of foliage growth and blooms. I have quite a bit of fruit on the go too. I have only had to deal with one scale problem, an isolated incident that was managed after one oil application.

Hi all, I am new to this forum, I have read this thread, but would like to double check my information to make certain my little lemon tree is doing okay. Briefly: I purchased the tree in the spring of 2011. I live north of Chicago. The tree spent the spring, summer and autumn on my side deck with a southern exposure;I have many mature trees (50+ years), and this area gets the most sunlight. The tree seemed to do fine while outside, I brought it inside before the frost. My house has floor-to-ceiling windows, so I placed the tree in the same exposure, except indoors. It probably receives strong sunlight probably 8 hours per day on sunny days. Today is 21 January, and recently just about all of the tree's leaves began to shrivel. They did not turn yellow, but they did die (become crunchy) and began to fall off. I was very alarmed, but after reading this thread, I believe the issue may be that the soil/roots were cold. I do not presently have a thermometer (it is after 1 am and we just had 9' of snow!) but the container does feel quite cool. The tree has never had any fruit, just one marble sized green lemon that I have not removed and some white buds, which I have also not removed. Here are my questions: 1) It appears the tree will lose all of its leaves, but that does not mean the tree is in danger of dying, correct? 2) If I am to understand the problem with the contrast of sunny leaves/cooler soil/roots, this problem can be rectified by either keeping the tree in the sunlight and warming the soil (with xmas lights, for example), or by moving the tree out of the bright sunlight so it can "wait" until going back outside in the spring. So, I can move the tree to a less sunny location and it will be fine until the spring, given all other things remain the same? I should add that I take pains not to overwater, and the room where the tree is located is quite dry with little humidity. I have used good soil and, as a bonus, since I have pigeons, I have also used some of the pigeon droppings into the soil. I have done this with great success with my other plants and in my garden, and with this tree during the warmer months when it was outside. Thanks in advance for answering my questions, I really appreciate it. I just want the tree to be happy and to be able to overwinter indoors with as little stress as possible. Thanks again, Bill B.

nina 313 and bdeller1, you each should start a new thread to get good answers to your questions. Tagging onto an old post will get you a lot less replies. People look at the start date and figure the subject of the post is no longer relevant. nina, we could use some better pics of the whole tree, and bdeller, we need pics from you too. Each person's own thread should include info about your watering habits, how much and how often. Any fertilizer or anything else you've added, how much, when and why. How long you've owned it. Also give info about the soil your tree is in; original from nursery, or re-potted, brand and/or ingredients of the soil. Is it kept indoors or outdoors, indoors only in winter, outdoors in summer, and if indoors, what kind of light, ie in front of window(window direction), or grow lights or combination. Help us help you. : ) Also, if you start your own thread, you can track answers to it in your "your houzz" area.

Monica I bought a half pound box of Nagami kumquats at Kroger grocery. They were small and they had seeds. I did a years worth of research and decided to order a 10 pound box of Meiwa kumquats from Florida kumquat growers Inc. They were delicious and I planted 300+ Meiwa seeds. I also bought Poncirus Trifoliata seeds since my research showed that kumquats from seeds were a no go. Out of 300 seeds I had 2 plants left and one thrown into the compost heap as low quality. My 2 died and I rescued the compost victim. 1 years later it was clear that I could not graft to PT. I planted seeds and ended up with 4 sweetlee tangerine trees for rootstock. They grew very nicely and are the pride of my citrus fleet. My Meiwa died and that was the end of my citrus career. A friend moved and gave me her 2 Meyer lemon trees. They did well so I built a greenhouse and kept the tangerine trees and the 2 Meyer lemon trees. 2 of my tangerine trees tripled in size over winter into spring and the Meyers doubled in size. A friends gave me a grafted Meiwa kumquat and 2 seed grown Fukushu kumquat trees while another friend sent me The New Zealand lemonade tree, all mentioned above While doing all this I bought a fig tree and it took off and I have rooted over 30 cuttings that all produced figs. I can produce easily 500 to 2000 figs a year going into next season. The Hardy Chicago fig has been a real winner for me. This past year I harvested more figs than 5 apple trees of 20 feet. More than 17 full size peach trees 1 plum tree, 2 paw paw trees, 2 cherry trees, 7 blue berry bushes, almost as much as my black berries. At current I have a total of 6 citrus trees gifted to me and 3 tangerine trees from seed. All 9 are doing well#3 above is in ground #4 above is in ground I believe I know enough to get set up to produce most if not all of the citrus fruit we would eat in a year and do it cost effectively. I am there with the figs. Gardening is a labor of love. I will repeat that growing citrus trees take a real commitment to do well and is ONLY easy when the trees are not having problems. I will also say if you are growing for foliage then grow from seed from fruit. If you are growing for fruit start a bunch of trees from seed and learn on them for 2 years before buying a grafted tree. You get more fruit sooner if you blow 2 years growing from seed first as you go over the learning curve. I can say now I really enjoy my trees