Yes ...

It is really an art to have citrus in pots and like 8 months inside ...

I am afraid of every winter and have to meet any problem possible ...

Anyways it IS possible and with a lot of experience and KnowHow you can make it.

One of the secrets is the right sort.

I suggest you give a try to Calamondin (Citrus mitis).

Frank,
I have an unheated south facing sun room that manages to stay above freezing all winter, but also climbs up past room temp on sunny days when we open the door and let the heat into the house. My plants only get natural light, so between that and the cold I don't get much growth all winter (though two of my plants are actively growing at the moment...sun room was down to 37 yesterday...back to 57 now). I end up spraying my plants with Safer 'End All' insecticidal soap with neem oil and pyrethrins whenever I see mites getting feisty. I'm a plant geek so I look at my plants every day as therapy and I only water if the soil fails the finger moisture test...no water if the soil feels moist a finger depth down. I also don't fertilize much at all during the winter...if the plants aren't growing I just give them water to keep the soil from drying out. Also, my varieties are all hardy types. Really, my plants seem to be doing well thanks to the people's advice on this site.

thanks
mine do seem to dry out
I actuallly try to get them outside when it rains and is around 50f in the winter, the dryness and difficulty with the water makes it hard for us
I have around 12 trees indoors

Frank,
I believe my indoor citrus are in a setting somewhat similar to Greg's. I also have a south facing sun room. However, it is open to the rest of my house, so the temp doesn't get quite as cold. In the winter the temp varies from the mid 50's to the upper 60's. The trees get a couple hours of direct sunlight and several hours of filtered sunlight per day. I do not believe that my citrus go completely dormant as the soil temps should be consistently above 55 F, however they don't really put out any new growth until flowering in late winter/early spring (Feb.-April). I will typically check for watering 1x per week. I water only sparingly just to keep a little moisture in the soil. As far as bugs go, there's almost always something I'm trying to get rid of (spider mites, white flies, scale, mealy bugs, etc...). What seems to work for me is giving all of my plants that will go indoors for the winter a couple treatments w/ horticultural oil before bringing them in for the winter. When I see any pests on my plants (I do not check as often as I should) I'll segregate it and then on the first warmish sunny day, I'll take it outside and spray w/ horticultural oil.

Here's a picture that Frank sent me of the ripening Kumquats on one of the trees he has planted outside. I believe the picture was taken in the last week or so.
Very impressive... there were sub zero temps out his way this past winter!



Frank, I forgot how big is your Kumquat, and what variety is it? It looks like a Meiwa

Very impressive... Although a kumquat (meiwa?) can withstand some frost quite well,
I'm sure it hasn't been an easy chore for Frank to keep his tree in such a good condition inground...

Igor

thanks for posting it scott,
it isnt that big really maybe 3-4 feet...................... no frost damage at all.............

I think you guys would know the variety better than I

Great work!

Is that a dimple at the bottom of the fruit in the middle? Maybe it is a calamondin? Are the fruits very sour?

thanks guys

fruits arent sour, it is a kumquat I got from stan a while ago

so far so good on my trees, we still get slight frosts..............it was 72 and 31 yesterday...............no open flowers on my trees

first to flower is the thomassville citra quat

I have a bunch of closed flower on the tiachang lemon and on my satusmas

Cool, hopefully you will get a good crop of fruit.

I have several flower buds on my Satsuma, but some of them (along with other new growth) were broken off of the tree during a short hail storm yesterday evening.

thanks I am excited about the Thichang (sp) as I have never had one...............

when did ur open? sorry to hear that they broke off

No open flowers yet on my Satsuma, the first flower buds would have been opening any day if not for the hail damage. I was able to count ~100 buds still on the tree, so I should be OK, I'll just have to wait a little longer.

Thanks
it is interesting your didnt open sooner than mine (on the satusma)................mine should be any day also but who knows