A few of my trees have no fruit and little foliage, I am thinking of putting these under 12hr grow lights & heating mats this winter, and putting the rest in windows. Weather around here lately is 70F days, 50F nights. Tonight is supposed to be about 42F low, so I brought the key lime inside.

If trees will be stored in living space at ~68F, with some under grow lights, should I take them in now before it gets colder out so they are not shocked going from high-light low-night-temp to low-light high-night-temp?

It seems like going from 50 degree nights to ~70F all day would cause a lot of stress, but I don't really know.

Brian, Sorry for the delayed response, I have not been around for a week or two. I brought all of mine in that I planned on wintering in the living area. They may actually go into a colder environment later in the season to get some good chilling hours, but for right now they are acclimating to the inside. I think it does help to bring them in when conditions outside are similar to conditions inside, especially the night temps. I probably brought them in at about the same time as your original post, and we are in the same area.

I have a rootstock tree (originally a lemon that died off, unrecognized by the original owner) that my mother-in-law was given and subsequently gave to me that is still outside. I plan on letting that one go dormant and storing in the basement, so I have let it remain outside. Hope this helps, Barbara

Hi guys, I am also in the same area. I am actually letting my trees get all of the required chill hours now, hoping that it will be enough before the first frost. I'm hoping I won't any have problems when I bring them in, but after I get the chill hours I'll start to transition them if I have time.

Do you know if Meyers are really sensitive to changes in environment?

Ray,

I had one rooted cutting meyers a few years ago that I could not get to grow, so I cannot say from experience. It was odd; I had it for over a year and it did not grow at all. The roots looked good, but I could not get a single bud to break.

I have heard, though, that they do not like change very well. I believe that a cool winter would probably be the best for meyers in this area. By this I mean an attached garage, or someplace similar where the humidity will be higher and the temperature lower. I would like to try again with a meyers soon, however the economy has given my discretionary spending a punch in the gut. I will just have to wait until things improve. Good luck with the meyers. Barbara

Well I bought a heat pad and I have a grow light, so I was thinking about growing the Meyer over the winter instead of letting it go dormant. I don't know what will happen if I give it the required chill hours then grow it for the rest of the winter because I don't think it's old enough to flower yet, but I guess I'll find out. I assume it'll just continue to grow foliage and roots.

Ray, I guess if you run into problems, you can always adjust. I chose to let it grow inside first while conditions are about the same inside and out, because as the days get shorter and colder, all my plants seem to slow down in growth, whether I like it or not. And then as the days begin to get longer, they respond accordingly. In Dec, Jan and Feb, the low humidity in the house becomes a problem. Even with added light, heat and attempted humidity, I see this happening. I admittedly do not have the high end lighting that may correct this, so I try to work with what I have, instead of fight against it. This is why I will try to let them grow indoors until late Nov, and then place them in a cooler, more humid environment to get their chill hours. By mid to late Feb, I am hoping that a good flushing with warm water followed by a dose of fertilizer will prepare them for a robust spring flush. Barbara

I just brought in all of my citrus trees last night here outside of Chicago (zone 5). The temperature has been getting down in the 30s the past few nights and we already had a light frost 2 nights ago. I didn't think it was going to be cold enough to frost the other night but my trees were all fine when I got up. All of my trees are small and no older than 2 yrs and even my limes were ok that night. All I did was keep the sliding glass door to the balcony open a bit with a blanket stuffed along most of the open area and had a fan blowing out at the bottom (left a foot or so open at the bottom for the fan to blow out) towards the citrus and all was fine. I was wondering how they would acclimate over night and I am proud to say that I have not had a single leaf drop yet today (I know this is only the begining). I am just going to play it day by day to see if I need to get some supplemental lighting (I might just throw a florescent fixture over them). I am a little worried about lighting though as the sliding glass door they are in front of faces east and because of the balcony overhang they'll probably only get an hour or so of direct sunlight everyday (the room temp is around 68-70 usually). Best of luck to all of you folks that have to bring your citrus in for the winter!

Joe