Hey everyone ! It has been a while !

The reason of my absence: I am moving out my parents home probably during the summer of 2014, perhaps even a bit sooner. Since I'll be moving to the city, I wont have a garden (or perhaps a mini one) and no winter storage. I got kinda 'deflated' by the idea of selling my citrus so I stopped joining the forum.

Now I started wondering if there are citrus available that one can grow indoors? Or something 'citruslike' that doesn't need much sunlight so I could grow in rooms without much sunlight and that can spend all year round indoors?

I guess citrus are in my blood a bit too much so now I have to find a way to continue this hobby when moving out.

Cheerios my friends!

I think calamondin can stay indoor. Good luck!

Not an easy task. The most cheaper way is to keep them on balcony during spring, summer and fall and indoor close to window and temperature around 10 Celsius during winter.
Theoreticaly, you can keep all citrus indoor, (those grafted on poncirus do not like indoor conditions at all). But it is growing on the edge. Pests like red spiders and scales realy enjoy dry hot indoor air and it is not easy to provide correct light/temperature balance for citruses indoor also.

Hi Sven,

Our member Citrom (from Hungary) lives in a fourth floor flat and grows many different citrus varieties on his balcony. Perhaps, you might want to check out his thread or ask him for advice, since two of you share the same fate... Turning your balcony into a low end greenhouse wouldn't be a bad idea at all. That way, you should never move your trees indoors again... Heating such construction over the winter shouldn't be that costly either. By heating I mean, not letting the temperature drop below a certain threshold (e.g. 5C/41F).

Take care,
Igor

I keep citrus indoors year-round in an unheated room that has a southern exposure. The ones that grow slowly and have a smaller stature are kumquats, calamondins (both green and variegated forms), and limequats. 'Flying Dragon' is okay too but not as interesting.

I don't record the readings even though the room has a thermometer/hygrometer. The proper temperature and humidity levels were achieved by leaving a crack open in the window year-round. Prior to that I suffered numerous kumquat tree loses in the summer. During the winter the cooler air from outside promotes flower bud production. I should add that the room is actually an enclosed balcony.

As for citrus-like plants you might consider Pittosporum tobira and Coffea arabica. I once encountered the former in full bloom in a greenhouse and the flowers smelled just like that of citrus. Coffee blossoms supposedly has the same smell. Coffee may be the plant to grow if light levels are insufficient for citrus.

@Moderators: This thread should be moved to the Container Citrus forum.

Thanks for your reply! I once thought about trying coffee plants but I thought it would be hard to grow and now I'm kinda focusing on citrus at the moment.
Summer will never be the problem but winters are. Here I have a room where I put my citrus at 15°C during winter times with fewer light but when only having a small balcony and no extra rooms available it will be tricky finding a good way to store them.

I have 5 trees, a Calamondin, 2 meyers and 2 key limes. They are all 2-3 year trees and I am growing fully indoors. I have a 5 headed lamp that I have full spectrum grow lights in and they are by a window as well (not much for natural light) They are being headed by the weather now, but prior I have used an electric blanket underneath and wrapped around the pots. Its working great. In the last few months, I have had 2-10" in growth! SO doing something right! The area I live in is too windy to have them outside (I rent my house, not allowed to build a structure or anything) so, I am making due with inside growing. I have harvested 1 lemon that was almost ready when I purchased it.

Heating the roots during the winter months, is your citrus trees best friend. Heated roots eliminates WLD. - Millet

I don't use any heat other than what seeps in from the surrounding rooms. The trees are pretty much dormant with the cooler winter temperatures. I'm not sure why they don't suffer leaf loss during that time. We're both in zone 8 so maybe you can set up a similar environment.

WLD results from a ratio of sun shining directly on the tree's foliage, and the temperature of the root system. No direct sun, not much heat needed (no growth). Lots of direct sun, then heat root heat needed or WLD will result. - Millet