Hey i'm new and wondering about the lemon tree I bought. Mainly, I bought it to grow lemons to make homemade lemonade and have a nice indoor plant. It's starting to get white, almost bud like formations maybe idk, in a spherical shape and I wanted to know if it is fungus, disease, etc. or lemons? I also need to know if I should buy a bigger pot for Mr. Lemons to help growth or if that will inhibit it since it will spend more time makeing its roots bigger? Also is coldness a real problem for citrus trees? The tree is indoors but my room is very cold and i'm worried about overwatering. Idk, i'm new to citrus and I live in indiana and citrus isn't cultivated here so any help would be very appreciated. pictures included. Sorry about the quality. Thanks again I really appreciate it.



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The white things on the limbs are buds. They appear to be ready to open and turn in to future lemons. You do need to keep the roots from getting to cold. Find a nice (southern facing) sunny window. Your lemon tree will be much happier. How large is your pot and how tall is your tree? Overwatering can be a problem for new citrus trainees. Also watch out for over fertilizing.

I thank you for your reply and my tree is about 2-3 feet high and the pot is 6-8 inches at the widest where the roots are. I was told to water my plants when the dirt is not damp but with the cold the dirt is always damp so i have no clue what to do. I don't fertilize my plant b/c i have no idea what to use, how much, and so on and so forth. I have a southern facing window in my room, however it seems that not much light ever gets to it. I don't have it in front of the window now but will put it back tommorrow. Thanks.

If you heat the roots or make sure they are above 60F (preferably 64F) as Sunrise suggested, then putting the tree in a south facing window is a good idea. If not heated, don't expose it to direct sun while indoors. They will do fine in a cool place without much light over winter--they just won't grow.

As for fertilizer, find a slow release like Osmocote or Dynamite with trace minerals and a NPK ratio as close to 5-1-3 as possible. Fertilize according to pot size not tree size.

If the soil is always damp, don't water! In winter it can take a long time for soil to dry. If you do not have a fast draining soil mix, repot in one. Only water when the soil is dry 2-3 inches down--never on a schedule.

If you need to heat up your pot a little, putting christmas lights around the pot seems to work, i was a little skeptic at first but now i use it with good results.

HersirSmiley how many rows of lights do you use 3 - 4, top to bottom? How many hours do you have them on? Also do you use a themometer. lilmuskrat66 will need to get a timer so he does not overheat the roots as Millet did once. We would hate to have lilmuskrat66 cook his first tree. Also watch out when the fruit start to set on the tree do not move it very must at first you may knock the little fruit off. Some will fall off anyway. There are several good fertilizer to use, I use Bandini and everytime I mention it you can hear the howls of laughter from all the members. It is a citrus fertilizer and it works for me. My lemon trees are in 10' pots and I use only a tablespoon about every three months so you will not need very much!

i have my plants inside an old fishtank, i use a growlight during the day and the lights just around the inside edge at the bottom at night so that the tank doesn't get too cold since it sits next to a window that doesn't get much sun.

I won't say that I was skeptic, but last year I decided to check for myself just how much the Christmas lights would help. I used the small white lights in a garland type string (lights are closer together). I tried a couple complete wraps around my test pot and the lights raised the temp about 20 degrees above the control pot. Later, in order to heat all the pots, I simple put the string of lights between rows of pots (on both sides of most pots)--that raised the temp 12 to 15 degrees. I will say I was surprised at how much it raised the soil temp with just a strand between the pots.

This yr my pots just stay outside in the shade --except when it is below 40 F.

Interesting, how long were the lights on everyday? All my plants appear to be happy except my valencia which appears to be dropping more leaves than I would like. My clementine next to it has not dropped a leaf. Maybe the valencia need a heated pot?

PS: Skeeter I wish I could get up to 40 degrees outside!!!

In my case the lights were only on at night most days as I would move them outside during the day if it was going to get above 60 (most winter days here will). My idea was to make sure the roots were above 60 when they went out. After that, sunlight helped heat the black plastic pots to well above 60. On really cold days that they were left in the shop with overhead light, I left the Christmas lights on continuous.