Last winter, temps in sunroom got down to 40's on some nights & up to upper 50's - low 60's during day. Extra lighting between 3 & 9pm, & I fertilized which I think was wrong.(?) Almost lost at least 2 plants but they came back in spring.
I will do same this yr but won't let night temps get that cold. I can't afford to keep soil temps above 60* (Millet said plant stops growing when temps get below 58*?)
I haven't fert'ld since early Sept. I'm getting day temps up to mid - upper 60's.
I have meyers & Pond. lemons ripening (oops...maturing) & several green fruits on Cal., Honey Murcot & Guava. Will they ripen if soil temps are below 58- 60*? Should I give them some ferts? I also have blossoms starting on at least 2-3 other citrus. Should I fert them?
I did insulate my big guava by putting it in a bigger pot on top of pkg. peanuts, & stuffing newspaper around sides (just an experiment LOL).
I have a few bananas in there too. Will they stop growing at those temps? Should I not give them all too much lighting?
Speaking of the nannas, the leaves are dripping water during day. It gets very humid in there at night - windows are all steamed in am, but only the nannas bleed water from leaves even with fan on all the time.
Anyway, if I let them all go dormant, will the fruits still ripen?
Thanks for any input.

I let my temperatures go down to 40F at night last winter as well and had unripened fruit before winter started. The fruit mostly stayed on the trees and once temperatures went up in the spring the fruit got bigger and ripened. Particularly on my Tahiti limes.

At the moment my Limequat and Verna lemon have a few tiny fruits and the calamondin has a few fruits as well. I've got a Tahiti lime that has gone mad with blossom as we've had a warmer than normal September and October has produced tons of tiny fruit. Some of this is dropping off as the tree is getting rid of what it thinks it's not going to be able to hold and I lost a couple the other day when I watered (left it to dry out too much I think)

I'm not going to let temperatures get below 45 this winter but this is more to do with not letting soil temperatures and any water in the soil get too cold for long periods. I had this last year and the soil was staying too wet and cold for too long and stressed the tree (tree not using much water over winter as it was near enough dormant for most of it)

Thanks Nick, it's nice to know this. Do you add extra lighting?
My Cal's are marble size & turning a golden yellow color. I never ate one before, but in pics I've seen they are bright orange. Looks like I might lose them huh?
Honey Murcott has about 25 fruits - biggest being almost golf ball size & are still green. What's the diff between W Murcott (that I've seen posted here) & Honey Murcott?

To know why the "W" is in the name of W Murcott see this thread; link

Millet

Thanks for that Millet! I never woulda found it here, although now I remember reading it, but not where or when posted. My memory must be going
My Honey Murcott is one of those 3 big trees I bought in Fl last Feb-March

Hi Patty,

I haven't tried extra lighting yet, but I think I will this year in December and January when daylight doesn't last as long. Might help a bit with keeping my temperatures more constant

Nick

Hi Nick, I am curious when it gets dark out by you. I know that here, around Dec 21 (shortest day of year) the street lights go on about 4:15 or shortly after. Starts getting dark at 4. I think by Dec., I will have lites out by 7 instead of last yr's 9 pm.
Right now..Daylite savings, it's dark out by 5.
What time is your sunset Millet?

Today the sun will set over Colorado at 4:56pm. -Millet

Hi Patty,

Over here we change our clocks +1 or -1 in October and April. The clocks went back an hour last weekend so it's starting to get dark at 5 pm but light in the morning from about 6.30 - 7.

By Dec 21, its' completely dark by about 4 (maybe starts slightly earlier) and light in the morning at about 8.15

Nick

Oh my Nick! You have shorter days than I!! I never knew this before.
Millet, seems like we are similar but I will have to check actual sundown & sunrise.

Weather this A.M. said our sunset is 4:43 & sunrise is 6:29. Guess my days are shorter than Co.

Patty you have shorter days because you are a little farther north. You will have longer days during the summer, because of the same reason. However, the difference in minimal. - Millet

This is sort of related to this thread but what is the lowest temp. you allow your citrus to stay outside in until you bring them in? Like 65F and then start to bring them in?

Valencia, I brought all mine in the day they called for frost for that night. It was in 40's that day. If you plan on keeping the plants warm w/lots of lights, then bring them in sooner. Some ppl bring them in when inside & outside temps are about the same -- esp. inside heated room. In my case, the sunroom is not heated so many plants will go semi dormant.
Which reminds me to ask another question. The soil temps are around 58* on med size plants. Some have fruits & are putting out more blossoms. Should I leave them or give some ferts to them? Seems to me they need food!
Millet, can/ should I fert a little?

Hi Patty,

How are those little fruits and blossoms coming along in the colder weather?

My 2 (!) Verna lemon fruits are still on the tree and getting slightly bigger. Instead of being the size of a small pea they are the size of a large pea ! Wow !

My Tahiti Lime that has all that blossom turned into v.tiny fruit but a quite a lot have died.

The winter here hasn't been too cold so far, but I expect we will pay for it sometime and the temps in my greenhouses have been staying at about 53F. I think if I get fruits that late next year I'll try keeping temps a bit higher.

It's completely dark by 4pm at the latest here now and gets dark from about 3.30. Gets light in the morning about 7 - 7.45 in the morning.
I haven't had time to do anything about extra lighting as my wife had to have an emergency operation, but as the trees seem ok and it will start getting lighter after 21st December, I might leave it this year.

Nick