Today I decided to close up the greenhouse for the winter. All my tree's are in CHC/Peat so I rehydrated all of them

Millet has always given me an others sound advice on growing Citrus, This year he made a very good posting (Start Planning now for a good spring citrus crop) Under (Container Citrus) two good postings rather.

I plan on given this a try this year, Most of the tree's I have can go down to 28 Degree's -2 Celsius although I do not plan on taking them down that low (air temp.) I do plan on keeping the root temp at about 60 F degree's 16 C (Celsius)

My question is would there be any difference on flowering, if the tree was maintained 50F degree's - 10C Celsius, or maintained at 32 degree's 0 C Celsius

I find this VERY interesting maybe some of the Pro's here could help, (Pro's )with respect to all Dale

Hi dale. I don't think you would see a big difference in fruiting between the two temps. As long as they get the required chill hours they should produce about the same.

Laaz Thank You for you your reply! air temp. chill, root zone 60 degrees will see this early spring as I posted Millet has never given bad advice that I know of

You are very lucky to have him an his input. Keep us up to date on all the uncommon as well as the common citrus that you find I will do the same

Dale, Laaz is correct. You have to remember, just as 55F is "absolute Zero" for citrus roots, 55F is also pretty much the stand still temperature for any type of foliage growth. 850 hours below 68F will induce blooming 64F (18C) is plenty good enough. I would not go below 60F air temperature. It is the, length of time and the build up of the required hours that is important, and induces the blooming. Take care - Millet

Millet, Laaz Thank you for you input, Millet I'm glad you added to this posting I'll stay at 64 degrees was going to bring them down much lower

And should be able to get pretty close, if not over on the hours needed. I found a Nursery in North Chicago that sells common Citrus (it was heaven) they dont do mail order. Again Thank You for your above postings Dale

Hi everyone. I just found out about this message board & it is exactly what I have been looking for. I live on Long Island where the temp is now ranging from 20-40F. As we get deeper into winter, the lower will be more the norm.
I have 2 navel orange trees (about 3' tall) in containers. This year I did not bring them indoors, but instead left them in my sunroom that is not heated. The temp in there is about 5 degrees higher than the outside temp, & they are protected from the wind. I read the previous posts stating that 800+ hours of less than 68F is required for blooming. My question, is this extended period of keeping them in such a cold environment harmful? I had some leaf drop. If I were to move them indoors after the 800 hours, would the drastic change in temp really put them in shock? Should I leave them where they are?
- Vinny

Hi Viiny & welcome to the forum. I have two Navel orange trees in my yard here in Chaleston. Our winters are quite mild with the normal daytime highs in the 50-60 degree range & nightime lows average between 30-40. The cool will not harm the trees, but a quick temp. change can put them into shock and cause leaf drop. Even though the air temp is 30-40 the soil & root temp can be as much as 10 degrees higher. At this point if you move them into a heated house you are almost certain to lose quite a few leaves.

Now heres the big question... Do you want the trees to contine to grow over the winter or do you want them to become dormant ? If you want them to continue to grow, you will need to get the root temp above 55 or better yet 65. If you just want them to become dormant for the winter, they should be fine as long as you keep them above freezing & out of direct sunlight.

Lazz, Thanks for the info. I am OK with having them go dormant this year. Next year I hope to bring them indoors earlier. I guess I should keep an eye on them this winter & make sure the soil does not dry out. As far as the sun goes, you mention keep out of direct sunlight. How come? I will move them so the sun does not hit them.

Also, I have a meyer lemon that I did bring indoors before the cold came. Along with a bunch of lemons ripening, I am getting lots of flowering buds. These buds are white though. Shouldn't they be white with some purple? Just wondering. Vinny

Vinney, be careful of the citrus trees you have in the unheated sunroom. You say it stays only 5 degrees above outside temperatures. The trees could be killed when it is 20 or lower outside which would be 25 or lower inside the sunroom. A temperature of 28 or lower for any length of time could be the end of your trees.- Millet

If your trees are completely dormant, the roots arent providing water to the branches and leaves of the tree. If you get a lot of hot sunshine on your leaves, theyll try to (respire?), dry out, and fall off. Im a newbie, but thats how I understand it.
Millet or others, Could you tack a sheet to the windows and allow some filtered light in (so you dont have to use a lamp)?

Millet, What do reccommend that I do? I do not want to loose these plants.- Vinny

garnetmonth, you are exactly right! I have done the very procedure that you suggested. Several years back, before I had heating tapes, I had some trees that started to drop their leaves. This was due to the strong sunlight heating up the canopy, while the "soil" in the container was still cold. I hung a bed sheet between the tree and the sun's rays. The leaf drop stoped that very day. Later after I set the containers on top of heat tapes and raised the growing medium to 64F, I removed the sheet. - Millet

"Hi everyone. I just found out about this message board & it is exactly what I have been looking for. I live on Long Island where the temp is now ranging from 20-40F. As we get deeper into winter, the lower will be more the norm. I have 2 navel orange trees (about 3' tall) in containers. This year I did not bring them indoors, but instead left them in my sunroom that is not heated. The temp in there is about 5 degrees higher than the outside temp, & they are protected from the wind. I read the previous posts stating that 800+ hours of less than 68F is required for blooming. My question, is this extended period of keeping them in such a cold environment harmful? I had some leaf drop. If I were to move them indoors after the 800 hours, would the drastic change in temp really put them in shock? Should I leave them where they are?"
Vinny


I have an unheated enclosed porch as well so this may help you. It gets VERY COLD in there in the winter. Here is your dilema. You need to decide where you want to put the trees first. If you put them in the sunroom, you will then have to protect them from the damaging temps mentioned above that are to come. If you put it in the sunroom it should stay in the sunroom. Why stress the tree knowing it will have to come inside soon? If you really need them in that cold room, you will have to protect them.

Have they been in the sunroom up until now? Have you checked to see if they are still alive? I'm not far from you in Jerzey, and if my Citrus were in my protected porch, they would have probably died from the recent drops we had. I'm worried about the fig that I have in there.

Good Ground. Thanks for your reply. Yes they have been in the sunroom since around Thanksgiving. As far as still living, they do look ok. Some leaf drop, but they have alot of green leaves on them. My original plans were to bring them in, but now I'm afraid the shock will be too much. I just gave them some water yesterday. What do you suggest? Vinny

If it were me, I would find a spot for them next to a window in the house where it's much warmer. The reason I got Citrus were to have them displayed in he house. My fruiting Meyer looks beautiful in my bedroom next to my spiral staircase. If you can gradually bring them indoors, that would be best. Maybe you have a warmer location that would help bring them in gradually for a few days and then inside. There will probably be a big swing of temps if you bring them in right away. So if you can't bring them in gradually, I would settle for the change of temps and bring them in anyway. It's better to deal with a little stress than have them killed by leaving them in your sunroom. You should put a humidifier in the room where the tree will be. You don't want to dry it out with your heat. Keep it away from the heat vents. I wouldn't feed the tree until it goes out in the spring if you don't have supplemental lighting in the house. Hope that helps you decide. Good Luck

If you're interested and like figs, you may be able to keep figs in your sunroom like I do. I put a sleeping bag around the container to keep it warm. A citrus will NOT survive in your sunroom unprotected. And if you do protect it for it to survive, it won't grow much anyway under those conditions. Your best bet is really to bring it inside. I mist it as much as I can to raise humidity.