I'm curious on what people concider the best sweet orange for indoor container growing. I am able to move outdoors in summer, but even some days it might need moved inside. I want an extra juicy sweet orange. a smaller orange size is best, I think... seeds/seedless... just dont matter.

Even though inside, I will have great control over the light, humidity and heat. I wiill have a bedroom and attached deck as a "citrus" room. Just wanting a few opinons... and then to see if I'm able to get the variety in my area. Being in Canada... that... can be a hard part.

Betty

I went with Trovita after pondering the same question. It supposedly is adaptable to a wide range of climate and doesn't need as much heat as others for fruit to ripen.

do you know where to get them here in BC? Either tiny toms tangerine farm or theres the place on the island too?

Joys of canada... not many places to buy from. and even worse being in the interior of bc. lots of ice, lots of mountains lots of cold and ppl that think you are nuts when you mention citrus

We're not exactly in citrus country. Tom's and Bob's are the only two places I know of here for the more unusual varieties including Trovita. Citrus from Monrovia can be found at various times of the year at local nurseries. This year Home Depot carried Meyer lemons and limequats for the first time. We're actually pretty lucky now that Tom has opened up since you can probably get anything you want in time. Not cheap though. The higher dollar helps.

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CITRUS HEAT REQUIREMENTS (from highes to lowest
Limes (true Mexican)*

Kumquat

Pummelo

Grapefruit

Sweet Lime

Tangelo

Mandarin Oranges

Sour Orange

Blood Orange

Sweet Orange

Lemons and Bearss Lime

Meyer Lemon

As you live in Canada this is a list that shows you the amount of heat required to ripen citrus fruits. This will help you to choose the citrus fruits you like the best. - Millet

kumquats take the most heat? ugh. Is it the same for the other "quats"? here I was thinking they were going to be around the same as lemons. I know I'll definatly be getting a limequat and kumquat... reguardless.

If you have the higher heats for some, does it harm those on the lower end of heat needing to rippen? I know I can move a few to other areas of the house for cooler (just a couple plants) but not really much for hotter. I know in summer my little room... will get well over 80 day and night... that is if we get decent weather. Even now, on sunny days with NO heat on in the room, it gets around 70 and thats with it -5C outside. So that room definatly likes to hold onto its heat (sure wish the rest of the house will)

The more I learn, the more I find ouit I've really learned nothing... if that makes senselearn a tiny bit... just makes it clear how much you dont know.

I've just wanted these trees for song, actually only a lemon. I never thought of all the possibilities out there. Now, with places I'm finding and the varieties I'm finding. Its such a shame I dont live in a more citrus friendly area. heh, maybe its a good thing. I'd go broke. but... at least the good thing with going crazy with citrus plants... you still have something to eat!

Kumquat is often recommended for indoor culture along with Calamondin (a kumquat hybrid) and Meyer Lemon. Rather curious considering the kumquat's high heat requirement. They must not be taking into account the quality of the fruit. Nevertheless they are worth growing for their aesthetic qualities.

Heat requirement is based on the total amount of heat exposure in a year. Practically speaking, for indoor home cultivation there's not much we can do to increase that total. Heat is required to increase the sugar content of the fruit. So more heat means sweeter fruit. Lemons, at the lower end of the scale, given more heat will become sweeter tasting.

So in short, if you want fruit to eat, choose varieties close the bottom end of the list. My Trovita is a test. If I can get good fruit from it I can then try growing a blood orange.

luckily, I live in a unit where i have all my utilities covered, so I can heat my "citrus room" as hot as I'd need to. To offset the costs I'd just keep the rest of the house cooler as I've done this winter reguardless.

Thanks for all the advice, its great to see the chart listed like that for fruits needing the most heat... puts it in simple mode for me.

I bought a pack of kumquats recently... very good fruit, sour as can e, but oh so good. I did notice a very big diference in fruit quality amongst them,. found it really strange just how big of a difference there can be. I guess the same goes for other fruits. 2 apples.. one could be juicy, sweet and just amazing... the other... tasteless. I've just usually found citrus fruit to generally have a uniformed taste... Maybe I've just been lucky. Would the extreme sourness in some of the kumquats I had be due to not enough heat to sweeten them up? if so, I sure could handle them the way they were.

Calamondin is a fruit I've read a bit about on GW, had me quite interested. Can the taste be explained at all... kind of like a kumquat? I have it on my list to see if Tom does carry it. He did say pretty much anything I could think of... he might have... in the non funky varieties. He made it clear I'll be like a kid in a candy store. Talked obout my being able to try certain fruits.

I know what fruits I want and like... but would you recomend my getting just one or 2 and seeing how they do in my area and my "citrus room" before going all out and buying several hundred dollars worth? I know common sense says start small then expand. but... just the best time of year for me to get these plants as I wont be travelling again till the end of summer. Not to mention I know I have the money now. I just dont want to get ahead of myself. Say, a meyer lemon, grown indoors... How big (width) can it grow? Want to make sure, as mature trees, I will have the room for them. Even if years from now. I would hate to over do it and have to prune them down for the room. I know pruning ids a bad thing in most cases

Sorry to be SO long winded... I just know there are so many amazing people on the forum thatt know so much.. hard to not want to get all my questions and thoughts out. thank you all in advance for helping me in all of this! Cant wait to show off my first citrus trees! and even more... myt first fruit!

My guess to the unusually sour kumquats is they weren't ripe enough when picked. (i.e. not enough time on the tree to allow the sugars to build up.) Tastes are highly subjective so I won't try to describe what a Calamondin is like. Suffice to say it's more sour than a Nagami kumquat.

You should be aware that Tom's trees are mainly of the larger 5-gal size. I prefer smaller specimens as I enjoy seeing them grow as well as being less costly to buy. And it doesn't hurt as much should you lose a tree. However it seems these trees only come as bushes. It comes down to personal preference. I do like the mid-sized trees. They're about half the height of the patio trees which is a nice size for indoors.

I can't really suggest how you should go about acquiring your collection. You are the only one who knows how much experience you have with plants and how quickly you can learn and adjust to citrus. Sorry I can't be more definitive. Personally I started my collection with the safer choices like Calamondin, lemons, and Bearss lime and later picked up more questionable varieties like kumquat.

Check out Home Depot if there's one near where you are. They had some really nice citrus trees including Calamondins not too long ago for around $20. At that price I'm willing to try more questionable varieties like the limequat. And I wouldn't expect to pay much more than that for a Calamondin as they are so common.

The issue of tree size is an interesting one for us indoor growers. My Minneloa(?) seedling took off this year and can barely fit through the door. It will be a challenge in the not too distant future. The collection is still young so I have not had to deal with this issue yet but I can see pruning as a necessity and not an option. My main concern at this point is getting the trees to grow. You may want to see if you can get trees that are on the dwarfing 'Flying Dragon' rootstock to help with size control.

Lastly, you should probably take precautions to protect the trees from the cold during transport from the greenhouse at this time of year.

I'm hoping your wrong that tom only carries mostly 5 gallon. I mention money would be short and i did want the smaller one gallon size. he stated they usually start at 20 bucks

Sure am hoping these key limes of mine grow good. few less plants to buy. Just wish citrus were better known around here, take and root cuttings of trees and get a good collection going that way. do trades with others and... only in a dream world

I don't have a huge knowledge of plants. I have many and all I do is water when they need it. Had several for many years and have yet to kill them. I just know that citrus is a lot more "fun" gardening... is one thing I've never concidered work. Even when I dug a garden out from a portion of my yard last year... 25 ft by 30 feet... all by a tiny shovel. hard clay in 90 degree weather! heh. I wont do that again anytimesoon! Love my veggie gardens... now time to grow my own fruit!

thanks for all your info. Do you hae toms number? I do have his cell, but theres another number I've called before. I just want to ask a few questions reguarding plant size and prices for what I've decided to get (IF he has them)

Betty

I have been growing cirus since 1967, am 75 years old, and relize there is a lot more to know about citrus than I know. Feel fortunate to have known, in my opinion some of the smartest people in the world in the field of citrus. Attented a meeting last year, Alan Vaughn was the speaker who is an extension agent , in Louisiana. He stated the quicker wen the fruit is ripe ii is best for the tree to harvest the fruit. There is a hormone in the seed that pevents the tree from going thoroughly dormant. i always knew it was best to get the ripe fruit off the tree but never knew the reason why. aperson never gets too old to learn

Thanks for the info Buddinman! I'm glad you made it here. Unique info like these from reliable persons are diamonds in the rough and certainly worth remembering.

I could also use this knowledge to apply it the other way around. For example, I may intentionally not want the tree to go dormant by not removing the ripe fruits and re-observe the tree's responses. Ideas are endless. Life is too short to do all experimentations.

Going back to your original question, what is the best sweet orange to grow. Although really a mandarin, the Page is far and away the best "orange" I have ever eaten. Fruits are a little small compared to most oranges, but are great for juice or just eating. My wife and I ate 1/8 bushel one time in about an hour. I don't know how they would do in a container, as mine are all in the ground outside. I keep them pruned to about 7 feet tall so I can get the fruit easily.

Calamondins have a great flavor, although too sour for most people. They make a fnatastic marmalade and we use them in gin and tonics sometimes instead of limes.