Hey guys. We had our first hard freeze last night and I've sadly had to bring my tree inside for the long winter.

Here's my current lighting setup, I'm curious for any feedback to see whether I'm doing anything wrong.



They're flourescent lights so I have them within a few inches of the top of the tree, but the thing is so spread out that I wonder if it's going to get enough light on the lower levels. I was thinking of maybe getting some clamp on lights to put on the posts of my shelf there to light up the sides. Do you think the top light alone will be enough or should I look into getting more?

Here's the variety of light I have now:



I'm considering getting a MH grow light to replace that since reading threads on the forum here makes it sound like that is the preferred setup. Thoughts on that? If I do it, how much power do I need? Will one of the 250 watt kits from amazon.com work?

I like this setup because it will let me slide a big flat rubbermaid tub under the bottom shelf so I can water right where it's at and let the overflow run through the wire rack so I won't have to haul the thing into the bathroom to soak anymore.

Now I just need to find a decent heat source for the soil. I don't think Christmas lights wrapping the pot will work well because it's in a rootmaker container where water runs out the sides when I'm watering. Maybe a seedling heat mat underneath when I'm not watering?

Thanks,

Dave

I used a 250 watt Metal Halide light (MH) on my Marisol Clementine tree, along with placing a silver colored 4-ft board on all four sides of the tree. I lit the MH light from sunset until 10:00PM (when I go to bed). The four silver boards reflected the light evenly to all four sides of the tree. I also kept the root zone around 80F. I did this for two winters. The tree had 5 flushes of new growth each year. The tree is now about 9 - 10 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Currently it has a large fruit crop. - Millet (487-)

Damn that sounds awesome. I think i'd be in trouble if this thing got that large but that tells me the 250 would be more than enough output for this little guy.

Was the silver board you used just the foam housing insulation with silver on the sides?

Yes that is the board that I used. - Millet (487-)

You may conciser pruning that guy a little for a even height canopy, because the light intensity will be high for the branches close to the light and low for the branches away.

I do a variant of the silver board, but not with my Citrus. Those go on the sunporch in the sweet spot. I overwinter my other tropicals in the basement under plant lights. To reflect more light, I procured a whole bunch of those foil-like survival blankets. They are dirt cheap and seem to reflect liight well. They also conserve heat, hence their name.

Great idea on those metallic survival blankets. Gotta go find some now.

Anthony

I just brought mine in as well...
Washington navel, trovita, gold nugget, page, kishu, variegated lemon.
I am lucky to have a sun room at home and grow lights in the office.
My last attempt at citrus indoors in MN was a DISASTER! This board helped me a lot!! I dropped a grand total of 6 leaves on all trees combined this year, but had to completely change my approach to citrus. I am used to growing mangos, and this is an entirely different animal.

As to winter...WLD got me, but scale got me as well...in two different houses, with completely different trees.

Things I have learned for citris in the twin cities:
south windows during mid winter cause leaves to get very hot! East seems to be better. Or. at least, use a seed heating mat under the south facing trees.

Also, start looking for scale bugs on top of, and under leaves. they are there...I guarantee it! use a qtip dipped n rubbing alcohol and check the trees thoroughly every few days! I knocked out a few last night.
Scale hates fish emulsion spray...I don't know why, but it does...problem is that fish emulsion stinks!

Next, We give the trees more light than they really need in the winter. My friend in eden prairie has a 20 year old calamondin that is in an obstucted east window, and it is fine. It has spent its entire life here and fruits every year.
I would recommend a 175-250 metal halide if no east or south windows are avail. The nice thing about 175 is it is a small light. much smaller than the 250, and fine for a tree of your size. I have a spare that you are welcome to borrow if you like. Also, the aluminum bubble insulation sold a HD works fantastic! It is similar to what Millet uses, but more adaptable in my opinion. Drop me a PM sometime...and listen to the folks on this board!
Albert

Just leave the blinds open on the door and that should fix your problem. I have my setup next to a southe east facing bay window with 110W of cfl above it that stays on from 8am-4pm. You cant even tell from outside that the light is on unless it is a real dark and rainy day, and the sunlight gives you the full spectrum of light that the T5 lights you have dont.

Is this scale?