Overwintering Citrus
Our first year here I tried and failed with citrus, it took me years to get the nerve to try again. Things I learned as a gardener and houseplant enthusiast that helped me successfully overwinter these two trees.
- citrus specific soil – I now use cactus mix amended with perlite and citrus fertilizer
- grow light – I just don’t think there is enough natural light in our home for citrus to hold their leaves or stay happy and adding a grow bulb to my winter spot for them has helped them to even flower indoors
- check for pests and catch them early – citrus are really really prone to them and they show up only when brought indoors
- water – drainage was an issue with my previous plants, and they enjoy a heavy watering with plenty running through the container. They really prefer to fully dry out between waterings. I got a better handle of this by amending the soil with perlite.
New Citrus Additions
With the garage addition giving me a space to move these trees indoors I decided to expand my citrus collection. These trees were much larger than the previous ones I had ordered online and a few already came with newly formed fruit.
Lime watch 2024
while the original two fruit grew this tree surprisingly flowered and set another fruit during the summer!
Harvest
It wasn’t so easy to tell the first ripe lime did start changing color and felt soft but not obviously ripe until it burst. So now that we know what to look for – a slight yellowing and softening of skin in this variety we will hopefully be able to time future harvests. you can see the unripe fruit on tree is much deeper green.
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