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Tropical Fruits for Indoor Production

 
pollinator
Posts: 181
Location: Zone 7a, 42", Fairfax VA Piedmont (clay, acidic, shady)
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I was wondering what the best tropical food-producing trees were, for containerized indoor storage and summer production in zone 7.  I'd get something like the following caddy to roll a 3-4 large planters in and out of my living room every Spring/Fall once lows got below say 45 degrees (so I could get up to Zone 11).  The problems would be more with the dry indoor conditions during the winter and being limited to containers.

https://www.gardeners.com/buy/heavy-duty-adjustable-rolling-plant-caddy/8592709.html#start=24

I run a humidifier in my house during the winter, trying to keep humidity around 30%; don't have a sun-room or greenhouse.
 
gardener
Posts: 6814
Location: Arkansas - Zone 7B/8A stoney, sandy loam soil pH 6.5
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Light will be the main concern given the information presented. (I love the new LED grow lights for this sort of growing)
I'd try  Oranges, lemons, grapefruit, mango to start with.
Your best bet would be dwarf varieties (I am not sure you could find a dwarf mango but pruning as a bonsai will keep it the size you can handle).
Be sure to use large as you can containers for each and a moisture monitor/tester would be nice to have.
Try automotive "drip pans" for keeping water off your floors.

don't forget this one, if you are moving trees in and out doors every year, you will need to "harden them off" the first few years, from then on, they should be ok without going through that process.

Redhawk
 
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Location: Denmark 57N
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I'm after a kaffir lime since it's the leaves that get used, but I've been successful with lemons and kumquats, also zone 7 but here we have to run a DEhumidifier all winter to keep the house under 60%! Not trees but I keep lemon grass in exactly the method you discribe putting it out for the summer (preferably in the greenhouse) and inside for the winter.
 
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