Our Citrus Trees--Indoors Seasonally

We have three knee-high mini citrus trees that I have to keep indoors in the winter, and I take them outside again mid-March, where they stay in the driveway until the beginning of November! Moving them is a mini ritual that makes me really happy, leading me to mindful gratitude for fruit trees that are beautiful and very productive.

We have had a Calamondin orange for almost two years, a Limequat (Key Lime/Kumquat hybrid) for three years, and Meyer Lemon for two. So these plants have successfully lived for that many winters inside in front of our huge glass back wall that faces south ("old" windows from the 1980s that let all those good UV rays shine on them for 6+ hours).

The Meyer Lemon harvest last October led to a legendary frozen pie that we all rave about: a lemon mascarpone thing my mother made. Better than the best frozen key lime pie I have ever had--I cannot wait until the next harvest! The Meyer lemon is an indoor air purifier

We get two harvests a year from our Limequat, and make our own delicious limequat-ade in the winter with those tiny things.

The Calamondin is something we bought just because it looked nice and we like having citrus trees on our urban homestead. Still have to come up with something useful to do with their lovely but bitter little fruits.

It's thrilling to us: they all three bloom in December/January next to the Christmas tree, and we use my daughter's paintbrushes to pollinate them. It always amuses us, and it has always worked. We only have one of each tree, so I guess they self-pollinate well, and  they live in their pots always. They are so easy and wonderful, with their greenness and their amazing blossoms that fill our living room with the most wonderful scent in the winter. It's just pure magic to have them!

one of my dreams is still to build a winterized greenhouse. Kind of like the citrus in the snow guy (Russ Finch in Nebraska) or a wofati!  

I actually started 2 lemon trees from seed in pots this year. I had them living on the front porch and had hoped that the warmth seeping out of the house would be enough to keep them in our climate.

Alas, weather here shifts over time due to a bunch of factors, and we're clearly heading into a colder decade. Many people with borderline plants for their zone which have been encouraged/publicized for permaculture use, lost them last winter. So my plans will clearly be insufficient! I almost lost one of them and the other got a nip, but they're both putting out new growth. My long term plan was to try to espalier them close to the ground in some sort of a heat trap, but with the current signs of extreme cold snaps, I believe I will need more than just that. I've got some ideas kicking around in my head, but more outside-the-box ideas are welcome!

Jay Angler wrote:I actually started 2 lemon trees from seed in pots this year. I had them living on the front porch and had hoped that the warmth seeping out of the house would be enough to keep them in our climate.

My mother-in-law has started lemons from seed and had them live for years, but they have never flowered. I wonder if yours will? I hope so!

Calomondin’s make the best marmalade! Which I then use to make cream cheese icing, add to banana bread … ♥️

We started lemon from 2 favorite dwarf trees from the fruits seed as a learning experience for our granddaughters who home school.   We sold and gave away 50 plants 1½feet tall.
I am good friends with one of the gals that took 5 of each..
Recently she made me go look and I was pleasantly awed at how they were doing.
Nearly 4 feet  tall at 2½ years old with thick growth... but the most amazing part was all the flowers.
There were so many I showed her how to thin a bit so she gets amazing fruit.
She gave me a bunch of the fruit as thanks.   They were sooo juicy and delicious 😋
You can do it 💪

For those who want to move their citrus trees further northwards this article  which quotes Kris Decker  is well worth a read.

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2020-05-15/fruit-trenches-cultivating-subtropical-plants-in-freezing-temperatures/     It shows how the Russians moved each generation of citrus trees further north and the strategies they used for very cold winter times. Trenches being one main tool.  Training the trees at a few inches high is another successful option.  Old photos in the article show how it was done

Rachel Lindsay wrote:We have three knee-high mini citrus trees that I have to keep indoors in the winter, and I take them outside again mid-March, where they stay in the driveway until the beginning of November! Moving them is a mini ritual that makes me really happy, leading me to mindful gratitude for fruit trees that are beautiful and very productive.

We have had a Calamondin orange for almost two years, a Limequat (Key Lime/Kumquat hybrid) for three years, and Meyer Lemon for two. So these plants have successfully lived for that many winters inside in front of our huge glass back wall that faces south ("old" windows from the 1980s that let all those good UV rays shine on them for 6+ hours).

The Meyer Lemon harvest last October led to a legendary frozen pie that we all rave about: a lemon mascarpone thing my mother made. Better than the best frozen key lime pie I have ever had--I cannot wait until the next harvest! The Meyer lemon is an indoor air purifier

We get two harvests a year from our Limequat, and make our own delicious limequat-ade in the winter with those tiny things.

The Calamondin is something we bought just because it looked nice and we like having citrus trees on our urban homestead. Still have to come up with something useful to do with their lovely but bitter little fruits.

It's thrilling to us: they all three bloom in December/January next to the Christmas tree, and we use my daughter's paintbrushes to pollinate them. It always amuses us, and it has always worked. We only have one of each tree, so I guess they self-pollinate well, and  they live in their pots always. They are so easy and wonderful, with their greenness and their amazing blossoms that fill our living room with the most wonderful scent in the winter. It's just pure magic to have them!

It’s great to see that so many people get as much pleasure out of their citrus trees as I do. This is a video I made about my lemon trees for another project. In about 7 years of having them they haven’t born fruit, but have flowered a little:

I've a Poncirus trifoliata, Citrus relative. Really hardy, survives in Cheshire UK. 2-inch thorns, pretty flowers at Easter, fruits - er, well, small and with more pith than segments. But incredible for adding that bitter orange flavour - I use the whole fruit, less the pips for propagation. I use it in combination with that hardy and reliable Chaenomeles speciosa (flowering quince), which is sour with great pectin.