OVER WINTERING POTTED LIME AND LEMON TREES INDOORS! THERE MUST BE A TRICK THAT I DON’T KNOW ABOUT.
WATER
My once beautiful full lime tree is slowly becoming a straggly version of It’s former self. If you’ve followed me over the years you know I can grow anything outdoors but when it comes to indoor plants I have a brown thumb.
I had such high hopes for my lemon and lime trees though. They get moved outside every summer, and I truly neglect them, and bring them back inside for the cold months. Every year I somehow manage to keep them alive but they don’t seem to be making progress in the right direction.
FERTILIZE
Just keeping them alive isn’t enough in my opinion. I keep them watered; I fertilize, give them plenty of sunlight next to a window but look at this pitiful tree. It’s shrinking in my care and not in a good way like shrinking from a diet. If I could only figure out how to do this with my weight I’d be famous.
The first year I had the lime tree (the photo of it outdoors) it had hundreds of blossoms on it and produced quite a few limes. I brought it in at the end of the season and as I watched it over the months I assumed I’d killed it. All it’s leaves fell off so I decided maybe it was root bound and needed a bigger pot.
REPOT
Pots are impossible to find in store in the winter months here in Michigan, but I did find this huge terra cotta one at Walmart, so I grabbed it. I went home and transplanted and fertilized the tree thinking it would make it’s come back but no such luck.
I had nothing to lose so I gave it a good haircut. I cut all the dead branches back thinking maybe it would start produce new shoots again. Mind you I had no idea what I was doing but it sounded logical to me. Then for the rest of the winter I left it alone and only watered it when the soil dried out.
When spring rolled around once again I put the lemon and lime trees back outside and followed my normal routine of letting Mother Nature take its course with her watering schedule. So I basically neglected them all summer long and slowly new leaves started appearing.
PONDER
Back inside for the winter once again and the lemon tree is doing the same thing the lime tree did its first year. This time I’ve just continued to water the lemon tree and guess what, it all died off and now it’s getting new leaves again. I’m sadendd by there appearance but there’s nothing I can do.
If this continues year after year those darn trees will never grow and produce again. Does anyone have any advice for me? I’m clearly not cut out for carrying for citrus trees (insert sad face here).
I’ve never been able to grown one either. Same thing happens to me. I think we live in the wrong part of the country – winters too long and too dependent on furnace heat.
Pat mine always seems to bloom at the wrong time too. Mines got blossoms on it right now. Maybe I should just give up and give it to someone who has a green thumb.
The trick may be to bring them in a little earlier. I put mine in the South side, don’t fertilize, but water weekly. I do get buds, but they fall off.
Lillian, interesting I hadn’t thought of bringing it in earlier. I normally wait until it’s going to frost before I bring it in. Mine has blossoms on it right now and it normally fruits, it just keeps getting smaller. LOL.
If your watering from the top try to water from the bottom in the saucer.
Bonnie I’d never thought of that. Yes I water from the top, I’ll have to give your method a try and see if that’s the trick. Good idea!
I have a tree that I got when our grandson died and almost lost it until someone said to watering in the saucer. You should see it now its huge.
Bonnie, I’m going to try that and see if that helps. Thanks for the tip “)