LarryG
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 17, 2006 4:22 pm

Dwarf Citrus Help?

Hi,
Need a little help,
for the past several years, I have been trying to grow
several Dwarf Citrus tree. They do fine outside, but
when I bring them in for the winter, most of the time
they will not make it to the following summer.. I have
a severe problem with leaf-drop. Eventually the plants
die. I live in Northern Illinois, so leaving them out
side to over winter is not an option. Trees are watered
when the soil gets dry. fertilized every other month,
humidity in the house is around 50% or so, plants are
in a sun porch that stays at around 70 - 74 degrees day
and night. The plants get some direct sun, but mostly indirect.
Keeping them alive and even eventually fruiting has become a challenge. Could itbe that they (oranges, lemons, limes) are not getting
enough light? If so, what would be better LPS or MV
additional lighting? If so, what wattage??

Thanks,

Larry G...

The Helpful Gardener
Mod
Posts: 7491
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2004 9:17 pm
Location: Colchester, CT

Lighting could be it, and watering "when dry" might not be helping (watch the FLorida weather and water when it rains there... :lol: unless it's flooding :( ) . And leaf drop is usually temperature fluctuation so going from baking in a hot window to very cool that night might be a lot of the problem...

I can't say I've done enough homework to say between mercury vapor or low pressure sodium, but the two lights look so different to me that I suspect both of them might be useful to different parts of the spectrum. Green is the only color light that won't grow plants...if I was to pick one I'd go MV for the lums...

Scott



Return to “All Other Fruit”