They are trees, shouldnt be indoors in the summer, certainly NOT in the sun, even the winter, read Monty Don he says DONT put them in your conservatory, even in winter., they dont "naturally" loose their leaves in winter, only if it goes below 10d, mine are usally kept in unheated greenhouse, covered with fleece when frost is forcast, in winter, this last winter, they were all put in a heated greenhouse, because the cold was extreme, we had 2 nights of minus 12, unheard of here 10 minutes from the sea. They need a lot of water and spraying daily, you cannot do this indoors anyway.
Not everyone has the room to have a tree in a greenhouse, not everyone has a greenhouse! Yes growing conditions are not perfect, but should that stop everyone from growing things! I wanted something evergreen and slow growing for my conservatory, that could take temperature down to 5°C but liked the warmth in summer, not an easy ask. Yes we have had problems lime and I but it is a very forgiving thing, it hated the greenhouse, didn't like outside and sulked in the shade, but we have come to an understanding, through hard times I will look after it and it rewards me with growth, this is the tree two weeks later, even after record temperatures.
Thanks Purplerallim i don’t have a greenhouse or the space, they were outside & died back every winter in the UK, new shoots came the next spring but that’s it & they got eaten to pieces, so last year I took cuttings & brought them indoors, one is doing fine, one isn’t. I check the soil daily & if dry I water them, I do also spray them so quite easy indoors really. I’ll carry on & hopefully find a compromise like Purplerallim has 👍 all my other house plants have found their own & this one will to, I just have to be patient & watch what the plant tells me
Of course I know not everyone has a greenhouse, they can be overwintered in sheds/garages, thick bubble wrap near a house wall.( yes I know maybe lots of people dont have them,) gosh your conservatory gets cold 5d, they will loose their leaves below 10d.monty a lot os sites say to store your spuds in a cellar, I dont have a seller, they have to go in the spare bedroom in those special light excluding bags, not very attractive.silly question milly, how do you spray them inside? I have about 20 orchids I put them in the bath twice a week to spray, I cant spray them on the wooden tables, or windows cills.nothing should stop you trying to grwo what you want, but there is a saying "right plant,right place", some people will be lucky and manage to grow woodland plants in full sun
I don't mind if the window/sill/ conservatory floor gets wet, its just a way to wash them. Surely if the plant was put in a garage or shed it would die from lack of light. Our plants all come from Spain which has a hotter drier climate usually than ours but not as low wet, so keeping them is problematic, size does become an issue as a lot of gardeners are not equipped to move /cover a full sized tree. So keeping the tree smaller bonsai it if you will, is our option so we can grow this lovely plant.
My window cill are stained wood, all the floors are laminate, the TV and furniture right near it, you cant get them wet.Our grapefruit is about 4 fee high by 4 feet spread, I dont think too many people have really big citrus trees. Where we lived before we moved here, only 30 miles away, (more inpland) one of our neighbours had a lemon about 6 feet high planted in her garden, and she never covered it or anything, course that was 7 years ago, so I dont know if it survived this last winter.If you kept them bonsai small I dont think you would get fruit. Last year I made marmalade from the Calamondin for Christmas presents.
But at 4ft your grapefruit is bonsai as these grow to 25ft. Do you take it into a greenhouse over winter. My 3ft lime bonsai is almost too big for two of us to move now. I have been picking limes from it every month for two years now, so keeping it small has not affected it. Bonsai means restricting growth of both limb and root so a lot of plants of various sizes could be called bonsai.
Hello nanny ny citrus aren’t very big so i use a water spray in the kitchen sink, for my orchids I use the bath but I must admit I don’t spray my orchids as much as I should & I don’t have problems but they are dendrobiums, one plant is now 9 as it produced lots of keiki - it is quite a chore keeping in top of them all & figuring out whats wrong at times cos I have to move them around sometimes - it’s my own fault cos I keep taking cuttings off everything or, like my succulents, lots of new plants are springing up 😊
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i don’t have a greenhouse or the space, they were outside & died back every winter in the UK, new shoots came the next spring but that’s it & they got eaten to pieces, so last year I took cuttings & brought them indoors, one is doing fine, one isn’t. I check the soil daily & if dry I water them, I do also spray them so quite easy indoors really.
I’ll carry on & hopefully find a compromise like Purplerallim has 👍 all my other house plants have found their own & this one will to, I just have to be patient & watch what the plant tells me
ny citrus aren’t very big so i use a water spray in the kitchen sink, for my orchids I use the bath but I must admit I don’t spray my orchids as much as I should & I don’t have problems but they are dendrobiums, one plant is now 9 as it produced lots of keiki - it is quite a chore keeping in top of them all & figuring out whats wrong at times cos I have to move them around sometimes - it’s my own fault cos I keep taking cuttings off everything or, like my succulents, lots of new plants are springing up 😊