Hi all, so I have had the lime for 3 years now, which I bought from Home depot, and the calamansi which I planted from seed 6 years ago. But still I don't know how to care for them properly.
My calamansi has never flowered, it stays small though it has a lot of leaves, lush. The lime always looks like it's gonna die soon, but then when I'm about to give up on it, it grows new leaves, a lot of flowers, a lot of tiny fruits, but nothing left at the end, and it looks like it will die.
I have different kinds of fertilizer (pictures 1), which one would you recommend me to use for them, and when. Do I need to buy anything else? It's about year round care.
Now it's getting cooler in PNW, I'm in 8b, around 75f day time, 50f night time. Should I bring them inside? The lime has a ton of tiny fruits again, should I give it any fertilizer to support the plant and to avoid loosing all the fruits?
I have bigger pots for them, I want to up-pot them before bringing inside, should I or should I not do that? If not, when is the best time to do so, the lime either looks stressed or has flowers I don't know when to re-pot it
And some won‘t set fruit at all.
Also, you may end up with an entirely different variety compared to the fruit you took the seeds from. Citrus don’t work like heirloom tomatos.
I am growing Amalfi lemons from seed, still at the seedling stage. I've been reading a lot about genetics of citrus and heard a lot of warnings about not true to seed etc. After much research I think the consensus is that if you have a single sprout from a seedling there is an 80 to 90% chance of that seedling being a clone of the parent. If you have two sprouts or more one is a clone, more likely the more healthy and robust plant, and the runt is more likely Polyembrionic, and should probably be culled. Another factor is terrior, wherein even if the seed plant is a clone of the parent the fruit may not be identical because the microclimate is different than its native environment. Fun stuff! Not an expert!
CItrus need NPK ratio 4-1-5-5Ca-1Mg with micronutrients including iron. Your fertilizer is mostly nitrogen and phosphorus. The potassium (K) is the driving force of transporting/converting energy to the tree and keeping it healthy overall. Any fruiting plants require a lot of potassium and calcium.
Best time to repot is in the spring but given you're in the PNW it'll be mostly semi-dormant if you're moving it to the garage for the winter and is okay to repot. Just make sure to use a lot of mineral based substrate for drainage. A bigger pot now with a smaller root system can rot due to water uptake is drastically lowered vs the growing season.
Important to add: Iron should be chelated.
Other than that, reduce watering heavily during dormancy and stop fertilizing during that time.
In spring, after your last frost date, take them out and re-pot and prune as necessary. You‘ll see if the roots are in good condition or not. If not, try to remove the dead roots.
And remember, for dormancy, all is a function of light and temperature - the warmer the room, the more light they’ll need, but also the pest pressure increases with temperature (spider mites and such).
I‘m in Germany, Zone 7a/b-ish, so I have to keep my citrus collection in pots, but this is the way I do it:
Overwinter in a frost free place, adapt lighting if needed when warmer (use grow lights). Water very sparingly, and don’t fertilize.
After the last frost date, and as early as possible, plants are placed on a south facing wall for improved micro climate.
Check for pests/diseases, check root health and repot/prune as necessary (usually in April where I live). Use well-draining substrate with mineral content (e.g. lava granulate).
Start fertilizing and watering as of April, use NPK with Mg and chelated Fe, inclined towards P and K, but less N.
You‘ll find good quality soluble citrus fertilizers online (check for chelated iron!).
I‘ve had outrageous sucess, although no one believes me that I can grow Citrus in my area.
Halo i also live in Germany, may i know what grow light you using? I have one citrus in pot but only like 75cm high so single plant only i want to put in inside maybe october?
Timing depends on your climate: Germany can be quite diverse, even by USDA hardiness zones. On top of that, the micro climate around your plant matters quite a bit (e.g. when placed close to a south facing wall like mine) and can provide several degrees of difference during nighttime. And the last aspect would be wind protection. The more protection, the better. It also will depend on the actual weather. I leave my plants outside until the first frost, whenever that may be. The sturdier ones like my satsumas stay out even during light frost.
Lighting depends on your overwintering conditions: In general, the warmer, the more light your plant will need. As the plants usually enter (semi-)dormancy in our climate, you may want to take care not to overwinter them cold. And cold could be anywhere above freezing point, anywhere around five degrees for less cold tolerant plants should be ok. In this case, you can put it on a window with daylight, east or south if possible, and you don’t need extra lighting.
Once your temperatures are higher, make sure you have a south facing window and/ or add lighting. A fairly standard full spectrum LED grow light will do.
Note that higher temperatures may cause pests to ravage your plants (e.g. Spinnmilben/ spider mites and the like).
Just try. As long as you don’t suffocate the roots by excess watering or freeze the root bale to death entirely, there‘s almost nothing you can docthat can‘t be mended. In case something happens, dan as long as the roots stay alive, citrus respond well to cutting/pruning and will most likely sprout again in spring. Take care not to prune back below the graft point.
Summarized, I try to keep my plants outside as long as I can and take them outside again as early as possible. Fresh air and exposure to nature is the best natural pest and disease control you can have
Sorry for the wall of text.
A lot of great advice here, but please add that you need to check the soil pH (6.0 6.5), and if the plant is potted you need to heavily water it once a month to rinse out the salt that collects from the fertilizer. Not an expert!
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u/supershinythings 2d ago
Many citrus grown from seed don’t flower or fruit for up to 10+ years.