I live in NY but for some reason think i am entitled to try and grow citrus and other tropical fruits in NY.

i bought a washington orange and a tangerine tree two years ago. last winter i brought the trees indoors, with a cheap fluroscent grow light and placed them next to a window which got about 3 hours of light a day. Having the trees in our living room and having the light visible from outside annoyed my wife, and the trees were not too happy with the mediocre light situation either- plus they were also attacked by some type of gross white wooly squishy pesticide resistant bug (which i think arrive via a gardenia plant). By the time it was warm enough to take the citrus back outdoors, they had lost most of their leaves though they still had about 3 fruit on the trees which were promptly eaten by the local squirrels. not sure if the trees lost their leaves from inadequate lighting, the bugs, or the frequent bouts of pesticide or some combination of all 3.

so this year i bought a proper 800w super spectrum lighting system and have turned a small room in the basement into a greenhouse of sorts.

dont know whether it was a concidence or not but within a week of bringing the trees indoors and placing them under the superspectrum lights, one of the 2 citrus trees began an incredible growth spurt and has about 200 blossoms on it. the second citrus tree, about 2 weeks later, is also just beginning a growth spurt, though it looks like it will not be quite as energetic and i cant tell yet whether it will include blossoms. here are some pics. the other plants in the pics are a long suffering camelia plant which has spent several years in NY winters that almost kill it each year, and a young lychee tree which i bought last year and since losing all of its leaves on arrival via ups, has grown a new set and is doing nicely under the grow lights.

ive forgotten which of my citrus trees is the orange and which is tangerine, so if anyone can identify that for me, it will save me waiting till the fruit begin to ripen.

lychee tree

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lychee tree

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citrus blossoms

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indoor greenhouse

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citrus blossom- orange or tangerine?

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citrus tree- orange or tangerine?

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a zillion blossoms

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