For several years I kept 2 6-8' trees in a south facing sunroom in the winter. The past 2 years I've kept those 2 trees in the same sunroom and provided supplemental fluorescent lights and I've seen dramatic improvement - strong new growth on both of them both years.

The problem with fluorescents (I'm using t5) and *large* trees is that you really do have to keep them pretty close to the plants and they don't have good penetration. This means that when (if) you prune them to come in for the winter you want to keep a large surface area near the top to get the most out of the lights.

I'm sure you could use any kind of t5 but I'm using the ones from Sunleaves - the 8 bulb fixtures - these each draw about 432 watts.

If your trees are smaller than my large trees then you will see what I consider *incredible* improvement if you put one of these lights over, say, a 2-4' tree and keep it as close to the canopy as you can without burning the leaves. The heat on these fixtures is at the end (where the ballast is) otherwise the only heat comes from the light itself, you can get these within a few inches with no problem.

The 4' persian lime I have growing under one of these has put out about 8" of new growth on each branch so far over the winter. The washington navel decided to put out about 400 blossoms in lieu of new growth in the same time period. I should note that both of these trees (and more) are in a basement with a *northeast* facing window - ie: they get very little natural light in the winter. All of this growth is driven by the 8 lamp t5 fixture (I keep buying more of these when I have the money).

Plants that are closer to windows or in sunrooms will do better than plants in the middle of the house - it's not just the additional light it's also the temperature fluctuations and the cool hours that they need.

If your plants aren't above 6' in height and you have the money to buy a fixture and a timer (and pay for the electricity) then I think you will be very pleased with the results of t5s. Just make sure to keep fertilizing and keep mites and scale in check. The biggest problem I have with my trees in the winter is that I lose natural predators and scale and mites become serious issues.

I also forgot to specifically mention, though it is probably clear, that if you buy a fixture you also want to buy some way to raise and lower the fixture. If you get the good growth you want then you will need to raise it a few inches every few weeks and I can't stress enough that these need to be *close* to the plants (unlike HID). If you spend 250$ and get an 8 lamp fixture and put it 2 feet or more above your tree then you are just basically wasting money.

Hey Tanksalot!

From a New England point of view....Don't do a thing differently than what you are doing! PERFECT!

As long as the tree is holding on well, do not encourage new growth, especially with lights. You are going to open the door for pest invasion and spindly weak winter growth, which pest's by the way are very attracted to.

By the time your tree starts to put out new growth, it will be length of day and natural sun induced light which will be just in time to put new growth out and not have to deal with pest or weak growth. Your trees will also take very kindly, easier to the outdoors and sunlight.

The fact that your tree or trees are/is not dying and in a south facing windows is just right. My sister is in the same position as you encouraged by me, and they are in heaven with healthy citrus trees as we speak. In fact, all of them are still green, holding on to their fruits, in dabbled light south facing windows pest free for the first time in years.

Enjoy and watch the tree reward you with wonderful healthy growth once the days are longer, sun stronger, and the doors and windows can be opened once again.

Hi Redshirtcat:-)

Do you love this insane wind? Unbelievable! And to think it was 65 yesterday and now 19 with 50 mile per hour winds, I am shocked that my pop up greenhouse has not blown away by now.

If you need pictures of my trees in the same exact conditions as you, I can always post a few to encourage you even further:-)
If they were not in South, West or East facing windows, then this would be a whole different story.

Mike

Hey Mike - Thanks (again) for all of the advice in other places in this forum. You certainly know more than I do about citrus and certainly plants in general.

I believe I've had good luck with my plants under lights - here are some photographs to give you an idea of what happens to mine. These can all be clicked through to see larger versions and downloaded from there to see even larger versions. The light green growth is all new and under cool white fluorescents. Some of the dark green is as well - it does darken up even under the lights but it takes maybe 1 month or so before it does. Check the comments in the album for more info:

Persian Lime
{{gwi:562954}}From Citrus under lights

Closeup of transition from old to new growth (ie: sun growth to lights)
{{gwi:562956}}From Citrus under lights

Further up that same branch, closeup:
{{gwi:562958}}From Citrus under lights

At the tops:
{{gwi:562960}}From Citrus under lights

Bearss lime with new and old growth and branches visible, closeup:
{{gwi:562963}}From Citrus under lights

A little wider shot:
{{gwi:562965}}From Citrus under lights

I dunno if this is considered spindly growth? I thought it looked pretty good. There are some that are doing even better but they are harder for me to get to - maybe next time I pull everything out to spray it I will try to get you some good wide angle shots and closeups of the washington navel and etc.

Please excuse the white spray everywhere... trying to control the mites and scale I mentioned before. Oh - I should also note that at least in my case all of the scale is on the old growth as well - almost none of it was on the new (no idea why) - the spider mites though seemed to be everywhere - the day after I sprayed for them and picked off thousands of scale the plants looked much healthier and the new growth really took off.

Hey Redshirtcat! Your trees look fantastic!

I can tell you that at once, I too use to use the lights as you and enjoyed lot's of growth and flowers too all winter. But I also had to deal with pests as you mentioned, not to say a much larger electric bill, and I just got to tired with it. Not only did they infect my trees, but all my other houseplants too. This was years ago, before I knew what I know of these plants now and how to prevent infestations. I have never given it a chance to this day though. I don't think I am willing to take the chance either.

It use to be that I would have to spray dozens of plants ail winter long with pesticides and oils, and I couldn't put up with it anymore. There were many citrus I had that did fantastic new growth, and then some with spindly growth, and these were what the mites loved the most.
I also had a hard time getting the lights close enough to the trees as I wanted since I had many of different sizes.
The light had to be just right and strong enough to do a good job at growing good growth and you certainly have it figured out! Great job.

I just chose to save myself the expense of lights and time it took to keep pets away, and all the headaches along with it just for a couple of months of growth.

As it stands now, I still have lots of buds and flowers, green plants, but just not the huge amount of new growth, although I am still starting to get some, in which mites and others have nothing to forage on..

Once again, I think you are doing a great job with the lights and added growth, and I hope you don't get tired of keeping up with it as I did.
Some are willing to in order to enjoy what you are and I at one time did.
Maybe it might of be different if I only had a couple of trees.

You can still have healthy vibrant trees with flowers even without the added possible headaches.

Have a great night and thanks for sharing. You gave great advice for anyone that wants to "continue" lots of active growth. The way light is provided was addressed and hopefully many can mimic what you have done if they choose to do so. Now to get rid of those buggers!:-)

Don't be surprised if any of your trees shed the leaves grown under lights once the outdoor sunlight gets to them. They will be replaced with a whole new set of leaves and growth if so.

Mike

"As it stands now, I still have lots of buds and flowers, green plants, but just not the huge amount of new growth, although I am still starting to get some, in which mites and others have nothing to forage on.."

I meant to say..........

As it stands now, I still have lot's of buds and flowers, green plants, but not the huge amount of new growth due to artificial lights, although I am still starting to get new growth with increased sunlight levels from this time of the year, in which mites and other pests possibly like to forage on.

Lol. I am very tired but bored at the same time. So I hope the rest of my post makes sense and my spelling errors are overlooked.

Have a great night all:-)

Redshirtcat mentioned the need to adjust the florescent lights as the plants grow. We have suspended the florescent lights on chains attached to the ceiling. They are adjustable by hooking an "S" hook into the links of the chain in two places. The farther apart the links used are, the higher the florescent lights hang. You probably do not want to do this in your main living quarters. Mine is hung in the utility room and a friend has hers hanging from her basement ceiling floor joists. Hope this helps.

Cath

Hey guys and gal?

Here are a few pics of some citrus that share the window. Many just get a couple hours or two indirect and direct sun, and then just light. As you can see, many plants are sitting off to the sides of the window, while only two of them enjoy direct sun in the middle.
If I were to keep the temps in this room into the mid seventies and higher, I would have to use lights and expect possible pests too. No thanks..lol
All are doing ok.

I would have to say that a having them in a gritty mix, lack of pests, and better watering habits have made it possible for me to keep them healthy despite the unneeded lights now.

The temps in this room never sink below the 60's and never go above 72 degrees, although days time temps are getting warmer in there now about this time of the year.

It was 65 in this room when I took these pictures this morning. These are the plants I use to use lights on along with the sunlight or lack there of for some. It seems that no lights are needed and I am still getting quite a bit of growth with lengthening days.
I wish they were bigger windows, but that is not possible at this time:(

Have a great day:-)

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tanksalot: I agree with Meyermike that you shouldn't worry, and investing in lights would be a bit of an overreaction unless you really want to go down that route.

My citrus trees can often go dormant for months even in the southern window sunlight some of them get, but by March they all seem to grow almost inevitably. One way to get them started though, if you want to, is to do a bit of trimming.

One more thing to at least be aware of is that grafted citrus, as I would guess your dwarf trees are, can behave differently depending on the rootstock they are grafted to. My understanding is that Trifoliate orange rootstock delays growth when the trees are planted outside, so I wouldn't be surprised if it could do the same indoors.

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. Although I have the lights already, (from a failed reef aquarium passion), I believe I'll simplify my life and simply enjoy my trees for what they are and where they are. Sometimes "less is more", and the older I get the more the wisdom of that becomes apparent. These bright pre-spring days will make the trees respond soon enough. Thanks again!
Tanksalot