Good question, Mike :-) I know for me, growing citrus in the ground, that my grapefruits really need a lot of sun. And I grow them predominately in a protected area of my lot (backyard, south slope, protected by a large retaining wall to the north) so I can keep them as warm as possible, since I'm not very far from the ocean. Both for looks and for good fruit production. My lemons, especially my Meyer lemon seem to be pretty tolerant of less than perfect circumstances, including a little less sunshine.

Patty S.

All of my citrus trees are on the north to northwest side of my house. They all only receive sunlight after noonish. I would have to say that the calamondins are very forgiving. The moro blood orange grew very well but did not bloom for the first 4 years but appears to be doing well with that now too so I don't know if that was a lighting issue or a maturity issue. I would have to agree with Patty on the Meyers. They have been very prolific fruit bearers since planted 5 years ago. Plus they live under a southern magnolia tree and never really get full sun. The naval orange is on the NW side and also grew well but never set any fruit until this past growing season when it gave me an even dozen oranges.

In my experience, citrus do well in semi shade locations. My yard is not very sunny because of neighbors growing towering trees. But, I have close to 25 varieties of citrus in it and most get only 4-5 hours of sunlight and are in shade for the rest of the day. Never had any issues with productivity. Heat is different from shade - my yard is not cool in the summer and gets blazingly hot because of concrete pathways near my citrus, so even the grapefruits do well in my yard though they hardly get 4 hours of sunlight.

It seems that the sweeter the fruit, more heat is required. Sour fruits like lime and lemons do not need too much heat.

fj

Here is a link that might be useful: Four Winds growing chart

Mike, you never did post an answer based on your experience in the NE (and I'm still curious what your list comprises)...

For most all citrus the heat is more important than direct sun; the only problem with less sun is most take longer to reach full production. My Mother had one in Sacramento, CA that was sandwiched between the house and a wood fence and got at most 2 hours of direct sun per day; it bore lemons year round; but the sweetest were in the Summer (HEAT). My Guatemala Meyers are hedgerow planted 7 ft x 8.5 feet (between rows) N to S rows in full sun; they reach full bearing in 3 years and will produce 3-400 fruits per yaar... Macrophylla (full size) rootstock

Hey Tim:

If would have to say I am in the same exact boat as Ashley.

Outdoors I find most of my trees do very with less than 6 hours of sun.

Indoors, I find that my Calamondin, limes, and ponderosa do very well out of the full sunny windows and just placed around the plant room in light.
The Grapefruit as Patty says and my Meyer Lemons are the ones that crave for the most sunniest spot in my room all winter.

I do find that heat plays a major role on how good the fruit turns out. If they ripen by summers end, they are juicy and sweet. If they ripen at any other time, I get dry fruit, or sour fruit with lots of meat.

I do find that I get less fruit and flowering on a few of my trees without lots of sun, but extra green foliage.

I hope this helps.

Mike

I recently procured a Variegated Flying Dragon and a Variegated Owari Satsuma.

The expert who sold them to me advised that all Variegated plants do better in lower light. I have them in dappled shade and they seem content.

New to this forum and wanted to pop on and say hello to Mike and Josh and everyone:) Mike is getting me started in citrus..like I need another plant addiction..LOL

This topic is a great one since I will have to bring mine in the house for the winter were I live in zone 5.

Mary

How well do citrus trees handle drastic temperature changes? For example right now in SE Washington where I live it's 94 during the day and 55 at night.

Greetings, Mary!
Mike got another citrus convert, eh? ;-0

Matty, your temps are practically the same as mine right now.
Citrus do fine with these swings during the growing season. During the Winter,
however, it's best to moderate the temperatures. For example, you want to avoid
overheating the leaves in the sun while the container/soil is still very cool.

Josh

Hey Josh..yep Mike is trying to make get another addiction..LOL

I admit I am addicted and my life has become unmanagable..LOL

So what the heck, why not citrus also.

On that note, I was wondering if somthing like a kumquat could be grown in the house during winter months and still be healthy with the diminished light?

Mary(with all the new stupid questions)

And it worked too..lol..

You won't be sorry once you can pick your own fresh fruit, smell those wonderful fragrant flowers, and see the rewards of your hard work!

You can keep these trees any size you want and grow them outside or in. They are also easy to keep pest free and don't require much work once you get the hang of it.

Kumquat is a great choice from what I hear. Ponderosa have always been troopers for me since the day I first started.

There is no such thing as stupid questions here unless you ask one like"Is it ok to leave my tree outside in a snow storm?lol

Mike

how do I keep scale off of my citrus?

LOWER LIGHT LEVEL GROWING

Steve

[Help! How can I kill scale without using more neem oil[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/help-how-can-i-kill-scale-without-using-more-neem-oil-dsvw-vd~5186463?n=38)

Steve

Steve, you better stop right now, lol...

I would use Synthetic OIl for a 100k Corvette..That might do the trick!

Massagebyjora, seriously, here is a thread that should help you quite a bit...Please, click on the link below...

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5186463/help-how-can-i-kill-scale-without-using-more-neem-oil?n=28

I seem to have better luck with limes inside the house with low light level, I have been using 2 5k lumen LED strip lights to supplement. This is my Persian lime the lower branch in that picture grew over this winter inside the house it's about 20 inches of new growth.

Cory, LOVE the color of that one and the looks too! I'll bet I am going to get one too just for that. Does it flower and are they very fragrant? It's my next one if I get a yes on both fronts..lol

Love that pot too. Where the heck did you get that pot?

Myermike, yes it flowers although it has not this year, last year I got a few limes and lots of flowers. The pot was from Lowe's I think.

THIS ONE DOES OK IN SHADE TOO

COUNT ME IN TOO

I FLUNKED THE LOW LIGHT TEST

Steve

This is a great resurrected thread! I've found that most all of my citrus prefers life in an understory mode. Heat and moisture is loved, but hot dry blazing sun causes grief.

I’m just trying to figure this out. I have four lime trees, one meyer lemon, and a meiwa kumquat that need to be brough inside for zone 7b. Which need the list and least light? and How about bright indirect sunlightv

For me it does't make much difference, citrus grow well with a lot of sun but like it better if the temps don't exceed 95*.

When fruits get sunkissed they tend to be sweeter. In my case i don't think i can beat California for growing citrus, so if you are growing citrus somewhere else or partial shade, you got 2 strikes against you.

My stuff taste pretty good, i must say, neighbors and friends likes my stuff alot. So, do i care, NO!

For inside, I have none of the ones you have but the Meyer, but I am going to say they all need a great sunny window if you are going to keep them at room temps. The Meyer will probably fuss with less light levels more than the others, but if kept in a very cool room like say below 60 degrees, mines all do just fine. The Meyer don't like it but they hang on.

Bob, I hope all is well for you these days and I am not sure if freezing temps have hit you yet, but I hope your trees are all safely tucked away in that huge nice room you have there. A recent picture is in order)

Mike

Bob, holy crap! Ill bet it either smells good in there because of blossoms or will soon. You did a great job. And it seems like room to walk and lots of bright lights. Wow, you are right, those trees are already singing a chorus. Can't you see the notes above the canopies? ha Nice Bob. Just set up a little table for yourselves and read a book, drink something nice. Even a recording of birds on a wireless stereo might make you feel tropical.

Mike

Impressive, Bob!

Hi all, very interesting comments regarding citrus and light. I work with Asian citrus psyllid and citrus greening disease. My observations over the past 10 years suggests that infected citrus in lower light situations does better than infected citrus in open sunlight. I've seen this effect in Vietnam in citrus growing under guava trees, in Florida where citrus is growing under oak trees, and in other situations. Maybe growers can capitalize on this.

Hi Mike, I haven’t checked in for a long while, but thought I’d respond... I grow my Meiwa kumquat in West windows, zone 7A (SE NY) in gritty mix - it never goes outside. Fertilize with Foliage Pro. For extra light on rainy days (lol, like this entire Fall ?) and in winter, I use a fish tank light hood with Zoo Med “Ultra Sun” bulbs and just lay it across the top of the pot, the leaves are uplit. The tree is ending its 3rd year in gritty mix. It’s time (likely past time?) to go from a 12” pot to a 14”. I came back today to research lighter weight soil options and maybe get some input about root pruning? Instead I discovered something called a New Zealand Lemon! Been indecisive about a 2nd citrus tree until now...but ordered a NZL from FW and fingers are crossed! My Meiwa is recovering from spider mites (so a little sparse) it was entirely insect -free until contaminated by a new plant (lesson learned) and lost its immature kumquats in late Spring. Treated with Castile soap and water sprays in the shower every few days and now, once a month as a preventative. It has about 20 new tiny kumquats on it...strange that it flowered that much since it’s the Fall...so we’ll see how they do through winter in the window...hopefully they‘ll be ready to eat in July! At night in winter I move the tree away from the window because it can get pretty cold in that spot, but the sunroom itself stays above 55 degrees - Mary (mandarin1)

Among my trees, Calamondins have tolerated lower light levels longer the best, Meyer lemons the worst.