Hi Nate....

Can I ask a few questions first?

What kind of mix are they all in now? Do you have wooden dowels? How many plants will share the same window? How much sun do you get in hours in those windows? How big are the windows? What temps will you keep your room at if more than one room? Do you have a room that can get sunlight, be be left unheated as compared to the rest of the apartment?
Do you have fans that can blow air from the floor up..? I think Target sells tons. That is where I got mine as of last week.

What you want to do is prepare, prepare, prepare..Lights will be a factor depending on what you provide for me in my questions...

So to reiterate.

You'll need wooden dowels, A soilless mix that drains well, is not compacted, and dries out rather quickly. A floor fan. Maybe a room that you can keep cool. Kneem oil or FE to treat plants before they come in. Possibly lights depending on the temps.. Humidity is the last thing to worry about if the room will be kept cool..

Let me know, ok...

Mike..:-)

Thanks to you, my plants are thriving in the 5:1:1 mix. I have plenty of wooden dowels that i just bought. I have a big sliding glass door window that probably wont have much use in the winter so I was planning on putting them there. (I haven't moved into the apartment yet and haven't seen it since June but I will move in two weeks)

As far as temperatures, my roommate recently told me the house will be cool since he didnt make enough money this summer to heat it lol.

I don;t haev fans that blow from the floor up, actually haven;t really even heard much of those. And not sure what Kneem oil is or FE.....

Nate

Hey Nate...I am happy you are just about prepared..If I was to say what the most important thing is, I would say your mix and those dowels..lol

Let me see if I can find the Neem I am talking about...

Here you go..Hope this link works..

http://www.wormsway.com/results.aspx?t=prod&search=neem%20oil&cat=all&AC=1

FE just means Fish Emulsion...I spray my plants down every week or two with it to keep the pests away...Last year when I brought the ones in treated on a regular basis, I had nothing on them. The ones I forgot to treat came in with mites, thrips, and spider mites, which brings me to the Neem oil..Once those pests are brought inside, it can take desperate measure to rid them and Neem does the trick..It killed all the mealy bugs my trees caught from my work that all their plants were infested with..

The other trick was a fan blowing the undersides of the leaves...IT WORKED..If I was a pest, I don't think I would like wind blowing on me consistenly, especially if the room was cool, and I guess they didn't like it either..Once I treated my plants, with bugs with the Neem, the fans kept them awaythe rest of the winter..I had them blowing upwards under the plants while they sat on a table and the floor..

The fans I got look like table fans, small and black, sold at Target..Let me see..Here is the exact ones I bought..

http://www.target.com/s?keywords=Fans&searchNodeID=1038576%7C1287991011&ref=sr_bx_1_1&x=0amp;y=0

I am happy your plants are doing well with the mixes you are using..Wait until the winter, the true test..Then you will think your wooden dowels are your best friends next to the soil mix..lol..You will eventually get the hang of watering with them though..Funny, overtime I believed my mix was dry with finger testing and a moisture meter, the dowels told me otherwise..

Nate Yw..I am always happy to help you? How is school by the way?

Mike..:-)

I'm still unsure as to what to do myself. This will be the first year I've tried to overwinter more than one tree. Last year my calamondin ripened 30 or so fruit during the winter but lost a fair amount of leaves.

My trees will be kept infront of a very large south facing window in our living room. Temps are probably 65 or so, with 8 hours of sunlight in the winter. 5 indirect, 3 direct. I'm guessing the winter leaf drop occurred because the roots were cold but the leaves were hot. Would that be enough light for me to be able to heat the roots? I won't be able to provide extra lighting or to cool the room, really. And this is the only place I can keep them. Any advice?

Hi Zecowsay,

I can't imagine anything causing your leaves to drop with that amount of light and temps except for watering problems...Did you make absolutely sure that your mix was almost dry to the bottom before you watered last year? How did you check it?

The only reason anytime my calamondin ever dropped leaves in previous years was due to overwatering. This is one plant that does not like any soil mix damp for extended periods of time anytime, especially with much less sunlight...

If your temps were hovering around 65-70, then that is enough sunlight. There are plenty friends of mine in the area that grow them at those temps with probably smaller windows than you and have no leaf drop..If anything, they will not bloom as much, or give as much fruit, but the leaves should stay on and green all winter At least this as been my experience...:-)

I would not heat the roots unless you plan on warmer temps and at least 14 hours of light...If you do provide all that extra light, then be prepared to deal with pests on on the new flushes of growth you might force for the winter..

Mike..:-)

Well this is looking promising, I have a fan that will work pretty well and it looks like all i need is neem oil and FE. I see that the FE is sometimes doubling as a fertilizer, is this what you are spraying with or is there like a special product of FE that you use?

Classes dont start until the 23rd so I have only had to worry about buying books and getting ready yo move in. Can you believe that if I wanted to get my book through the school and get the optional ones as well as the required, that it would cost me over $1500? it's just crazy.

Nate

Hi Nate.

Yes I am spraying my plants with Fish Emulsion. Personally I don't use the stuff to fertilize container plants since I don't believe that it even feeds anything in a pot properly, or through leaves of certain plants, such as citrus...Well, maybe a minute bit..This one is debatable and I don't go there..lol

So that is why I stick to my fertilizer regimend in which FE has no bearing..

School will be here before you know it and my God, I can't believe what they make you pay for books....Maybe come spring, if you save your pennies long enough, you might even be able to but another tree...:-)

Mike

Mike,

I figured the FE wasn't a good fertilizer from reading about it online but it sounds like for disease control it is pretty good.

And ya, I decided to get books online and not buy all the ones that are recommended and not required so hopefully i can stay in the $500 range.

And funny you mention another tree, I am having a hard enough time as it is not to get a tree right now. I found menlo growers online and they have pretty big trees that are decently priced but I have no clue how they are as a seller. I really need to wait to see how much room I have in my apartment but the waiting is the hard part lol

Nate

Hi, Nate. Where abouts are you? I see you're a zone 5-er too. I figured I'd mention I found a bunch of citrus at Lowes today. They are tiny, but they're trifoliate grafted so they'll make good container plants. Only $10. I came home with two Washington Navels. Never thought I'd find citrus in Upstate ny, especially this late in the season. Had my hopes up around May but had given up on finding any by now. So I figured if I could find them someone else could too. Oh, and sorry for stealing your thread. :p I just thought I'd ask Mike here instead of making a new thread. Hope you don't mind.

Thanks for the info, Mike. Looking back I think my problems were poor soil, too big a pot and never knowing when to water. Hopefully the gritty mix, wooden dowels and perfect sized pots will help me this year.

Hey Zecowsay,

I live in North Idaho, so i little ways away. It was strange I found a whole mess of citrus trees at lowes and home depot this year. Even some five gallon moro's for $30. Those were back in early june i believe. I would have gotten one but I already bought a few online after checking those stores in may and finding none.

And don;t worry about the thread, makes no difference to me, especially when i might learn something from it.

Nate

Also, on a sidenote, can someone tell me if this is sunburn or a mineral deficiency?

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: leaf

Hi Nate..

How often are you fertilizing and how much and with what?

If it is not a fertilizer problem, then it actually looks burnt from the sun?

Mike

osmocote indoor/outdoor, about a tablespoon per plant in 8 in pot once a month

Have you been adding this every month and for how long?

Does it say how many months it can last?

Mike..:-)

it says up to four months for indoor, and i know at warmer temperatures, plants use more nutrients and the pellets disburse them faster. I have only done it for the last two months, since that is about all the longer i have had the plants.

nate

Just an update.

took the plant into the sun room to see if it would help for a few days. no leaves fell off. Then yesterday I put it outside and come home and two leaves were dried and had fallen off. New growth on the plant though, so not entirely sure what it could be.

Also just received FP and the neem oil :)

nate