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ladywingr

First foray into citrus

19 years ago

I picked up a dwarf Eureka lemon and a dwarf key lime - both called "patio" trees - from a local nursery today. They are currently in 3 gallon pots, and the lemon is fairly covered in green fruit. I reside in west-central Florida, below Tampa Bay.

A few questions to start:

What does "patio" mean when referring to a tree? Is it a true dwarf or is it kept trimmed to be small? What size (height, width) can I expect from the mature trees?

If kept in a pot, what size?

If planted in the ground, how much space?

If my lawn irrigation runs 1 to 2 times per week, is that too much water for the trees?

Thanks for any help,

Terri

Comments (2)

  • 19 years ago

    Hi Terri,
    As far as Patio Plant labels, they're basically a generic term meaning the plant can be placed outside in warm weather despite the area one resides.
    I'm in IL, and we get trees with the same tags attached to stems: Patio Plants. A useless term.
    In other words, it doesn't specify whether or not your citrus trees are true dwarfs or standards.
    It's no different than a tag that reads, foliage plant..It really hasn't any meaning. I think when they first started attaching these tags to plants, their intention was to give a general idea what to expect..For instance, foliage plants were greenery that weren't grown for flowers, (even though most foliage plants bloom.)
    I've seen Patio Plant tags attached to several varities of plants.

    Since I'm in IL I can't plant citrus in the ground, so all are in pots. Sorry, I hope someone can answer your questions about growing trees in Fl.
    The only advice I can offer is, if you're planning on keeping your new citrus in containers, perhaps you should wait until spring to repot..(if it needs repotting)
    What size pots are your citrus in now? Can you measure the diameter? Are roots sticking out of drainage holes, or above soil line? This is one way to tell if your trees are rootbound. Even if a few roots are exposed, I'd wait till spring to repot. You can always add a little soil on top if roots are exposed..for the time being.

    Again, since I can't answer your questions about growing in the ground, but you need a little more detail, like, how long do you keep lawn irrigation running each day? How much water would be hitting the soil..etc..Good luck, Toni

  • 19 years ago

    Toni - Thank you for your response and definition of "Patio". I did purchase them from a reputable grower, so I'll take their word that they are dwarves. They were in pots about a foot across with roots above soil level, none sticking out of the pot. When I knocked them out of their pots, the roots were packed in pretty tight. I've gone ahead and put them in the ground and will just have to see what happens with the irrigation. I'm actually measuring the water tonight/tomorrow morning - I "think" it's getting an inch or so each run. I think my biggest concern at this point is that they will be getting overhead irrigation for a while until they get a bit taller. Failing all else, I suppose I can put them back into pots which is not my preference as I already have too many pots to move when we have our hurricane "drills".

    Thanks again,
    Terri