Very nice Jason!

Where do you grow your plants in the winter? Under lights, windowsill, grow room, greenhouse?

Cory

Welcome Jason! Great job on your trees. They look great! I'm also interested in your winter setup. Where in Alaska are you?

beautiful little trees, you will find lots of help on this forum.

Welcome, Jason. How long can you keep them outside in the summers?

Hey guys, I haven't really figured that whole winter part of yet lol. I've only had them since April, so we haven't gotten there yet. I'm figuring that I'll move them inside with a grow light and pray that it works.

As for how long the summer lasts, it really depends. The past 2 years have been very strange for us. Winter had been extremely mild, the has been darn near no snow. I would probably guess they could stay out until about October or so.

Laura, I'm in Anchorage....the big city lol

Welcome Jason!

Nice little trees you have, you are doing a great job with them. :)

Here is a tip, please take away the saucer from underneath each pot, you do not want your plants sitting in water from the bottom of the pot. That can cause problems, like root rot. (You could place some large stone or brick etc. on top of your saucer to raise up your pots so they are not sitting in water)

I look forward to seeing more updates on your beautiful citrus, and what your winter set-up will be there in Alaska.

Jinny, yeah I had read that. They actually never sat in standing water so far. When it rains I tend to move them under the eaves if the roof to prevent over watering. If any water builds up I dump it pretty quickly. We've also had a fairly dry summer up until a few days ago. Thanks for the tip

I'll post some pics of the others later when I get a chance

Jason, citrus love rain water! The nitrogen from the rain, keeps the leaves green..As long as your soil drains well, I would leave them out to catch the rain, unless you are getting torrential downpours on a daily basis, or rain daily for a week straight at a time...

Jinny, I usually let them get some rain water unless it rains overnight. In that case I'll hide them under the eaves since I have no idea how much rain is gonna fall at night. The last 2 days have been pretty good downpours so I moved them as well. I'm constantly checking the things as I feel like being here in Alaska has a smaller margin of error in growing these things lol

In all honesty we haven't had too much rain so I've been using fertilizer to supplement the nitrogen. Ill remember to leave them out for a little shower when the opportunity presents itself haha

I would not move them at all from the rain, even overnight. Mine have been subject to torrential downpours here in Maryland and have loved it. They seem to grow overnight!

ok, I'll do what Jinny said and remover the saucers or elevate on rock, then I'll leave them out to get a nice dose of natural watering. Thanks for the tips, really appreciate it

I did forget to ask this, do the Lemons/lime etc grow from the exact same bud as the flowers? Or are they totally separate? Just curious

Yes, they form from the flowers. Once the petals fall off, you will see a tiny lime/lemon in its place :-)

ok I have 2 flowers bloomed on my plant already (they bloomed after I took the picture above). The petals fell off of one already, there is a green portion, but I assumed it was just the middle of the flower....guess I was wrong LOL

Here is a picture of my Cara Cara Orange in bloom, and, also a couple of tiny fruits that formed as the petals fell off.

Nice Jinny, appreciate the picture, that's definitely what's going on with my Meyer Lemon. If mine starts growing the fruit, should I pinch them off? I'm guessing my tree isn't big enough yet to handle it? Heck maybe it is....I don't know LOL

Or leave one just for grins; if you take care of the plant, one or two lemons won't stop it from growing. Maybe you will have the first Meyer lemon produced in Alaska.

lol Johnmerr, I'm sure that's definitely not the case. There is a greenhouse located about 15-20 minutes outside of Anchorage who sells potted Meyers. I've seen pics of beautiful trees that they have, definitely larger than mine currently is. I was gonna drive out there and check them out, but on their Facebook page people are saying they charge $150 per tree.......no thanks

I paid about $70 for a meyer, key lime and mandarin, plus the 4 pots to put them in and shipping from Stark Bros.

I'm sure there are quite a few people here locally who purchased them and have not the faintest idea of how to grow them. They see a pretty picture on facebook and assume it'll handle itself I bet LOL

Jason welcome to growing citrus in the North. It is challenging but not impossible and extremely rewarding. As winter approaches this forum will help you transition your plants indoors, as well as setting up the proper lighting. The best tip for me was to take it slow. It takes me close to 2 weeks to acclimatize the plants to lower light levels and is well worth it.

When growing citrus trees that far north consider growing in black pots. They will need to absorb as much heat as possible in ALL the months but the few hot days and those hot days won't hurt. You may also want to clear plastic in the pots when it is cool and the pots never get warm though it is frost free and safe to have your tree outside.

6B Steve Cincinnati OH

Hi Jason, I am also an extreme cold climater like you :). Maybe even worse than you. If I can give you one tip... you should change your mix right away. I managed to bring all my trees through winter in a bad mix similar to yours but a lot of them have just started taking off now that I have repotted but it was touch and go with a couple of them for a while. I am 100% convinced my new mix will bring me a lot more success this coming winter.

A potting soil based mix will be too wet, cool and boggy to make it through our long winters and your roots will rot... you need an aerated mix that is free draining like the 5-1-1.

Here is a nice little summary Vadimir has kindly put together for newbies:

Here are some care instructions:

Foliage Pro 9-3-6 (FP) is a fertilizer that contains all of the nutrients that citrus trees require. Whenever you have to water, add 1 Tsp./gal of FP and use that instead of pure water. Get a cheap pH testing kit - the kind used to test the pH of aquarium water. If your tap water is above pH 6.5, add enough vinegar to adjust it to about pH 6.5. You will only have to add give or take a 1 Tb/gal. So, you will be watering with a mix of vinegar and Foliage Pro every time the tree needs water.

Repot into either one of these mixes: gritty or 5-1-1 mix. The ingredients for 5-1-1 are easier to find. This is what I use:

Repot the tree into 5-1-1 mix. Dunk the roots in and out of water to remove the old soil. You may have to use a garden hoes to force the old soil off.

My version of Al Tapla's 5-1-1 Mix

· 5 parts pine bark mulch (remove ½” pieces through 1/2 inch screen)

(Some people use Repti Bark instead of mulch. This does not require screening but may require more frequent watering.)

· 1 part sphagnum peat

· 1 part perlite (coarse, if you can get it)

· 1 Tb/gal 5-1-1 mix garden lime (measure the 5-1-1 mix)

· Controlled release fertilizer (optional)

·Moisten well and wait at least 2 days before using

This is how to check to see if the tree needs watering: Insert a sharpened 1/8” or ¼ “wooden dowel or shish kabob skewer hallway between the trunk and sidewall of the container and all the way down to the bottom. Pull it out and see if there are particles adhering to it. If there are, then do not water.

Also 100% add the Osmocote Plus controlled release fert in the potting mix. This stuff works!

thanks for the tips, I was considering the 5-1-1 mix eventually. I guess it's probably easier while they are younger vs waiting until later. I already us Foliage pro and have a moisture meter, so I've got those parts covered. I'll look into the mix and see if I can't repot them here soon

Hi there everybody. i would like to see a citrus tree planted permanently outdoors in Alaska and full of fruits. I live in the Tokyo outskirts, whete they have citrus trees that stand cold temperatures as los as 20-25 degrees Farenheit, judging from the cold temperatures we experienced several years ago. That includes the Japanese Natsu Mikan, the Yuzu lemon, Chikuwaza lemon, and Japanese tangerine. The comquats also stand low temperatures. i supppose they could do well in the coastal areas of the the southern Alaskan islands where temperatures remain steady during Winter. Anybody intetested in starting from seeds, email me at usafcrewdog@gmail.com

Hector Reyes, Tokyo, Japan