At Goodwill, I found a wooden plant caddy with wheels for about 5 bucks. Its large enough for me to stand a 5 gallon bucket on top for me to move around. They sell plant caddies at Home Depot, nurseries, IKEA too! At a higher price point of course :) maybe you'll get lucky though and find a used one if you check out Goodwill or peruse some yard sales!

Fluorescent lights at 4500K color temperature will work for the trees. Try to get a high lumen from the bulb you buy. You can also go for LED bulbs. There are some that are specifically colored for growing plants and can come in regular white light too. LED takes a bit more work to research so if you prefer something simple then I'd go for a fluorescent bulb!

Thank you. I expected that I'd need grow lights

What kind of citrus?

Meyers are known to be on the more difficult side for overwintering. This is my first winter trying.

Also, we should discuss 'winter leaf drop' (WLD). I am not sure I actually understand it enough to explain. But my understanding is that when you provide bright lighting with cool/cold temps, this causes leaf drop.

I had leaf drop last year because the room was too warm. There will be 2 meyer lemons, 1 grapefruit and a key lime.

@mikerno, what are you using for stands?

Here are the stands Jenny recommended that I’ve tried this year. I really like them. I also have a bunch of cheap IKEA floor lamps. Emart Photography 7 feet Light Stands for Photo Studio, Video Shooting, Carry Case Include (Set of 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A5CGV1Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_KB83jnO1UtKV4

Here are the bulbs I use:

Philips 433557 23W 100-watt T2 Twister 6500K CFL Light Bulb, 4-Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M6SR1JM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_N4Lp6pkfa26po

Laura - Just got another pair of those stands delivered yesterday! :-D What's good about them too is that when the overwintering is done, I can collapse them, fold them up, and put them back in their own handy carrying bags and put them away in a closet somewhere.

Jenny, I had two more sets delivered yesterday as well! I’ve not had time to open the box! I love those stands. I so wish I had discovered them sooner. You are totally right. They collapse and are so easy to store!

Can you plant them out doors in ground.

New Zealand lemonade behind double glass. When real cold comes it it will get 2 layers of bubble wrap across the front and the top and both ends will get R-30 insulation.

Seed grown Fukushu kumquat tree in ground.

lowest leaves are 2 years 4 months old.The fukushu will get glassed in this week.

@laura, Jenny what clamp lights do you use and how many lamps do you use per tree?

I have fluorescent tube light fittings in the garage which should help a lot too. I was under the impression that you needed special lights for trees and never even considered these

Andrew, I use 10.5 and 8.5 inch clamp reflector lights. The cheapest I’ve found them is on Walmart.com (thanks Vladimir!). I have about three, but I have them pointed at different trees and locations on the trees.

Andrew, I think it was Steve who turned me on to those lights. I think he has seen research to the effect that while trees like the entire spectrum, using the upper end like these lights provide us enough - especially for the time we have them indoors. I used only those bulbs last year and my trees did well indoors. It’s not as perfect growth as what you get outside, but pretty good if you can keep the pests at bay.

Thank you so much.

Hi Andrew - like Laura, I use the clamp-on reflector work lamps. Mine are all 8.5" and I have a mix of the Bayco (which Walmart has) and HDX (from HD). The Baycos are a bit lighter in weight (and less expensive) than the HDX but both are actually cheaper from their respective big box stores than on Amazon believe it or not. Both are rated for up to a 150W incandescent bulb so by using LEDs or twister CFLs, you will be nowhere near that, and the lamps will remain relatively cool to the touch when the lights are on.

I am using a mix of daylight & warm white (23 watt) CFL twisters, and daylight & warm white (14.5 watt) LEDs.

The poles claim to handle up to 11 lbs of attachments (the lamps are just over 1 lb with bulb), so that should give you an idea. I am averaging about 2 or 3 per pole and about 3 - 4 lights per tree. In my basement setup, not all of the lights are on poles as I have been able to clamp on some lamps to the stand that holds my 4ft dual 54 watt T5 HOs (and that unit is at the front of the reflective structure I created for 3 large and 2 small trees). To better handle this, I just got the below delivered yesterday (LOL) -

I have my trees under a 600 watt metal halide. So far so good. A lost a few leaves the first month but none really after that. Part of that might have been lack of watering for a while as well.

As a side note my outdoor plants might even benefit. Lol.

Glassing in 50% done.

4 sheets of glass each side.

I found some 4 feet T5 6500k, 4000 lumens, full spectrum linear bulbs at Home Depot. Will these work?

Cheers

Also, how many lumens will I need for 5 trees, 2 of which are 5ft tall? They will be in the garage so the temperature is probably going to range from 30 - 70 degrees. (likely will only drop as low at 30 for a couple of days since i'm in texas).

If the aforementioned bulbs are ok, the 2 bulbs will be outputting 8000 lumens alone. I'm trying to figure out how many clamp lights I'll need.

completed cage around fukushu#2.. cracks and gaps need to be filled.

Steve

Those bulbs will work great. If the trees are going in and out when the temperature drops below 30 that will be the only bulbs you need. No clamp lights needed. If you have dormant kumquats or satsuma trees you can leave them out all winter. Just insulate the pot to keep the roots warmer than freezing.

Great to hear thank you