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lisa_anderson6848

Potted Citrus concerns

8 years ago

I’m new here, so sorry if these answers are somewhere I haven’t found.

My husband was our gardener. He had a green thumb for sure. He passed away last December, and I’ve been trying to keep all our potted citrus alive and doing okay this past year.

I have a 16 year old, large khaffir lime, 2 younger/smaller Meyer lemons, a Valencia orange, and a fig tree (not citrus, I know), all in pots. We live in central Texas. He usually brought them Inside in the winter, but last year after he passed away, my friends finished throwing together a makeshift greenhouse we had started and the plants did well. (Until I shocked them when I took them out incorrectly and lost way too many leaves on the khaffirlime.)

I plan on doing a greenhouse again this year. But my greenhouse I ordered doesn’t come in until later this week, and we just got a strong cold front with rain and possible wintery mix with temps in the mid 30s. So long story, well long, I don’t know if I need to move them into my garage for a couple days until I it warms back up (we’ve had a couple nights in the upper 30s but it warmed right back up to 60s-70s following) or if they will make it through this okay? I’d hate to mess up, especially the lime which is essentially our oldest “pet” and has survived moves and me being it’s caretaker.

I appreciate any advice!

Lisa

Comments (10)

  • 8 years ago

    Can any of these trees go in ground

  • 8 years ago

    No. I don’t really have a place for that, and they’ve always done well in pots.

  • 8 years ago

    I think they will do fine where they are; but if a Blue Norther is expected, you would have to protect them. My Brother lost 2 Meyers in 5 years in Austin; and that is one of the more hospitable places in Texas for Citrus... East Texas being another.

    Lisa Anderson thanked johnmerr
  • 8 years ago

    LIsa, sorry to hear you lost your husband. I imagine it's difficult to take over all of his responsibilities.

    I don't worry about my citrus trees until the temps actually freeze. And then, if the freeze is "light" - say no lower than 30 and for only a few hours, I'll just throw an old sheet over them. That works ok if they are in the ground - the ground holds some heat. Being on a concrete slab may make them more susceptible to cold temps, but as long as it doesn't freeze I think they should be fine. You could double check by looking at a website of a citrus seller. The descriptions often let you know how cold they can get. Best luck!

    Lisa Anderson thanked sonni1
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Thank you both! I don't remember him ever moving them in until after we were going to get a full freeze, but this weird forecast "wintery mix but it isn't going to be below 38" had me concerned. They are predicting tomorrow night to be 28-30 tomorrow night as well, so that has me a little concerned too. They will be going into a greenhouse soon, even though we will be back in the 60-70s with 40s at night, but I am worried about chancing it and am hoping they will regrow some of the leaves I lost (they flourished in the greenhouse last year). It never looked like he tried that hard, but my thumb seems to be a little browner than his was, so I may just err on the side of caution, lol.

  • 8 years ago

    Lisa, I too am sorry about your husband..He will always live in you and I'll bet those beautiful trees and plants..Do you have any pics? What Zone area are you in? The greenhouse will be a fine way to escape and enjoy what you do)

    Lisa Anderson thanked myermike_1micha
  • 8 years ago

    I am in Zone 8a-8b according to google. It started sleeting so I put them in the garage (with a portable heater and a clothes dryer) to keep them warm. The greenhouse came in the mail today, so I will get it put together this weekend and move them in (after it is warmer again, haha). I don't know how good the quality of the greenhouse is, but I figure if it keeps them warm and doesn't cave in it will be better than the one we rigged together out of a dog pen last year! I didn't see this until I moved them in, so too late to take pics, as they are wedged in there pretty well, but I will post some after I get them back out. Thank you all for you help! I really appreciate it and wish I had joined this over the last year as I was trying to figure out how to keep them alive!

  • 8 years ago

    Please make sure you are using the heater and dryer safely. But you probably don't need them.


    Lisa Anderson thanked hibiscus909
  • 8 years ago

    Of course and thank you for the concern! They are all electric, no gas stuff, and the heater has a temp gauge on it. I used it last year in the greenhouse with no issues, so fingers crossed. Eventually, this will be all instinctual like it was for him, I hope!