Amanda, Evan does to all of his and uses a certain proportion of paint with water. I hope he sees this. It would not hurt them if you did so but I don't think you will have too)

OK! Thank you. I just have never had one shaped like an actual tree and not a bush haha!

Lol. I'll bet you will grow to love that one too if you already have not! I love the tree shape ones too.

Oh I do love it! It was actually easy to house over the winter because it didn't need as many lights as the giant bush calamondin!! I feel the calamondin always had a dark spot and I had to rotate it religiously. But this is the first winter none of my trees dropped a major amount of leaves and they look really healthy. That 511 is a miracle.

Thank you Mole!! Some of my native plants get damaged by the sun and I do not want my special tree to get damaged! I have flat latex white paint in my garage and I will do it before the gold nugget is officially out for the year.

Amanda, I remember the very first time you started here. Your confidence has grown through the roof and so has your success. Good for you!!)

Thank you Mike! I am glad I started posting when I did. I lurked for a very long haha! My trees and I will always be thankful for everyones help.

I do not why, you live too close to the North Pole to worry about, none of my tree,s get that luxury. It does not hurt. Apples, stonefruits ya. Do you know why people paint their tree's? Because you don't want your tree to go out of dormancy too soon in the spring. If you live in Arizona, some parts of California different story. Here again my take.

I do not paint mine and have had no problems. It all depends on your tree's environmental conditions.

The purpose for painting tree trunks - and it's a time honored orchard practice.......not just for citrus - is two-fold. It can prevent sunscald and help to deter boring insects and even rabbits from gnawing on the bark. But the sunscald it is intended to prevent is what occurs in winter when warm days encourage the plant cells to open up and when they freeze again at night, they split, causing the bark to crack and rupture, That doesn't seem like much of a concern for a potted plant that will brought into protection for the winter. And as long as the tree has outgrown the sapling stage, sunburn from summer sun is not really an issue. Once the bark thickens and toughens after a couple of years, sunburn is unlikely.

But it sure won't hurt to paint. Cornell suggests full strength for best effect against borers and 1G latex paint diluted with 4-5 quarts of water or sunscald protection.

Ok. I guess I do not need to paint my tree. I was just trying to think of what I could do to protect the trunk. I will be putting it into a bigger pot and I know that it will be growing larger. It is an entry size tree that I have had for a year.

If still that young then maybe you should. It is the younger trees that are most prone to summer sunburn and would benefit from some protection. And you could be keeping some insects away as well :-))

i have a story ... i was beckoned to a friend's house to diagnose their potted mandarins. Beautiful twins, accentuating the entry to their yard. As i looked for the color codes i saw that the many year's old (about 9) scion colors were still discernable, but the rootstock color was brown. It wasn't until weeks later that i realized the color code was not brown, but that color due to the hot west facing sun the bark had been enduring. The owners kept turning the pots... and so had evenly toasted all sides. I insisted on painting the trunks immediately, owners refused. Those calif. honey mandarins died.

Ok I will paint the trunk. It has already broke dormancy and as long as we agree that it wont hurt the tree otherwise, I really do not want to take any chances. Anything I can do to help my trees I will do.

I need my citrus trees to do well bc my outside fruit was hit hard this winter. The rabbits and voles came back in the winter and I think I lost 2 of my blueberry bushes. The other 10 were nibbled down pretty good and Ill probably only get half the berries Im due. I think my roses are dead. Im feeling frustrated haha. My cherries, apricots and raspberries are great tho. It is just something about those blueberries that attracts varmints like nothing else!!

Amanda, ultimately the choice is yours, I live in a climate where temps frequent 120+ degrees in July/ August so I have no choice but to protect mine. I like the way they look, it makes them look uniform in my yard. Use George’s mix ratio above 50/50 water and light colored latex paint and you’ll be fine. It might take a couple coats to get full coverage. I sometimes have to freshen up the white wash mid summer due to trunk growth, it starts to crack the paint.

Freshly painted trunks · More Info

Freshly painted trunks · More Info

Freshly painted trunks · More Info

1/13/2018 citrus pics · More Info

Evan