I can hardly keep up LOL. Many of us I notice have collections inside collections.

Brian I think I just bought that fan, it works really well. Nice pics!!

Noticed these meyer lemons starting to ripen. The chew marks only go in the skin. A taste of that and they ran away haha. I'm not too worried.

There are 5 in-ground banana plants, 2 citrus and a fig. All the potted plants have to find a spot in between.

Thanks Matt & Kvetchlambkin. Kvetchlambkin it is very cozy in there but I prefer looking at the blue sky over my tree's. They are much easier to water when all in close proximity. The greenhouse is extremely nice when I'm blasting tunes from Florida radio stations while outdoors a foot of snow on the ground , love that . Kvetchlambkin those Shiranui should be ripe by March, the fruit are growing at an incredible rate right now . A side note Shiranui fruit can hang on the tree for ever with no deterioration in juice and flavor a huge bonus and they are incredibly delicious.

Matt don't those fans work terrific maybe to good the first night on it blew off about 30 of my Page leafs lol . If the fan is on full I have to anchor myself to the walls exaggerating a bit but that fan is very powerful.

Brian

Matt I would so love to grow a banana plant like yours but they get so large and I'm running out of space . Are those squirrel or chipmunk bite marks on your Meyers ? I have chipmunks hanging out in my Greenhouse ,cute little guy's but they sure do love to dig.

Brian

Oh no Brian! You have that "s" stuff. Ugh. I don't look forward to it. And lol @ your industrial-size fan! I know I run mine on low quite a distance away so I don't blow anything over or dry the leaves out, but I do set it to oscillate so it covers the whole area where the plants are. I am glad to see that my biggest Shiranui looks to be the same size as yours (I think it got set some time after the end-of-May bloom the tree had). I actually got another fruit (much smaller at the moment) from another bloom some time in either August or September. Here is my biggest fruit today -

And Halloween has come early here this year - I covered the 8 citrus that I have outside (I have my limes inside however except for the Australian red centre lime). There are 6 of them here (the uncovered plant snuggled in the middle is a Zone 3 lilac...lol) -

They have been forecasting some upper 30s/low 40s here tomorrow night and then Sunday night (although no frost where I am yet), but there are supposed to be slightly warmer nights for other days over the next week or so, so I covered them rather than try to do the drag in/out which would be a nuisance. They would make good ghosts! lol

@Brian I think chipmunk, he has one hole on the side wall I have tried to fill and put water down it to discourage him but he pops back up with another so I've left him alone. Might get some peanuts n bread for him this winter instead of trying out all the citrus and taking the seeds I have planted. Always something right ?

My out side potted grafted Fukushu/C35 kumquat loves this cold weather with highs in the 50,s and lows in the 30,s.

Steve

I put mine in the garage overnight since it was supposed to get below 32F (it didn't quite). I've left them out with a sheet covering down into the high 20s before, without problem, but this year the temperature change was so abrupt that I worried.

I'm about to go out now, take them back out, and get everything sprayed. I hauled my 3 passionflower vines into the basement, but I will haul them back out and spray them also -- but I was wondering to myself why bother, since after 3 (or 4?) years and lots of growth on the trellis every year, only 1 of the 3 has ever bloomed. Same with my large potted mandevilla; its blooms were scarce this year, and they are so easy to replace.

raee - too much nitrogen in the fert ratio for those 2 vines and they will vine like crazy and not flower as much! I used to chop back my mandie (common "Alice DuPont") after I brought it in as they bloom on new growth. In fact I believe both that and the passiflora bloom on new growth so the passie should get a cut-back as well (I have had both a belotti and an edulis years ago).

Raee I can't remember asking but what part of Ohio are you or are you in Ohio, Oh. I am asking because I am going east on I-70--Virginia boarder and would be happy to give you some US897 rootstock. I am not able to mail trees anywhere $$$$$.

Steve

My yuzu and satsuma mandarin are still outside. Ideally I would like to keep them out until November. But tonight is supposed to drop into mid thirties. Even though these 2 are the hardiest citrus, should I be bringing them in at least for the night? Instead of making a whole new thread on this, I'd rather ask here since if you guys can help me.

Or better yet, maybe I will risk it and see if they can handle this cold or not. They're technically supposed to be hardy down to 10 degrees fahrenheit.

If you have tender and new shoots frost can damage those. If their is no growth then it can go a fare amount below freezing.

Steve

These shoot are on a tree that is good down to 18F but with new growth it is sensitive below 32F

The NZL outside and in ground

Heruga - I brought my limes in but covered everything else out there with fleece frost bags and/or fleece row cover and grouped them together under my open patio umbrella -

The long range forecast here has mostly nights in the 40s and days in the 50s - 60s except for a couple days here and there with some mid-upper 30 lows (like overnight and this morning). I have too many to do the in/out thing and I want to keep them out as long as I can. The temp here about 10ft away from my house has been hugging 35 early this morning (closer to 40 against the house) so am hoping that's as low as it goes (at least until Sunday night when another mid-upper 30s is forecast). My area is under a frost advisory until 9 am this morning and in Jersey, the southern part has a frost advisory but parts of interior north Jersey has a freeze warning except for parts of eastern north Jersey counties directly adjacent to NYC metro.

Yea so I ended up putting my citruses in my unattached, unheated garage and they were just fine. I am close to the new York city area so we didn't have a frost advisory but 30 min away from me where I work in north central jersey had a frost advisory.

Heruga - That's good that you had a place to shove them for the night!

All of mine are still outside. I may take in some things tomorrow night, and cover the rest just for the night - this is the time of year in NC when you need a heavy coat in the morning and then are in a t-shirt in the afternoon. I have been working on setting up my grow lights in the basement for the influx of trees in the next few weeks. Still kind of unsure how I'll fit everything.

I’ve not read all the posts, but the photos look great! Brian, I have several shiranui that look like yours on my tree. Well, we had a low of 42 this morning. I watered them early to warm them up with hose water. It warmed up nicely today. My two week forecast still looks ok for now. We have another night with low-mid 40s, but that’s it. My farmer friend is coming tomorrow to take a few trees...I’m sad but relieved also. I’m so sad to see them go, but know they’ll be in a great home. He has tons of land and will get a big greenhouse soon. I can visit them anytime :)

Steve, I am in Columbus -- when are you traveling? You would have to educate me some on the rootstock.

around Christmas week

rootstock criteria

I will have more information later

Could have left all my tree's outside for another 2 weeks, still in the sixties for the next 2 weeks. Here is what left outside.

FIGS>

Vlad, that is Lemongrass, not Pampas grass.

Golden Rosemary.

Nice Bob! Mine are fine still....keeping fingers crossed for more warm weather. The citrus went to their new home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland today. Well, it turns out the “farmer” is actualily a plant/soil nutrition expert! I’m very happy that they will have a great home.

Laura , any tree's left, come on you got to keep at least 2 or 3. you can't abandon us. There are some members here that are already gone, don't know what happen, maybe it was me. i managed to get a few po.

Not you Bob! You’re awesome! I still have plenty, believe me!! Lol. Having few trees is definitely not a concern ;)

Lovely trees, plants, setups and sunsets everyone! I moved my trees indoors down in the gh a month or so ago. We had a lot of rain, high winds and cold nights for weeks on end in early September and the potted trees were starting to look a bit ragged. Glad I moved them in a bit early. We have had a lot of rain since then and early this week we had night lows in the low 20's along with sleet and a bit of snow. We had a brief snow blizzard yesterday, the snow flakes were huge, and woke up with snow blanketing the ground. We still need to get our solar pool cover put on. The temperature is rising back up this coming week so will have to get it on then. The trees have adjusted well and are settled in to their winter home.

Bob, the lemongrass and rosemary are beautiful plants. Are you going to harvest them before a hard frost? I need to grow rosemary in pots and bring it in for the winter because they do not overwinter well here planted in the ground with our long cold winters.

Jinny, this is a special one I bought some time ago but never tried it. So I will repot and bring him in. Btw it is in the ground. The lemon grass will be pruned to about 6 or 8” tall and put them all in one large container, a couple inches of dirt than leaves and leave them in the garage.They can handle low twenties.

Bob, will you use the lemon grass pruning's for flavoring and enhancing any special dishes? I missed growing lemon grass from seed the past few years but plan on starting some this winter.

The leaves are not used for anything other than tying it to a knot when you throw the whole thing in a specific dish, then throw the whole thing away after cooking.

What kind of dish? When i do the cooking on occasion, a chicken , cut-up in pieces in a coconut milk concoction, my wife specialty dish and finish with my version of Cherries jubilee. She think it is to die for.

We got some very light snow overnight (didn't stick, still above 32F) along with high winds. Half the neighborhood is still without power and internet, some have internet but no power, others with power but not internet (depends on provider -- mine has a generator running at the node to keep us online.) My citrus and a few other tropicals are still in the garage overnights, geraniums are on the patio. It is still forecast to be into the 50s this week so they are staying out. I am waiting patiently for the dahlia to go dormant -- so far they don't seem inclined to!

The majority of my trees have been outside, but I am considering bringing in my Meyer lemon tree as it is the most finicky of the group even though it's blooming. In middle GA we are just now getting our fall weather. I am thinking if I bring in my lemon trees earlier than the oranges and mandarins, they can adjust to the lower light and different indoor temps. It's warmer in the sunroom than outside today. Maybe I can prevent winter leaf drop if I acclimate them when the temps are similar inside and out rather than shocking the heck out of them in the near future.

Yesterday it went up to 63 here but in the late afternoon, I decided to go on and wrap some frost cloth around the 7 citrus ghosts (they are all propped up off the slab on stands). lol

Cold front has come through and there is another frost advisory up for this area tonight but no freezes yet. The rest of the next couple weeks are a roller coaster of temps, so still keeping an eye out while I prepare the areas for them.

Meanwhile, here are my 2 FW limes (Key & Thai) in their brand new overwintering spot (put them up there yesterday) -

Denise, can believe you are considering bringing in your citrus already. I got friends in South Carolina leaving their tree’s out all year, Charleston area.

Well, I don't want to, but I now have 27 citrus, 4 figs and some plumerias that need winter protection. Treating for pests and bringing in a few here and there will be easier than doing it all at once. When I had about 6 or 7, I just put them in the garage last minute. Last year I used my north facing sun room for winter storage for the first time as an experiment and didn't use any grow lights or additional heating. They survived being in there for 4 months. I have never brought any of my trees in this early before so this really is another experiment on my part.

The majority of my trees are mandarins and oranges. They are still outside enjoying the fall weather. There are new flushes on some too so I know they are happy.

Twenty-seven citrus trees. What was I thinking? lol.

Mine are still out but I have been hard at work with the other tropicals.

What kind of temps will make my graprefruit and small eureka lemon uncomfortable? I also have a satsuma that didn't have much of a rootball, and hasn't leafed out much at all this season. I don't know if I should try to keep it warm in the house to get some growth, or go low temps and dormancy.

Brought mine about the end of September at a 12 hour day length in/out, holding, another 2 weeks or so begins Citrus Spring adding approx. 45 minutes to an hour daylight per month, and we up the bottom heat a tad

Denise, you are too funny. They pile up fast. lol

Well, I just brought in my last tree(((((. When I see 20's at night a month early and no break in sight, I think it's time. This year a month earlier than usual. So much for the earth warming up over New England*((

I still Have 4 trees outside. My Meiwa kumquat is fully dormant and will be safedown to 15F for a very short time but it will be free of pests.

This corner had nothing to put a cement pad to hold the greenhouse so I have a lever and block system with a 5/1 advantage to hold this corner from sinking. We are leaving for a week and this should protect this down to 28F.

Fukushu is safe to mid 20's. That might not happen for a few more weeks.

Steve

Poncirusguy, how can you tell if a citrus is dormant?

Well tonight is supposed to go down to 34 degrees which is technically not freezing temperatures but.. I am thinking of bringing in my yuzu and satsuma mandarin inside the house until tomorrow afternoon in which I will bring them back outside again. I already bought in my sudachi. Poncirus, can you guarantee that my 2 citrus will not suffer any damage at 34 degrees? Also if I am keeping them outside, they will be inside my garage which is only slightly warmer.

Citrus don't go dormant, it is an evergreen. They do need a rest period.

Hi Laura your really going to love the taste of your Shiranui fruit . I like it the best of all my citrus but that might change as I have one gold nugget fruit growing on my tree. We had another Tango tonight really good very sweet with a great mandarin taste but it had a few seeds surprisingly. It must be tough Laura handing over some of your babies but at least you know the care giver and that they will taken good care of . I see some are still trying to decide whether or not they should bring their tree's in for the winter not fun , citrus can take cool temperatures but it all comes down to the comfort zone how close to the freezing mark before you say you've had enough . I don't trust night time low predictions they are usually wrong by a few degrees above or below . I wish everyone an easy transition.

Brian

I can not guarantee your trees will be safe. In my case my trees leaves formed 4 months ago and are dark green and tough. I have no new growth and it is on an poncirus hybrid known for its cold tolerance. My tree is just short of dormant. At 34F with very low humidity the air can draw water into air vapor and drop the leaf temperature 10F (24f) and kill your tree. My humidity is high and I have a 4F jump up from my city's forecasts.

I am safe You might not be.

It was cold and windy today! I had many trees that blew over. I watered them later and weighed them down. It was awful. A few took several falls. Ugh. The low was 42 though. Tonight the low is supposed to be 41, but we have many warmer days still ahead for at least two weeks. They seem fine and when the sun warms up the day, they are happy. Brian, I think I harvested my shiranui last year late winter. Mine are still dark green - as are the tangelos. We have eaten most of the mandarins already though :). It was hard to give up some of my babies, but also a relief bc I don’t have to worry about stuffing them in my house, and bc they could not have gone to a better home.

I made a key lime pie today and still have many more limes coming. Jinny, I forgot to take a pic, but it was wonderful! I love this time of year when I can reap the harvest. I will say that I used a combination of regular key limes and giant key limes. The regular, mutty, thorny key limes are far superior. The peel is not as thick, but they are juicier, easier to squeeze, and have fewer seeds. Once the lemons ripen, I’ll move on to lemon bars :)

Can’t believe some of you guys are already hitting lows of 30F! Stay warm everyone and hope you all have gotten your flu shots before everyone begins hacking and coughing everywhere lol

Denise, I brought in my trees a couple weeks ago when daytime temps were approx. 55F, nighttime 47F and none of them showed any signs of shock or sudden leaf drop! It seems like what you predicted is what happened with my trees. Indoor temps began feeling the same as outdoor temps when I brought them in. I would run out to check my plants without a jacket and not freeze to death but it was chilly enough that I couldn’t stay out long. I was really surprised because my mother Meyer last year went bald when I brought it in late. This year the child clone Meyer looks the same as it did outside and is doing well in a West facing window while the other two are in a North window. They’re also not under any lights. One of them is under lights but she is an emergency ICU case due to up potting

Steve, I hear yah on the trust thing when it comes to temps into the 30's like that. Even at 35 degrees and still got frost on a few of mine. This morning it was suppose to be 34 and some of my fig trees pots almost froze through. I suppose I could of just drop a tarp over them.

Don't laugh, but I actually stick plants under a heating blanket, a king size because I am too lazy to bring them in, and thus far so good.lol

Laura, I hear you on not having to bring so many in and having more room. I gave away doubles of what I had and I have double the room and double less worrying about pests.

Kev, thanks buddy. Can you believe this? I already hit the 20's at night and I don't even see a 60 degree reading within the next ten days. Now I will call it an extended December month. Right into winter. So depressing. I too brought all mine in while it was cool onto my cool porch. I would loose lots of leaves if brought into a warmer environment from a much colder one. Good work.

My next depressing few days. Nothing normal all below average temps by ten degrees

None of my trees would relish in this. Depressing

Mike, there's no sign of warm days in our weather forecast as well, years ago we had four seasons changing temperatures gradually, now we have winter and summer seasons only. Only couple weeks of spring and fall each year, strange weather patterns, as you said already, depressing!

Laura, I hear you on wind and toppling over trees. One of my trees has a bad wind damage and barely hanging in there. Hopefully it doesn't get worse!

Sunshine I’ve been noticing temperatures suddenly dropping or jumping seasons for the past few years too. I never know exactly when to add or remove extra blankets until I’m sweating buckets or freezing my feet off

I’m only a few degrees warmer than you Mike so I feel ya lol. I’m working on rooting a few fig cuttings right now. It helps to keep my mind off of the weather

Well, we just had a TORNADO just a few miles south of me. All I got was the wind, but my friends lost trees. Now that's crazy for the end of October in these parts. I'm thinking the weather is kind of screwed up! Our poor trees!

Well I had to pull everything in on Sunday, due to a forecasted low of 35. I hadn't finished hanging lights in the basement yet, but got that done on Monday. And I still have a bunch of bulbs on order which hopefully will arrive soon, and need some more white material to enclose the area. But we're close and everything looks happy.

This is about 2/3 of the total. I have more things in an upstairs sun room and a few hardier things still outside. The lights are 2x quantum LED boards from HLG, and one fixture with 8x 4' 54W T5s (old, replacements on order). I have another 2' T5 fixture and 4 of those Taotronics lights hanging elsewhere.

Mike - a nor'easter is coming this weekend. Sigh.

At least it went up to 64F where I am today so I got chance to clean out/disinfect my bird bath and put it away. Had to water the fig though. lol

I posted my Australian red centre lime in its old overwinter spot in another thread but that area is up and running now and so this guy will have some neighbors soon -

Jenny, crazy weather. We got an inch of hail with awful thunder....Then it will go down to December like temperatures again. This is nuts. My trees are in for good until we get August weather in December at this rate. I am about to get another cold shot after this next lightning storm I see coming in ten minutes. I'm glad you got warm for a day. I am happy for you)))

Nice set up too))

Lucky, I think this crazy cold weather had taken many by surprise. I expected this in December, and at least another month to get ready in November. At this rate I can not have enough time to cover my ponds with bags of leaves because they have yet to fall.

Geez, what a great bunch of good looking plants. That Banana tree would of croaked at 35 even lower than 50 is not good for it. Spray them once a month for prevent a mite infestation and you should be good to go)) Especially the banana tree. Good job.

There is going to be a rain delay due to this storm for the World Series that I could not make it too((

Kvetch, it's nice to know that we are not suffering alone..Geez.lol You should here the thunder outside right now. I have never seen a storm like this in October, never. The temperature is going to drop like a bomb. That means I can keep walking around in my bathing suit and sandals after the next ten minutes..ha Crazy buddy

Mike