This last winter in Houston it plunged to around 15. I wrapped a citrus, about 4' to 5' in tent made of blankets and placed 2 light bulbs in special sockets underneath. It survived several days of the cold without any apparent ill effects and continued growing vigorously when the weather warmed.
I've pruned plenty of fruit trees, you are not just allowing airflow, you also allow light to areas that otherwise would be shaded. Best time to prune is right after harvest, and take off sucker branches on the inside up to flowering. Giving your trees light and air energy will increase fruit production and stronger branches for bigger fruit.
Depends where you are. Here in the low desert we don’t want more light. We want it to self-shade. The summer sun is brutal. It needs a thick canopy to protect the trunk.
The citrus we grow in Southeast Texas also need winter protection from cold. That comes from leaving a dense bush shape with a skirt that reaches nearly to the ground. Just the opposite of peaches and apples is needed for citrus.
@@larrytischler570 oranges this can be good but in Arizona, makes more of a hassle to get to the fruit. Plus less room for birds and other animals to come make a home when you trim. Im not an expert in all climates but this has got me some good returns .
@@grabithard2534 doves and cardinals nest preferrentually in very thick citrus. The red birds do a good job of eating orange dog catapillars and grasshoppers. I dont want other animals in my trees they eat the fruit or seeds in the fruit.
Great video Kevin! One other mistake I’d add is not removing rootstock suckers from the base of the tree. Most citrus is grafted and the rootstock can easily take over a young tree and suck energy from the scion you wanted if they aren’t removed. Thanks for your great content, love your videos and channel.
One thing about container citrus that differs is that you do want to open up the centre by pruning a bit, because if you're keeping it inside, it won't be getting as much airflow and will be more susceptible to mold issues, scale, etc. At least that's what I've found. Even if it's not as good for the tree, it's much easier to maintain if/when you do get something like scale that you need to reach in to deal with to keep the tree healthy. Just picked my first lemon of the season yesterday in Ontario Canada! 7 more pretty much ripe, 11 more green on the way, and it's currently blooming again lol.. not bad for a 4 foot tall, 4 foot wide tree in a pot! Oh and 7 green oranges and new blossoms on my orange tree (harvested I think 4 oranges a few weeks ago, smaller tree than the lemon) Love love love love love growing citrus up north - nothing beats the smell!! Both the flowers and the leaves!!
Yes i too have a young lemon tree in a pot currently cosy in my unheated greenhouse in wintry London (I went berserk in lockdown and bought the tree and the greenhouse!) and it's fruiting like mad! Had 4 lemons off it at once and there's another 7 or so coming through. I was stunned to get that crop end of December - thought it'd be summer cropping only. If follow Kevin's advice to remove fruit in the first season, not sure if should take off the tiny growth lemons as well as the big ones?
@@ginawilliams7577 That sounds like it'd probably be a good idea if it's a new plant! The nice thing is that some varieties (not sure if all) will fruit multiple times in a year! I remember picking a lemon last Spring that had basically overwintered in the sunroom! It just seems to keep blooming and having various stages of growth so you'll get plenty coming soon if you're patient now!
@@hburtch50 honestly I'm not sure! I believe my parents bought the orange tree as a young plant in Florida on vacation, but I asked my Dad about the lemon tree and apparently it has a stranger origin (through cuttings from a friend?) so I don't know the variety. I'll comment back if I find out! I think pretty much any trees should be okay as long as you keep them pruned so they don't get rootbound. Just watch out for scale!! It's the worst on citrus and so annoying to deal with lol.. look up what it looks like if you're not familiar so if you're looking at trees you can make sure they're not coming with those hitchhikers lol
My grandfather was a citrus nurseryman in Florida. He always said "First year sleep, second year creep, third year leap." He'd pinch off all the fruits the first year, let his 2cd year citrus grow one, maybe two fruits, and then the third year let 'er rip for a huge harvest off of healthy trees. He said it was like having babies before you were fully grown-- you don't want to stunt their growth!
Even if you do make a few of these mistakes, don't give up! I planted a meyer lemon tree in my front yard about 10 years ago, but only really start to take my garden seriously about 3 years ago. The lemon tree was kind of sad and thin looking, but with better care and feeding it looks great now. Random people walking by will comment on it, and I'll leave the extra fruit that I don't think I can use out for the neighbors to take.
@@epicgardeningIs it ok to prune now in late March, early April in Southern California? I’m concerned about the rain. Will that hurt the trees? Thanks.
@@epicgardeningA follow up to the container lemon tree part 1 would be helpful as you talked about trimming back the branches to create airflow, but then say the opposite here.🙈 Glad I kept looking around at other videos! Edit: go to 7:15 on that video for reference.
Meyer Lemon trees can take a lot of abuse. I speak from personal experience, LOL. I hard pruned mine last year and had fewer lemons but they were also the size of small grapefruit. I also upped my fertilizer game.
I live in zone 9a/b and the Christmas lights have literally saved my plants during a hard freeze or lengthy frost. I'm not sure how much they can help in colder climates, but they do work to push the temps up just a few degrees above freezing.
Really, so u leave it outside and keep lights in it ??? I'm in a 9 a/b I believe aswell and debating getting a lemon tree but I'm worried about having to bring it in, as I Dnt have grow lights or a place to set up such a thing
@@erinjoy5625 In my case it wasn't a citrus tree, but tomato and pepper plants. Tomatoes and peppers are less cold hardy than citrus trees, and die if the temps dip below the mid 30's. Since citrus trees are usually frost tolerant to the high 20's, I think the Christmas lights should work for them. My full set up was basically a crude high tunnel over the garden bed with the lights. I made a box of PVC with plastic sheeting over it. The plastic sheeting was a plastic paint drop cloth I found at Lowe's. Then I strung the lights up inside of the sheeting. I also heavily mulched the plants with straw. And they surprisingly did okay. EDIT: The tall PVC hoops that he sets up in this video are similar to what my set up was. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pHru4eZI1VA.html
@@erinjoy5625 Do not worry too much, cold and dark also works (not freezingly cold) they will drop many leafs but will make a rebound in spring. Citrus trees (although normal lemons are a little bit more picky than others) go into a winter hiatus in such a condition!
@@erinjoy5625I don't know if you ever got a lemon tree, but I I'm in 8b and I grow Meyer lemon, Cara Cara orange, key lime, Ray Ruby grapefruit, and satsuma. Without Christmas lights. Not all citrus has the same cold tolerance, you have to choose the right variety
I bought a couple of citrus trees in late November and there already producing more than 20 fruits per tree. I have no idea how or why so fast, but I'm happy.
BEST TIMING FOR THIS VIDEO !!! I have sooo many citrus trees and I’m overwhelmed. I’ve been in over my head in charge of a giant tropical garden 😭 THANK YOUU !
Hey hey I saw your other video. Not only can you eat the sweet potatoes, the leaves taste great too! You just need to cook them with a bit of garlic and they will become very soft. Great source of nutrition and fiber. And they grow super fast.
I really liked this video! I live in zone 7b Oklahoma and have several citrus trees. I wish that I could plant them in the ground, but sometimes it gets too cold, just like a few weeks ago it was -4 degree F with the wind gusts. I’m afraid that even with all of that winter protection they would die. I keep them in a heated greenhouse over the winter and take them out when days and nights are above 60 degrees F. Please try to post more videos about citrus care when you have some time 😀🙏🍋🍊
Live in Missouri and remember my grandparents had an orange tree in a pot that bore fruit around Christmas. It was about 3 feet tall and my grandpa was so proud. Almost 40 years ago. I hated the spikes. Lol good memories
@@Youngstomata why do the crazies always work the word "sheep" into conversation. Why do coloradans always have to imply they're some type of "native"? Genetically and culturally you are closer to a Californian.
A note on the Christmas lights-don't use the LED ones. They don't put off enough heat. They're also acceptable for keeping your oil from freezing if you don't have a head bolt heater on your car and you live in the north. Just like them up and stick them on your engine overnight.
I live on the East Bay in Rhode Island (zone 7). I have two Tri-foliate "Hardy Orange" trees in my yard, both are over 15 years old. The trees are no more than 4 feet tall. They are both in areas of the yard that are a little more protected from the winter gales. This past year, I got a bumper crop of citrus off of them (about a quarter bushel of oranges) and I made, what I call "Marmalade not for the faint of heart". Some years, I get no to little fruit, last year was exceptional. The fruit also makes for a wonderful bitters for a martini! A few seasons ago, I found Tri-foliate "Hardy Grapefruit" trees, but they were just a little too young to plant outside. I have one that is pot-bound and perhaps in another season, I will find it a home outside. Looking forward to getting fruit off that! So YES! You CAN grow citrus in New England!!!
Dollar Tree had 2022 heirloom veggie, herb, and flower seed packets 25 Cents today at my local store in AZ. Big variety. May or may not be in every Dollar Tree but worth looking for if you have a Dollar Tree store near you.
You're right Kevin, I am bitter about you being able to Harvest Citrus in early January. 😠 My citrus trees are inside my back bedroom starving for light. 😳I'm going to be adding a plant light today! I'm hoping they will make it till warmer weather. 😠🌱🍋 I'm so glad to see your homestead growing in Leaps and Bounds!😇🌈🌱
I noticed my orange and lime trees grow best when short, stubby, and narrow. Prune it back after the fruit ripens and all fruit is picked off. Remove dead branches. If the trees’ height is 6 feet, prune it to 5 feet.
Xmas lights work. I use them for my citrus trees in a much colder climate with the combination of the agrilcloth like 4-6C more than outside. Just be careful that lights arent LED those don't give off much if at all any heat.
BRO! Lots of good looking growth in a year! A quick note on the Christmas Lights for winter warmth - a a strand of mini-lights is perfect, but make sure you're using a strand with incandescent and not LED bulbs. The incandescents could add a few degrees of temp boost, but LEDs run cool and won't add any meaningful heat. Best combo is put on christmas lights and wrap your tree to keep in the warmth!
My Lemon tree ended up with an open canopy because of my constant battle with Citrus Leaf Miners, I've been told a lot that an open canopy is the best way to go, I'll start training it to fill in the middle if that's the case, I can do a bit of scarring in the middle branches 👍
I live in a subtropical climate. Nobody prunes their lemon or oranges trees. The trees fruit well but I have to admit that it is a bit hard to harvest due to the branches and hight. I just bought a lemon tree and I plant to prune it. Great video I am gonna follow your tips. Thanks ☺️👍
I am really enjoying all your videos. I have started growing all sorts of plants inside right now getting ready for spring to get a garden going and also some citrus! Also Growing my first batches of microgreens!
Wow. I've always been told (by lemon tree growers) that I SHOULD prune the inside to get airflow & more blossoms & fruit. It's only a 4ft tree, but I usually get over 30 lemons. So you're saying that I should let the interior grow !
Thanks. I have only one orange tree for now. Next will be lemon. I have like 10 oranges on my tiny orange tree. I did not know i should have removed them but now it is too late - they are all ripe now
Great video! I planted some Lemon seeds from store bought lemons over a year ago and after getting hit by Spider mites, the plant survived and is now about 8 inches tall. Hopefully it gets to the size of your's one day! 🍋🌳
@@followp hi, I also planted a lemon seed an my trees bout 10 ft tall.Im in zone 7 so I bring it in for the winter.Its had some blooms for 2 yrs but never any lemons.Any suggestions on fertilizing it?Im goin to repot it this spring.
@@beesmith9508 just any citrus fertilizer will do. lemons arent very needy, just make sure you dont move it around too much when you take it in and the most important thing ever for any citrus especially for the winter is to get a hygrometer.... lemons hate when they get too much water and if you take it in for the winter the chances are very high you will water it way too much. a hygrometer will elevate any lemons lovers citrus skill to master level 100 overnight.
I put C9 xmas lights on all my citrus. Being in south carolina, the night temp can get down to 15F and with xmas lights and a frost blanket I can keep the temperatures above freezing IF you wrap them before sunset.
Lol 😂 Kevin feeling all our our beady eyes staring him down as we sit here and freeze in 20 degree weather. I’m watching this with a heated blanket on my lap. Great video as always!
Angela at Growin in the Garden says that the fruit at the bottom is often the sweetest. So if you skirt the tree by removing lower branches, you'll be missing out on the sweetest fruit.
wow you have mention one thing important that I use to do which is wrong.... opening a window for sun and air. thanks for let us understand it is a mistake
They need to stay moist until you plant them. I've had no problem germinating them inside in the mid-upper 60s. It's probably best to start them when it's warm enough to have them outside, but I've started mine in the winter and just kept them in a window until the spring when I bring them outside. Seedlings typically won't grow true to the parent plant, but usually give you something good.
I've used the christmas tree lights, the C4 incandescent ones to protect my citrus here in the Santa Clara valley and it does work. Now I'm just using frost cover. My citrus are all in containers too and because I have no indoors to move them into and they are over 3ft tall and heavy besides I use the covers.
watching people who live in warm environments makes me sooo jealous lol. up here in minneapolis apples are pretty much the only fruit tree game in town. jonathans are tastey at least...
Hi there new listener of your podcast and I had a couple of questions I was wondering if you could answer them on there. 1. Growing and selling seedlings. When do I start them so they’re not too big or too small to sell when it’s time to plant? 2. If I grow asparagus bean (very underrated plant) near bush beans will they create a hybrid? 3. Could you put silica packets with your seeds when saving them to keep them dry?? Or would they get too dry/altered?
we recently planted orange, lemon, naartjie, 2 x lime varieties. they are slow growing compared to the lemon which self seeded in our water from sink run off area....... it's massive.
My lemons and lime trees are indoors (I'm from NY)super sunny morning/ early afternoon sun all the leaves are falling off 😭 and the flowers are drying up and falling off. I have some really small fruits that have been there a while and some flowers in different stages.the trees are going on 2 years old.
I know people usually pluck out the weeds from their garden, but there was this one documentary about an Asian dude that has like 1000 olive trees and he loves them so much and tends to them every day, but he leaves the weeds to grow bcz he says that they act as a natural pesticide, i dunno just food for thought, in the end i don't know much about gardening but his philosophie of natural gardening sounded very chill to me, he uses some pest control products but as little as he can.
I absolutely adore citrus and am so happy growing them in our bay area garden! They bring so much joy and excellent nutritious treat in winter! I hope your citrus wall grows nicely and fills out to the beautiful edible green garden wall that you desire! I have the same thing growing along my west facing fence line and so far so good! The Eureka lemon has really taken off. I highly recommend growing Eureka Lemons they will shock you with the major growth they can obtain in just 1 year! Loving our Washington Navel as well sweet as can be in March here in bay area weather. When do your oranges ripen up there near to San Diego? Ok see you around the garden for now. Best of joy, luck and faith in the garden!
You can take advantage of the weeds growing near your plants, just let them grow their tap root which is longer than the 2 feets of your citrus roots... Cut them (let the roots in the soil) in june or just before they make seed, the leaves make a good mulch and the earthworms and micro-organisms will love to eat the dead tap root, making then the best soil/fertilizer for your plants. And by this mean your plant can make use of nutriments that would be too deep otherwise. Happy soil, Happy plants
My lemon tree is putting on loads of fruit here in the winter in the uk in a north facing window 🤣 granted it is one of the hardiest lemon trees, im just taking from it that its happy
Thanks Kevin, first here on your IRIE channel and so appreciate your kind and professional help, we have a Yellow Grapefruit Tree, about the size of yours, and doing my research here on RU-vid the black sooty mold it has is due to insect infestation, well I have the remedy now but my chalan(helper)pruned it taking off a significant amount of greenery, creating more airflow, after seeing how your grapefruit is "bushy looking", I just hope ours isn't affected negatively by this imprudent pruning. Thanks for sharing, 👍and greetings 👋from Querétaro! 🤠
I wish I had the space for that many citrus trees! Excited to see yours grow! It looks like you have a leaf miner problem though. I released some Diglyphus isaea parasitic wasps that go for the miners and put out some leafminer traps on our trees.
I will have to try this. All my citrus are getting hit pretty hard with them, and nothing I've tried has worked. Any other suggestions that worked for you?
@@awkwardtexasstranger5660 Nothing else. I don't like using chemicals and using soapy water didn't help since the leaf miners are protected inside the leaves. I put out the traps and introduced the wasps in early 2021, pre-winter storm and after since I didn't know if it would have killed them. I still have some leaf miners around but definitely not as much as 2020. In 2021 there were a good amount of branches that had normal growth. In 2020 it seemed like all the new growth was impacted.
I have a cara cara orange that needs some light pruning. I have NO IDEA when It's ok. It blossoms and starts to set fruit before we've finished harvesting the current year. The fruit is almost ready to go, but they're best in late February. I'm stumped.
Just a suggestion please talk internationally ie not fall but autumn, summer winter etc. not being critical just a suggestion from the Southern Hemisphere Keep up the great work Good one buddy
Interesting, I recently saw a video about citrus trees that said that you should prune branches that are leaning inwards, to improve airflow. Why should we not do that? I would have liked more information about that
Hey Kevin i realy enjoy your videos, I am a big fan and a little envious of you climate. You a a big citrus fan, so am I. The 2 i like rhe most are the “ugly” and the “pomelo” have ever seen them or heard of them. They are delicious. I would like to know more about them. Loving wishes aya
Thank you. I really liked your 'tip' for protecting citrus in very cold weather. I had heard of frost blankets for plants, but I've never actually seen one. I live in the sub-tropics (Australia) and it does not get that cold here, even on the mountain where I live inland a bit from the coast. It's really strange, but a couple of the garden shows we have on t.v., all say to 'open up' the citrus tree to help with air flow. Perhaps it's because our trees can develop what is called. 'sooty mould' where the leaves get covered in a dark substance which looks like soot from a chimney. This information about cutting the tree to open it up for air flow, might be specific to sub-tropical climates where we have high humidity. I enjoy your videos and I like looking at your garden . Best wishes.
Great information. What to do with a citrus that is grown in a pot as espalier as far as keeping interior dense canopy? As far as grow lights for vegetables like lettuce my question here to you is : Is the grow light harmful to the nutrients derived by the plant and would it still be considered organic at this point? 🍋
I live in zone 8b/9a border zone and my lemon tree was doing well till it died earlier this spring from disease...... some sprouts started to grow near the dead trunk. I don't know if I should even put effort in growing those young shoots or simply throw in the towel and not bother till I move to zone 10.
The Christmas lights need to be the incandescence lights. LED’s won’t but out heat. I did this trick with my two Queen palms a couple of years ago when we were going to have a few days below freezing with sleet/snow (crazy historic winter freeze for Houston, TX). Wrapped the lights in tight rows up the trunk and then bundled a large amount in the crown. Then wrapped the trunk with radians barrier. Tied the fronds together like a ponytail and wrapped that with frost cloth. Mine are the only palms in the neighborhood that survived.
I should have watched this video first haha. I don't regret cutting off the couple branches I did though on my variegated pink lemon. There were a couple lower branches dragging through the soil. It bugged me. I'll sacrifice fruit for now lol.
I'm in San Diego as well. My orange tree (that we guess at least to be 40 years old) is absolutely loaded! Tried one orange almost 2 weeks ago before harvesting, still wasn't very sweet. Left them on the tree. When is the best time for oranges here in SD to be picked? I had to prune a branch back at non optimal timing due to the weight of the branch, I was worried it was going to snap off, it was hitting the fence and extending over sidewalk. I didn't count them all, but over 50 was my count on the one branch. Tree is so loaded with fruit. Planted a meyer lemon and sweet lime in the spring and totally made the mistake of not taking enough of the fruit off. Took some, but definitely not enough, hoping they make it
I just bought my first citrus tree last winter. It's a Meyer lemon - I think I heard that you don't want fruit on it for the first 3 years. Is that right?
The reason you don’t prune the center out of citrus is that they can sunscald, which damages the bark, makes it prone to disease, and ruins both growth and fruiting.
