The Tropical Fruit Forum

I have also inspected for root rot and have found no evidence, so that’s a bonus right?

Good evening everyone!

I am continuing my battle with growing citrus indoors all year around. The plants are alive (most of them) but I am struggling with the fertilizing. The plants are flushing new growth as well as flowering but I can’t keep them fed properly. I am upping the volume of nutrients but am not too sure how much to increase. On the bag of jacks 25-5-15 it has small volume measurement but how do you know which dose to go with? I am trying the 20%-750 ppm of nitrogen. The plants are being fertilized every watering on a 4 day of 1 day on watering schedule. They are also being fed a slow release fert to supplement.

Thanks!

Let us know how it goes. I won’t lie the 5-1-1 has resolved my root rot issues. All of the plants in my tent (I’m growing indoors only) are thriving.

It’s only pumping 25 watts which is not very much right now. I’m using a 300 watt LED and I haven’t had any problems yet. Could it be damage from soluble salts?

Evening all!

When I water my plants I do so in a 5 gallon bucket and then pH the water (my city water is very alkaline). My question is, when watering potted citrus (my plants are indoors only), does the volume of water you give each plant matter as long as it’s enough to run out the bottom of the pots? I’m not necessarily worried about root rot but rather a high volume of water may flush all nutrients out of the pot. They are in 3 gallon pots and I am giving them about 1gallon of water each every time I water.

Thanks!!!

This is a cool thread, I have been trying to figure this out my self. I have been shooting for 250ppm but I wonder if I am under fertilizing.

Out of curiosity how long was it outside for and what temperatures did the tree experience?

Thanks!

UPDATE:

So my plants have arrived and they look a little worse for wear. So I currently have 2 x 1 gallon Meyer lemons, 1 x 1 gallon yuzu ichandrin, 1 x 1 gallon cocktail grapefruit, and 1 x 1 gallon owari satsuma. They are for sure grafted but pretty leggy and they have scars from previous battles with pests. I stripped the plants down to the bare roots to inspect and only one was showing a sign of a little root rot which I cut away. I then reported them in 5-1-1 repti bark - perlite - peat. I won’t lie I over estimate how fast the medium drains and how fast the plants then dry out. My plan is to fertilize once a month as it stands. They are under a grow light for 14 hours a day. The lights on temperature is approx 82f and a low of approximately 65f. I pH my tap water using phosphoric acid to 6-6.5.

Questions:
1) should I set my lights to stay on for longer as they under a light and not the glorious sun?
2) the 5-1-1 plant medium was dry when I mixed it. Should I dunk the pots in water for like an hour to have them soak thoroughly and maybe that will help with water retention?
3) the left plants can barely stand on their own, some are even flopping over. Should I cut off a chunk to try and get them to thicken up and branch out?
4) any advice to help plants bounce back after spending a week in a box due to shipping?

Thanks fellas!

Also if anyone has any advice for pH either soil or water please let me know. My tap water drifts between 7.5 and 8.5 which is no good. I know vinegar does not last long when being used to lower pH. I’m wondering if I use vinegar every time I water. Is that a way to overcome this problem.

Thanks fellas

Olivier,

Did you have just fans inside pausing airflow around. Or did you have a filtered fan to pump old air out?

Thanks man. I plan to photo document the process over the course of the season.

Hi everyone, I hope the start of summer is going well!

So most of my previous posts had related to indoor citrus as I live in a typical unfriendly-to-citrus environment. I have some citrus being shipped from Phoenix perennials in Vancouver and I plan to continue to experiment with growing citrus indoors. I know that this will be a challenge as citrus are plants that obviously thrive outdoors but that hasn’t stopped me from trying to have thriving indoor citrus. I am looking for any advice on making this a successful growing experience as I struggled previously with root rot, lack of lighting and fluctuating root temperatures. So this time around I am going “all-in” with the indoor experiment. Listed below is what I have prepared for my indoor citrus (4th time is a charm!):

-They will be living in a 2x4’ grow tent that is lined with reflective Mylar material to help reflect light, regulate temperatures and humidity.

-I will be fertilizing with jacks high performance 25-5-15 (after the advice of everyone here).

-fabric pots and plastic air root pruning pots for maximum drainage and access to oxygen (my first attempt at defending from root rot which I have struggled with).

-medium will be 5:1:1:1 for extra drainage. I will used cedar bark fines (the best/affordable bark I could find), 1 mushroom compost, 1 sand, 1 large coarse perlite. I know this mix may seem extreme but I would rather have to water every day then have another set of plants die from root rot.

-TSL 2000 Marshydro LED light that is using 6400K light. The light covers the 2x4 area nicely.

-6” oscillating fan for airflow

-humidity/temperature monitor.


First question: because I won’t have to compete with any weather or seasons, how does this effect fertilization/fruiting schedules?

Second question: my area chlorinated tap water, should I dechlorinate?

Ok team, does it seem like I am prepared? Any other recommendations for success?

I intend to have these be indoor plants (yes their size will be a challenge down the road) but I am excited to see what is capable growing citrus in my basement. I also plan to photograph the growing experience and see if I have learned from previous mistakes.

Thanks very much! Any advice is very much appreciated!!!

I’m stoked to watch this!