The Tropical Fruit Forum

Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for the information! I had also heard that orange varieties really needed a colder period to ripen and sweeten up, didn’t know if that also applied to mandarins or not in others’ experience. Has anyone successfully grown a mandarin tree indoors year round?

I will preface this post with the fact that I am a self-professed green thumb, but a relative novice to citrus. I got an improved Meyer lemon tree last year, grown in a container inside under a grow light, and really enjoy it so far. It has bloomed twice, pinched off the fruit to let it better establish. The older leaves are yellowing and dropping, but there are signs of new bud growth so figured this was just in preparation for spring growth.

I am now looking at getting a mandarin to accompany my lemon tree. However, given the wide temperature variations, and the fairly strong and frequent winds on the plains where I live, the plant would ideally be a primary indoor container-grown plant. There may be a few weeks outside in the summer months, but with winds routinely in the 15-20 mph range frequently, and lack of natural shelter in my backyard, I am nervous about keeping the plants outside for too long.

I have heard and read good things about Shasta gold, but didn’t know how well that would do as a primary indoor plant under a grow light? Also, with it being primarily indoors, is rootstock as important, or just monitoring soil moisture? I have the lemon tree in the 5-1-1, and after some learning curve about the drop in moisture needs over the winter, it seems to be doing well.