tips for bringing your citrus indoors over the winter

[Unicyclemike]

I have a basement in which I plan to overwinter a couple of citrus that are in 5 gallon buckets. The Temp will be around 55-60 degrees F. I have a Led growth lamp over top of them.  What type of humidity should I try to have around my plants? Should I feed them at all? Should I mist the leaves?

Unicycle Mike

[Vlad]

I have a question to add to the above: what are the light requirements under those conditions?

[poncirsguy]

At 55F to 60F you will not need intense light but will need light equivalent to an overcast day.  No sun but no dark clouds either.

[Unicyclemike]

I am using a 75 watt led grow light. 

Unicycle Mike

[poncirsguy]

How many lumens does it put out.

[Unicyclemike]

It does not give the lumens...

Unicycle Mike

[poncirsguy]

I am wondering if the 75 watts is the energy used or represent the power of an incandescent bulb it replaces.

[Unicyclemike]

I don't know anything  about watts/lumens....Could you explain it?

Unicycle Mike

[Ilya11]

I am using Lux Meter Level application on Android device, I guess there is also an equivalent for iphone. For seedlings 5000 lumens is OK for growth, mature plants will need more.

[poncirsguy]

In the United States Light output is measured in watts with an incandescent bulb, around 1000 Lumens.  If a floresent bulb puts out a 1100 watts it is listed as a 75 watt CFL bulb even though it only uses 17 watts.  LED bulbs will use 10.5 watts for the same light output.

If your light puts out the lumens of a 75 watt incandescent bulb it will not be enough.  If your bulb actually uses 75 watts it will put out as much light as 7 incandescent 75 watt bulbs and should be fine for your use.

[Unicyclemike]

THANK YOU....

[Citradia]

I just put mine near a south or west facing window. The problem with citrus indoors is spider mites. I spray them with neem oil solution or haul them outside once a week if not freezing and blast the underside of leaves with hose. I have also put them in the shower to let it rain on them. Mites don’t like water or humidity. It helps to put a humidifier near your plants too. My in ground citrus in cold frames get water hosed once a week also when not freezing outside. They do better outside in cold frames I think because they get the natural humidity. Once my frames are set up, my maintenance on the cold frame citrus is easier/ less work than the potted ones in the house. Despite my efforts last year, I still had one potted indoor lemon tree defoliate from mites and didn’t recover until put back outside in spring.

[Peep]

To make it more annoying, lumens isn't really a good measurement for plants. Lumens is related to how much light we as human perceive, but for plants it works a bit differently. Other measurements, like PPF (Photosynthetic Photon Flux) and measured in µMol/s, are often used for growlights.

[kumin]

The problem with citrus indoors is spider mites. I spray them with neem oil solution or haul them outside once a week if not freezing and blast the underside of leaves with hose. I have also put them in the shower to let it rain on them. Mites don’t like water or humidity.


After using miticides with inconsistent success in the past within a cold frame environment, I eventually went to mist lines just below the poly covering. Although there's an occasional mite seen, there's no discernable damage. The mist lines also serve as Summer cooling equipment.

[kumin]

The problem with citrus indoors is spider mites. I spray them with neem oil solution or haul them outside once a week if not freezing and blast the underside of leaves with hose.

After using miticides with inconsistent success in the past within a cold frame environment, I eventually went to mist lines just below the poly covering. Although there's an occasional mite seen, there's no discernable damage. The mist lines also serve as Summer cooling equipment.