meyer_bloom

Prep Your Citrus for a Successful Indoor Transition

8in_citrus_colored_pots_web

As temperatures get cooler and days get shorter, citrus grown in cold climates needs preparation for the winter transition to indoors. A gradual routine ensures against plant shock by too quick a climate change.

  1. Watch your watering! When brought indoors citrus should be kept on the dry side.
  2. Choose a place close to the house where it gets radiant heat from the house, porches with good sun exposure, outside walls adjacent to rooms that are typically heated with good sun exposure are some examples of good interim locations to acclimate your plant. Keep it in this location until the night time temperatures get into the mid to high 30’s. The longer the plant is outdoors the better.
  3. Feeding your plant before bringing it indoor is ideal. Use an Organic Acid base fertilizer and feed as you begin to adapt your plant to the move indoors. Feed again about 30 days before you move the plant back out.
  4. Don’t!! Repot your plant during its time indoors, this almost always results in the loss of the plant.Watch for insect problems which often occur when the plant is brought indoors. Mites and Scale are the two most common and if caught early, are easy to care for. Small black bugs coming out of the soil are most often Fungus Gnats and a sure sign that you are over watering.
  5. Yellowing leaves and leaf discoloration are common when bringing plants indoors. The goal is to bring the plant indoors as healthy as possible. A plant brought indoors with foliage discoloration will rarely recover until the following spring.


For more information on care of Citrus trees, visit Four Winds Growers’ Tips & Advice page.

Citrus Availability