Growing Citrus in cold Climate Anyone?

[j.w]

It's Halloween for me all year long as long as you keep the Godiva supply chain built up Kingy Boy!

chocolate.gif

Otherwise:

Trick.gif

[brokensword]

It's Halloween for me all year long as long as you keep the Godiva supply chain built up Kingy Boy! chocolate.gif

Otherwise:
Trick.gif

but...but...but the ridin' koi don't like when you buzz the guard tower on yer broom...

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[j.w]

It's Halloween for me all year long as long as you keep the Godiva supply chain built up Kingy Boy! chocolate.gif

Otherwise:
Trick.gif

but...but...but the ridin' koi don't like when you buzz the guard tower on yer broom...

ghost.gif

Those koi...............and you Kingy Boy, will just have to suck it up then as the Queen shall ride forever w/her little cat Boo!

[Gemma]

In case anyone wonders, I gave up on the citrus!
I got tired that the smallest change caused the orange, and lemon to drop all leaves leaves
The grapefruit doesn't seem to be as delicate as the orange and lemon, but it too has thorns so I will be rehoming it in Spring.

It's not just the thorns, it's that after seeing @brokensword one and hearing of the struggle to move it in and out of the house, I decided it's not for me...I'm still glad I gave it a try and got it out of my system
hey broken, do you want it?

[brokensword]

In case anyone wonders, I gave up on the citrus!
I got tired that the smallest change caused the orange, and lemon to drop all leaves leaves
The grapefruit doesn't seem to be as delicate as the orange and lemon, but it too has thorns so I will be rehoming it in Spring.

It's not just the thorns, it's that after seeing @brokensword one and hearing of the struggle to move it in and out of the house, I decided it's not for me...I'm still glad I gave it a try and got it out of my system
hey broken, do you want it?

ah, erm, well...Royalty around here says 'only two citrus' per minion encampment, so guess I have to decline!! heh heh



Now, what you CAN do that I DIDN'T do soon enough (with the oldest one) is trim it back to the size you want, then you won't have any issue moving it. My second, second oldest grapefruit, is easy peasy; sits in an oil pan of 4 " dirt and stands only 18" tall. So, there's a way out fer ya, Missy! Give it a shot. Btw, the thorns then are a lot smaller and really, no issue. They CAN be a pita with the larger one, not quite as bad as roses but I get stabbed trimming it each spring! The idea here is bonsai, which means letting it get as tall as you want, then trim it down 6" below that. New branches will grow; rinse wash repeat. I WILL eventually get the larger older tree down; I'm encouraging lower growth now (for the past few years) and may actually do a very severe cut next spring, lopping off ONE of the TWO main trunks. Then letting the lower growth get thicker and hoping more new growth happens below the major cut. Worst case is I have ONE main trunk and some scrub growth below. I'd really like to get this to half it's size, though...!

[Gemma]

In case anyone wonders, I gave up on the citrus!
I got tired that the smallest change caused the orange, and lemon to drop all leaves leaves
The grapefruit doesn't seem to be as delicate as the orange and lemon, but it too has thorns so I will be rehoming it in Spring.

It's not just the thorns, it's that after seeing @brokensword one and hearing of the struggle to move it in and out of the house, I decided it's not for me...I'm still glad I gave it a try and got it out of my system
hey broken, do you want it?

ah, erm, well...Royalty around here says 'only two citrus' per minion encampment, so guess I have to decline!! heh heh



Now, what you CAN do that I DIDN'T do soon enough (with the oldest one) is trim it back to the size you want, then you won't have any issue moving it. My second, second oldest grapefruit, is easy peasy; sits in an oil pan of 4 " dirt and stands only 18" tall. So, there's a way out fer ya, Missy! Give it a shot. Btw, the thorns then are a lot smaller and really, no issue. They CAN be a pita with the larger one, not quite as bad as roses but I get stabbed trimming it each spring! The idea here is bonsai, which means letting it get as tall as you want, then trim it down 6" below that. New branches will grow; rinse wash repeat. I WILL eventually get the larger older tree down; I'm encouraging lower growth now (for the past few years) and may actually do a very severe cut next spring, lopping off ONE of the TWO main trunks. Then letting the lower growth get thicker and hoping more new growth happens below the major cut. Worst case is I have ONE main trunk and some scrub growth below. I'd really like to get this to half it's size, though...!

I fear that too much pruning to keep it small might prevent it from blooming and producing fruits and if it doesn't produce food there is no point in keeping it