So it is with all my citrus; they grow real pretty, but they never bloom. More accurately, they never re-bloom.
For 11 long winters in New England, envisioning a poor man's orangerie in the sun-room, I've brought home citrus that were in prime health when they left the garden centers, all budded up and ready to flower. Calamondin, lime, lemon, orange, kumquat. I've tried 'em all, enjoying the sweet-sharp fragrances – and even a few pieces of fruit once in a while. Welcome winter treats evoking warm images of perfumed paradise.
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| In the basement, on borrowed time? |
No blooms, no fruit. Nothing but leaves and thorns on one plant after another. I waited patiently, then impatiently, then I composted them. As if my failures were their fault.
It had to be me. I tried to learn what I was doing wrong. Everything I read said citrus could be difficult to grow indoors, but not impossible. I gave them what they were supposed to want: humidity, good light, cool nighttime temperatures. Food, but not too much. Ditto on water.
This winter, I took a different tack. Deprivation. Somebody told me that might work. So, when autumn turned chilly, I put my latest victim, a 4-foot lime, in the unheated basement and began withholding water and food, giving the plant just enough moisture and light to keep it alive.
If this plan is sound, I figured this tree would have flowers or at least buds by now. It doesn't.
I can think of only one more possible reason for my failure: Maybe I'm not holding my mouth right.
My sorry citrus history reminds me – again – that gardening keeps you humble. It is not a contest; nature always has the last say. Until I say it's outtta here.
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I too have tried several citrus plants. They don't like my house either. I have been in someone's closed in porch when their Lemon Tree was blooming, smelled it's heavenly fragrance and then later seen some actual fruit. Amazing to me. Unattainable for me. Sigh~~
ReplyDeleteI've seen those happy plants too. Unless something changes, you and I won't be growing any.
DeleteCitrus- that's a tricky one. I have no experience with it myself. To be perfectly honest, I've heard so many similar stories that I don't even want to try. I guess we can't have it all. At least all your other plants look great!
ReplyDeleteIf you change your mind and grow a citrus, please give me the code, Mario.
DeleteOnly one thing can make this story worse: a neighbour who has managed to grow the plant successfully for years :)
ReplyDeleteYep, that's worse, Rosemary.
DeleteAnd yet you read of novice gardeners buying lemon trees from the back of comic book ads and growing them beautifully, full of fruit, no trouble at all. There has to be some simple remedy that you just haven't stumbled across yet. Frustration!
ReplyDeleteExactly. I'm still stumbling, Laurrie. And frustrated.
DeleteAfter many, er, unfruitful years, my potted Meyer lemon that I grow in the driveway and take into the garage to overwinter, not only flowered but actually produced a little lemon. But it stayed too green to pick...until I brought it into the garage before the first frost. It became more and more yellow until I finally did pick it a few weeks ago and had my very first edible lemon. I squeezed some over sauteed rainbow chard and put some in my green tea. Maybe it'll produce fruit again this year, but I'm not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, my potted blueberry in the garage is bursting with blooms. If it produces blueberries when I bring it outside after frost season, I'm hoping I can get to them before the critters.
Mim, I'll take your experience as motivation. I suspect my garage would be too cold, however, compared to yours in Georgia. Though mine could be the ultimate deprivation. What do I have to lose.
DeleteAt first I thought it was geography. Those citrus trees belonged in the true south, not southern Canada!
ReplyDeleteThen I thought it was me. I didn't mist them or feed them well enough.
But truly, now I think it's personal. They simply don't like me. Heck with 'em! Now I visit them in the nursery with a friend. Each Jan/Feb we go smell the earth and feel the sun indoors at a particular nursery where we OOOH and AAAH over all the blooms on the grapefruit(and other)trees. Some of those trees even are arched because of the weight of FRUIT on their branches. Phooey on them. I'm not buying.
Well, your change in attitude certainly sounds healthy. You know how it goes: Now that you've made it clear you don't care, you just might be able to grow them.
Deleteall I can say is that I have the perfect climate for citrus....and well it took 15 years for my trees to grow large enough for blooms and fruit...I had the best success with key limes..you simply cannot kill them and they have to be constantly cut back....kumquats are easy too...fuit does not pay to grow..so if you like the scent and color grow these..and buy oranges...
ReplyDeleteFifteen years? In Florida? Now, I know I'm fighting an uphill battle.
DeleteMaybe by cool nightime temperatures they didn't mean 40s :).
ReplyDeleteHmmm, any week now, they'll get 50s in the basement. If that doesn't work, maybe 30s in the garage.
DeleteWe gardeners are most interested in the plants which do not grow well for us.
ReplyDeleteEven in our much warmer climate it takes a few years for citrus to re-bloom and produce fruit. I do ignore them over the winter and they don't mind an occasional frost.
Mine's on track for getting the ultimate ignoring, Shirley. You have a favorite plant that does not do well for you?
DeleteHydrangea does not do well in our hot summers. It's okay until the very end of August and then just gives up. I have to bring it in during the summer to get a re-bloom.
DeleteHydrangeas do very well in New England by contrast.
In Georgia, I had the same problem with hydrangea; it fainted during the middle of the day. Indeed, it's shamefully easy to grow up here.
DeleteI posted a similar sad citrus tale on my blog a couple of months ago. A few weeks later, miraculously, my Meyer lemon began to GROW, putting out new leaves and flower buds. Then came the blizzard and our evacuation, and I brought my little lemon with the orchids I took with us. It was already showing signs of cold weather stress from the lack of heat in our house, but it perked up when we got to my in-laws'. But alas, those flower buds dropped, I am assuming because of the cold. Later, I read that these plants can't tolerate temperatures below 60F. Good luck, Lee!
ReplyDeleteYour lemon has been tested mightily, but it's still alive, if no longer in bloom. Your attention will make it thrive if you get any help from the weather.
DeleteOn the temperature, I'm amazed at the contradictory advice about these plants. I think that's because citrus is a classic case of pushing limits, so some of us are trying everything, anything. Only in the tropics and subtropics is citrus a sure thing.
Thanks, and good luck to you, too; you're doing much better than I am.
I wonder if it's not your fault at all, but a matter of maturity. I think some citrus trees can take quite a few years to bloom, so maybe you gave up too soon!
ReplyDeleteThanks, I haven't given up on it yet. But I'm close.
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