"Sacha" wrote in message
. uk...
Dwayne6/2/04 3:54 Dwayne, no disrespect but if you're not posting from Britain, the winter
treatment of such plants would be very different here. This group is
geared
to gardening in the UK and I think you're posting from California?
We have lemon and orange trees in greenhouses or pots here and in winter
they have to be kept in a frost free conservatory or greenhouse. Some,
like
the OP, keep them indoors but it's questionable that central heating and
lack of natural light, such as most sitting rooms have, is good for them.
But if they get waterlogged by over-watering and then have 'cold feet' for
any length of time they will die, even in a glasshouse. Our Meyer's lemon
in
a small conservatory only gets watered if one of us happens to think of it
and several panes of glass blew out in the last storm but it is around 5'
tall and is covered with fruit at the moment.
The advice you're handing down is not at all appropriate for such plants
over-wintering in Britain and is more likely to kill them.
My husband sells these plants and in almost all cases the problems
customers
experience are due to over-watering but most especially in winter.
In the areas in which orange and lemon trees grow naturally e.g. the
Mediterranean, the ground they are on is often sharply drained so while
they
will get rained on, the roots will not remain soaking wet, the rain will
fall for a shorter period than the all year round rain we get here and in
the Med. they will get a good, long, summer baking in hot sun that we very
rarely see here! The same applies to those growing in California.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)


No, I am posting from Kansas. Our winters here are much colder than the 3
years I spend in Germany. We put them inside during the cold months and
outside during the summer the same as you do.

We did it for 10 years in Colorado, (a more severe winter climate than
here), and in Arkansas (milder, but where it still froze during the winter
months). We have been here in Kansas for 3 winters.

She has raised some citrus from seed and we have bought several. They have
been a challenge most of the year, but a very rewarding one. She keeps them
in a pot that drains into a tray. After the plant as soaked up as much
water as it can, the tray is emptied of excess water. After nearly 17
years, they still smell great when blooming. We have eaten oranges and
limes that we grew inside the house and out in the yard (some have put on
fruit during the summer months that ripened after moving them inside, and
others have started fruit inside and ripened after placing the plants
outside.

Dwayne