"Nick Maclaren" wrote

after "mike. buckley" wrote :
|
| It's sat in our south facing conservatory, which hits an easy 45
degrees
| with the current weather, and it's been watered twice in that time, and
| had one dose of some citrus feed we bought from the NEC show. All the
| leaves have dropped off and the small fruits are shrivelling slightly.
| It's also been put outside a couple of times when the conservatory has
| been really hot (south facing patio, 30+degrees)
|
| We've not over watered (been very careful of this having googled) and
| it's not sat in standing water either.
|
| Tempted to buy another couple to prove we can get one to survive!

I moved mine (actually orange and kaffir lime) out a long time
ago, and our south-facing conservatory has much better ventilation
than yours. They are much more cold-resistant than is commonly
believed, and it is generally worth keeping them outside from
(say) May to September.

Despite appearances, they are not drought-resistant, and suffer
badly in seriously hot, dry conditions - especially when in pots.

All our larger trees...

2 x Lemons (growing fruit and in full flower now and setting fruit again)
Orange (covered in good sized fruit and flowering again)
Tahiti Lime (some fruit still to ripen, flowering better than ever now and
setting so much fruit)

Have been outside against our S. facing front wall since March (no frosts
since) and will be out there until September at least (depends on the first
frost). They love it outside and as Nick says, can take some cold, although
I do avoid frosts and drag them back into the light clear plastic roofed
garage if it is a possibility. In the real winter they fill our little
greenhouse which is kept min 40°F.
(Cymbidium Orchids are treated almost the same.)

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London