On 3/10/2009 4:24 PM, JS wrote:
I have a 10 yrs old citrus tree which is about 7ft tall.
I have been bringing indoor every year when winter starts around
December, and bringing outdoor about March or so. I live in Dallas, TX area.
This year I have noticed excessive dead branches --- only few mature branches and
the main trunk survived !!

Does anybody in this forum know what I can possibly be doing wrong ?
I have stored at the same location of the house every year. I really
am running out of idea what might have caused such problem.

Thanks in advance,

There are several possible causes: too much water, not enough water, too
little humidity, spider mites. However, the most likely cause of dead
branches is treating citrus as a house plant, which it definitely is not.

I had a dwarf lemon in a large redwood tub. The tub was on a small
platform with wheels. In the winter, I would roll the lemon into my
garage at night when I got home from work and then roll it out onto the
driveway when I left for work in the morning. It was kept outdoors
during the daytime. During the night, it was NOT in my house (with heat
and low humidity); it was in the unheated garage. The tree lived for
some 35 years or more, well beyond the estimates given by several
nurseries that dwarf citrus in containers live only 25-30 years.

Where I live now, the winters are slightly more mild. In the winter, I
leave my dwarf citrus outside at night. See my
http://www.rossde.com/garden/dwarf_citrus.html.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary