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,



JIMMY

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

On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:17:36 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

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.


I grow a lot of citrus as outdoor in summer, indoors in winter
plantings. I am in northern NJ.

They tend not just to get spider mites in winter, but aphids and
scale, too. Nevertheless, even with considerable leaf drop in winter,
as I have experienced with some once in awhile, they usually make a
full recovery when moved back outside.

An example is this very season...my two kefir limes have actually
grown quite a bit since September and have had no leaf drop to speak
of. These are in a northern exposure in a window are right over heat
risers, where one might be concerned about temp and humidity. They
love it there.

My Meyer lemon, though, has lost 2/3 of its leaves and has had to be
hosed off and sprayed with Safer a few times to keep the aphids under
control. It bloomed prolifically in December, though, and I still have
a few lemons hanging on to the almost bare branches. This pot sits
back from a southern exposure in a kitchen with enough humidity to be
a good environment for orchids. And the grapefruit and blood orange
are shiny leafed and happy in the kitchen. Go figure.

My attitude is one of "what the heck, let's try" with a lot of my
unusual (for here) plants. I got an Arebiqua olive to bloom and fruit
last year. That over winters in an unheated garage. I also have a
sequoia and a Joshua tree that I over winter inside in the basement or
garage or sometimes in the kitchen. Their weirdos are surprisingly
resilient to the various conditions to which I have subjected them.

Did I tell you I am growing a pomegranate from a seed pulled out of a
fruit a couple of years back? It's really happy spending summer
outside and winter in the kitchen. It has just leafed out the past few
weeks and it is looking mighty fine.

Boron

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

On Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:17:36 -0800, "David E. Ross"
wrote:

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.


I grow a lot of citrus as outdoor in summer, indoors in winter
plantings. I am in northern NJ.

They tend not just to get spider mites in winter, but aphids and
scale, too. Nevertheless, even with considerable leaf drop in winter,
as I have experienced with some once in awhile, they usually make a
full recovery when moved back outside.

An example is this very season...my two kefir limes have actually
grown quite a bit since September and have had no leaf drop to speak
of. These are in a northern exposure in a window are right over heat
risers, where one might be concerned about temp and humidity. They
love it there.

My Meyer lemon, though, has lost 2/3 of its leaves and has had to be
hosed off and sprayed with Safer a few times to keep the aphids under
control. It bloomed prolifically in December, though, and I still have
a few lemons hanging on to the almost bare branches. This pot sits
back from a southern exposure in a kitchen with enough humidity to be
a good environment for orchids. And the grapefruit and blood orange
are shiny leafed and happy in the kitchen. Go figure.

My attitude is one of "what the heck, let's try" with a lot of my
unusual (for here) plants. I got an Arebiqua olive to bloom and fruit
last year. That over winters in an unheated garage. I also have a
sequoia and a Joshua tree that I over winter inside in the basement or
garage or sometimes in the kitchen. Their weirdos are surprisingly
resilient to the various conditions to which I have subjected them.

Did I tell you I am growing a pomegranate from a seed pulled out of a
fruit a couple of years back? It's really happy spending summer
outside and winter in the kitchen. It has just leafed out the past few
weeks and it is looking mighty fine.

Boron

Thanks for interesting post. All I have is a kefir Lime which had
scale last year but none so far this. I have a sequoia growing outside
year round . Your others look like a research to do.
We have a few bamboo begonias and a couple abulitions (Sp) flowering
now . Outside it is 47 f last week it was - 5 f.

Bill... still the hellebores are coming on. But Late.

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:46:52 -0400, Bill
wrote:

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:


My attitude is one of "what the heck, let's try" with a lot of my
unusual (for here) plants. I got an Arebiqua olive to bloom and fruit
last year. That over winters in an unheated garage. I also have a
sequoia and a Joshua tree that I over winter inside in the basement or
garage or sometimes in the kitchen. Their weirdos are surprisingly
resilient to the various conditions to which I have subjected them.

Did I tell you I am growing a pomegranate from a seed pulled out of a
fruit a couple of years back? It's really happy spending summer
outside and winter in the kitchen. It has just leafed out the past few
weeks and it is looking mighty fine.

Boron

Thanks for interesting post. All I have is a kefir Lime which had
scale last year but none so far this. I have a sequoia growing outside
year round .

I've often wondered if I found a good, sheltered place, if I could
grow it outside. I got the seedling in Amador County, CA some years
ago. Yup have the advantage of a milder climate down there. How big is
the sequoia?


Your others look like a research to do.
We have a few bamboo begonias and a couple abulitions (Sp) flowering
now . Outside it is 47 f last week it was - 5 f.

Bill... still the hellebores are coming on. But Late.

Crazy weather that past few months.

Boron

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

I've often wondered if I found a good, sheltered place, if I could
grow it outside. I got the seedling in Amador County, CA some years
ago. Yup have the advantage of a milder climate down there. How big is
the sequoia?

About a ten year old tree that was purchased as a 5 foot tree. It
grew to about 10 foot before the main leader died and it is now about 7
foot. Grows slow. ad a another one that was varagated but it died in
3 years. This growing in the back of the garden with just a bucket of
water when I think of it.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

On Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:12:50 -0400, Bill
wrote:

In article ,
Boron Elgar wrote:

I've often wondered if I found a good, sheltered place, if I could
grow it outside. I got the seedling in Amador County, CA some years
ago. Yup have the advantage of a milder climate down there. How big is
the sequoia?

About a ten year old tree that was purchased as a 5 foot tree. It
grew to about 10 foot before the main leader died and it is now about 7
foot. Grows slow. ad a another one that was varagated but it died in
3 years. This growing in the back of the garden with just a bucket of
water when I think of it.

Bill

Indeed - very slow-growing. I will be able to keep it potted for a
long, long time.

Boron