By Janet Harper, January, 2023


There are a couple of major differences in the way people care for their citrus.

Being a more subtropical plant rather than temperate they do like the heat in summer. They also like some cool in winter. When light outside gets less they need less water and ripen their fruit.

That makes sense except that’s when you brought yours in to a warmer environment. If you do that you have to keep it growing with lights and humidity.

Some people have better luck bringing them in early like the beginning of October so they adapt slowly to the inside environment. It would also adapt if it’s inside the house all year long.

The other way is to leave them outside all winter which I try to do with Meyer Lemons (but 2021 and 2022 December they had to come in for 3 weeks as too cold).

I winter them on a porch so they are sheltered from the worst of the soggy rain until it’s colder than -2*C. No leaf loss but not really growing.

One day they might be in-ground if I can find a good place.

Other people keep them in a greenhouse all year round with temps cooler in winter which mimics their native environment which originally were the cooler parts of Asia. (Originally North East India, South China).

So the temps in your garage, shed, sunroom or greenhouse would be better than your living room, with lights and humidity of course.

Yours will some back. Feed it monthly from Feb to August with Citrus fertilizer with micronutrients, then stop. Water little in winter and more in summer.

There’s no winter in most heated Canadian living rooms.