7 Tips for Indoor Citrus Growing Success

As we mentioned last week, growing your very own citrus garden will take planning and a bit of work, but it's something you can do, even in very small spaces, and with very little experience. The following is an overview and a few tricks to help give you a citrus green thumb.

Potted lemon tree. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Pot plants correctly - A deep container, either clay or ceramic, works well. Citrus roots are fairly deep, so you'll need a pot that allows roots to grow down deep. Be prepare to have about 3 or 4 pots in progressively larger sizes on hand for the transplants.

2. Use a sterile all-purpose potting mix - If you can't find a potting mix designed especially for citrus, just make sure your potting mix is slightly acidic. Peat moss is a good additive to bring acidic levels up. If you're unsure, ask at any garden shop and they can help you. You can also add citrus rind peelings to the soil to get the acid levels up.

3. Give mature citrus trees a chilly bedtime - During the day, you want a warm location, but citrus likes to be chilly at night. A temperature around 50 to 60 degrees is good for a citrus tree's bedtime, but only after your citrus plant grows up.

4. Provide lots of the right light - A southeast facing window works well in most regions. The plant will get sunlight, but not get scorched, as they might in a southwest window.  If you don't have enough natural light, think of adding plant lights to create a 'grow station.'

5. Maintain evenly moist soil - Don't let the soil dry out between watering. Keep the soil moist, making sure you don't add so much water that the plant is sitting in a puddle. Stick your finger in the soil and if it feels dry more than an inch below the surface, add water.

6. Keep the humidity high - Citrus plants want a humidity level around 50 to 60 percent. Keep that in mind when you choose the location for growing your citrus tree.  Mist your plants daily and group the plants together.  This helps both to make it easier for you to mist your plants, and it also creates a little ecosystem where the plants are sharing their humidity with each other.

7. Control pests - The most likely pests are white-flies and spider mites. Natural insecticidal soap controls virtually all the pests for houseplants. Do the research and choose a method that works best for you and your environment.

Fun All-Natural Citrus Planting Trick

Okay, you've got all the step-by-step instructions and tips for planting and growing citrus fruits from seed to tree.  But, do you want to do something a little bit off the grid?  Here's a fun spin on planting citrus that you, and especially your kids, may enjoy doing.

• Choose a large, thick citrus fruit.  A grapefruit works well, but a thick orange would work, too. Juice the fruit and take out enough of the membrane to form an empty bowl shape.  Separate a couple seeds and rinse them off.  Spoon some good potting soil into the 'fruit bowls' and place your seeds in the soil of both halves of the grapefruit, tamping the soil down lightly.  Water and place in a sunny area just like you would a regular pot. Make sure you provide lots of sunshine, warmth, and water so the seeds sprout.

• When the sprouts turn into little plants, leafing out and getting tall, just pick up the entire grapefruit and plant it in a bigger pot filled with good potting soil. The grapefruit rind will decompose which actually helps fertilize the soil as well as adding acidity to the potting mix, which is often needed in a commercial mix.

This project is definitely a win-win situation.  The grapefruit 'pot' is pretty, totally biodegradable, and adds acid to the potting soil. You might even say this is an all-in-one garden starter kit in a nifty little package.  How fun is that!  Well, nobody ever said you had to take planting a citrus tree seriously!