We bought a house and the past owners left us with a (what I believe to be) citrus tree. The room it is in faces directly north but get tons of indirect light.
Although I have experience with house plants, I’ve never had a tree. My guess is that they didn’t prune it when they should and now, all the branches/leaves grow towards the skylight and, since the ceiling/glass get pretty warm, they get fried immediately.
I think they didn’t take it with them because it it’s too tall to be moved out of this room. I water it once a week or so. Have not changed the soil/pot it is in because I’m afraid it is going to snap of moved.
Can I cut it anywhere and try to repot it or save it somehow? 😦
by UlyNeves
11 Comments
Put that girl outside right now! 😭
Where do you live? Citrus trees need heat + plenty of light to thrive
Needs to be outside in soil not in a pot. The roots need as much room as possible to grow and spread out. Never put a plant or tree close to a surface that reflects the sun.
I know I already made other comments but let me consolidate them
•bigger pot
•outside for the summer
•inside for the winter (before first frost)
• pruning in fall but do your research
•you can definitely cut off dead branches though
r/Citrus has some really knowledgeable people around that might be able to give more specific to your situation advice.
Poor plant has been deprived of light for a long time. This may not be a project you want to take on, but if it were mine I would prune it severely and give it as much light as you can now. Winter, that’s another story. A citrus subreddit would be more helpful to decide what to do.
It was never meant to flourish in your environment. Whether they raised it from seed, or purchased it in a garden center, the former owners got suckered.
They do potted year-round indoor citrus in Alaska (with supplemental lighting). I killed mine, so I’m not sure how big they get. I did get four lemons off it though! As for this baby, it doesn’t hurt to keep trying does it? I’d look for some local fruit growers associations and see who else is doing it in your area.
Putting it outside would do wonders
What does the root ball look like? That has to be too small of a pot, and the plant is hungry 😋
Another factor to consider is humidity. A dry air conditioned house is most likely the worst thing it’s experiencing. A humidifier wouldn’t be good for the house, but misting the leaves often would go a long way.
You may want to consider hard pruning it and having a grow light trained on it for a long time to try and get some action but that’s going to be a tricky one for sure.
Much bigger pot, prune it to a reasonable size, grow light for winter and outside in summer? That’s what I’d do…