Imagine! Having a freshly sliced lemon wedge whenever your heart desires! How awesome would it be to always have lemon water around your house? I’ll show you how easy it is to grow a lemon tree-indoors!
** It is recommended that you purchase a dwarf lemon tree. The Improved Meyer Lemon variety tends to do the best indoors. Purchase a tree that is at least two years old.
To maintain your healthy tree, begin by placing a saucer slightly larger than the plant’s pot (take this time to make sure that your pot has drainage holes. Make some if it doesn’t) Sprinkle gravel across the saucer. This will help provide the tree with adequate drainage, because as we all know: root rot kills!
When planting indoors, I always make sure to use a potting soil. There are several varieties of soil out there, so I always ask the workers at my local nursery for their input! The size of the container could depend on the kind of soil needed. Fill your planter about halfway full of potting soil.
Next, remove your dwarf lemon tree from it’s plastic container, and place it in the pot. Spread out the roots of the tree, but make sure you are extremely gentle! Cover with soil, taking care to cover all roots. Water immediately after transplanting.
When growing citrus trees indoors, many growers find that their plants like to be misted with water. This makes sense, because fruit trees do love the humidity! Mist with a spray bottle frequently. Consider your climate when misting, areas with more humidity tend to need less mist. Keep the soil moist.
Lemon trees thrive in temperatures of 70 degrees during the day, with cooler temps at night. It is important to remember that trees love light, and your lemon tree would do best if kept in a southern-facing window. Lemon trees need up to 12 hours of light during the cold months.
The fruits can be harvested in 4-6 months (depending on the variety of lemons you are growing). More often than not, fruits can be harvested for months after they are ready.
My lemon tree will have a lot of blooms, fruit begins to form then they all fall off.
I have a potted dwarf Meyer lemon. 2nd year had about 20 lemons, 3 rd year 2. they take almost a year to mature.
It is green and putting on new leaves. I have not reportted since I bought the plant it is in a 18″ pot. Indoors in the winter and out in the summer. I double pot it in half a barrel with gravel around to keep it from blowing over on windy days.
Help
Judy
Question for you, I have a Lemon and Orange (dwarf) from our local nursery. They both did great on the deck this summer, and I slowly got them ready to bring inside. Mind you they just started to bear fruit and had lots of blooms and tiny fits all over. Once I bright them inside, the orange tree seems to be going in shock and the fruit and leaves are falling with the slightest touch 🙁 and the lemon isn’t showing any signs of shock and is doing really well! How can I help the poor orange tree? I do have organic citrus fertilizer that I apply when needed. But i am at loss here. Do I prune it back where its dying off or leave it be?
Thanks so much!
Amanda
Amanda,
What temperature do you keep your home at? Also, is it getting enough sun?
I had to purchase a light for my Meyer lemon. I ordered from green house lights(I think is the correct name) that was recommended by the company I purchased from. Mine had TINY bugs, spider mites, I had to clean her up (we decided our tree was a girl, “sunny”) with dawn dish soap, set a tape trap for the bugs, and just continue to wipe and take care or her. Also got a water/light meter, that helps me. I am about to re pot her, hoping she won’t go into shock! Good luck with your orange tree!!
-Tatyana
Tatyana,
I purchased a light for my indoor citrus trees, too. They worked great. I’m so glad that you got rid of those awful bugs! Let me know how your repotting project goes…I wish you a bountiful harvest!
Hi, I live in central Wisconsin but have beautiful southern light. Can I grow indoors during the cold months and then outdoors in the summer? Really appreciate your advice and I think I would probably have to get a light for the winter months.
Sending goodness…jane
Yes! That would work well. Generally, citrus doesn’t grow well in WI at all…so make sure it’s warm enough outside before you transplant them. Just make sure you pick a dwarf variety 🙂
I’ve had a lemon tree for about 4 years , I take it outside in the summer & bring it inside during the winter when temp starts to get close to 40f at lowest. It puts on a lot of blooms more than half falls off before becoming large lemons. They take all year to ripen. I bought another tree 3 years ago which does even worse it produced 3 lemons first year , 0 the next & has 1 this year. My greatest concern though is the trees are almost completely void of leaves, they fall off as soon as the get a decieint size, whether they are outside, inside with or without grow lights, spraying or not spraying with water. What can I do to help my poor naked Trees?
Do you have neough bees in your area? They may need more pollen to ripen.