various kinds of orange trees, at least 2 kinds of lemon trees, key lime tree, tangerine.

Half-price sale, I picked up a couple (miho orange and improved meyer lemon that I am going to try in the ground here in the metroplex (going to take some work in the winter I know).

Not sure if this is at all Lowe's or just the one in Dallas on Lemmon.

Just trying to help out my OB brethren and sistren. I do not own stock in Lowe's or nursery companies.

FWIW Lowes plants have a 1yr warranty on them as well, just keep your receipt and the plant tag. I staple them together and toss them in the filing cabinet.

I'm in the metrolplex and have tried meyer lemons. They don't work in the ground - it just gets too cold. What people recommend on gardening forums is to plant the citrus in a large container and put it on casters so you can easily bring it indoors.

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What people recommend on gardening forums is to plant the citrus in a large container and put it on casters so you can easily bring it indoors.

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This. Growing any citrus in the ground north of I-10 is going to be just about impossible. Outside of the valley, some tangerines might work. Satsuma's for example.

my neighor has an orange tree in a pot that she never takes indoors. She puts a blanket or something over it on the really cold nights/days.

I already have orange and lemon in pots, I want to try putting 2 in the ground to see if they grow more vigorously. I plan to erect a scaffold in the winter to make an artificial temporary greenhouse with plastic sheeting. I'll report back on whether I ended up wasting $30 on the experiment.

also you can bury part of the trunk in the winter to at least keep the base, and above the bud-union alive. Much of tree may die off, but not all of it. If you don't feel like covering and warming.

What FarmerJohn said. There is a good reason most citrus trees are in Florida, Calif. and the Texas valley.

But I'm not a citrus farmer. I just need to keep 2 trees alive. I've read all the ag extension stuff.

Guy here has kept one alive for 2 years planted in the ground.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/txgard/msg0521353928310.html

you can keep a citrus tree alive north of I10. Dallas might be too far north but I know lots of people in CS with citrus trees. Just protect them from the few nights of frost we get.

Yeah my uncle has a massive Meyer lemon tree in Bryan. That thing puts out tons of fruit. I'm thinking of trying one myself.

BCS is much more suited for citrus than Dallas. Houston would be great.

Be careful with the lowes / Home Depot citrus trees. They will sell you a lemon tree that might survive in the climate that they sell it, but will never make fruit.

If you are looking for fruit, I would buy fruit trees from a local nursery that will tell you whether or not the tree will actually be productive.

It can be done, but buy locally like what was said above, and prepare for it to be a pain in the ass... especially at first

[This message has been edited by Cyprian (edited 3/22/2012 6:33a).]

The lowes trees are sourced from a texas company.

key lime trees are IMO much more cold tolerant than lemons. I've tried both.

I've heard that the oranges are actually the most hardy to cold, but I've never tried it.

I had a key lime tree that got gigantic. Was awesome. Two crops a year and smelled fantastic. Orange trees supposedly smell even better. YMMV

I just bought a key lime a few weeks ago for $29 (pre-sale i guess) and have already grafted a bud from an improved meyer lemon tree on it. Hopefully the graft will take, and I'll have a Lymon ® tree.



I don't have it in the ground yet, but I'm planning to plant it right up next to the house and espalier it across a southwest-facing wall. I'll drape something over it for cold snaps, maybe even put some christmas lights on it for added warmth...

^ That's a nice set up!



My folks are master gardeners and live in Brazoria county. They have several citrus trees that produce a ***t-ton of fruit.

Apparently the drought really helped the fruit become sweet, but they had to water the hell out of the trees to keep them alive.

just for clarity, that pic was just a random shot of an espalier i found on the web. mine is just "planned" at this point.

I ended up planting one orange tree in the ground. It has about seven oranges that are beginning to turn orange. By three other orange trees are in pots. There is only one orange on those three trees. My old Meyer lemon tree has about four lemons on it that are turning yellow. The new Meyer lemon tree that was put into a pot did not have any lemons. My theory that trees planted in the ground would retain fruit has proven true. Now the challenge will be to protect that tree through the winter.

I have a mexican lime, an orange, a meyer lemon, a lisbon lemon, and a kumquat all in pots, all producing fruit.

the meyer and the lisbon are only giving one fruit per plant but they did get attacked by some moths and had a bunch of catapillers.

The kumquat, orange and lime trees have been producing fruit for 2 years now.

Duncan what is the trick to getting production out of the potted plants? They flower, they get small fruits, but the fruits just fall off over time, well before maturity.

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edit: this looks like a good source of information.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/citrus/msg0904320612231.html?9

[This message has been edited by shiftyandquick (edited 10/22/2012 10:17a).]

I haven't really done anything special. I had no idea what I was doing when I planted them.

The potting soil is a mix of garden soil and potting soil with a little bit of gravel on the bottom and some mulch on the top.

They are all on a micro-irrigation system

I put half a fertilizer stick on the very edge furthest away from the dripper.

They are all on put in direct sunlight.

Basically, I mark it down to luck.

I have purchased citrus trees from lowes with fruit already on them.

IN Houston, I have a lime & lemon tree in pots and doing well for 5 years. I just move them into the garage on the few cold nights in Houston.

I also have 4 (tangerine? & grapefruit) grown as an espalier on my fences. I lost two of those trees last winter (they were not in full sun), but the other two that were in full sun did fine all winter.

"Be careful with the lowes / Home Depot citrus trees. They will sell you a lemon tree that might survive in the climate that they sell it, but will never make fruit."

They aren't the only ones. Many of the Arkansas blackberry varieties that are sold by many BCS outlets aren't suited for this area. Even blackberries have cold chill hour requirements and several are 8-900 hour plants.

My wife probably grew those trees you're buying. Buy all of them, we gotta eat.

Center hill, what do y'all use for media? Mix of bark and what?

She said they have 7 different medias, rice hulls, gin trash, etc. She works for a different company than the one you pictured though.