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yakkwak

Rain, Rain, Go Away

yakkwak
10 years ago

After a nice stretch of beautiful sunshine, my area is heading into several days of straight rain. I brought inside my container citrus that are 5 ft. and under for some light therapy. Will the cooler inside temps cause leaf drop? My Seto and Miho Wase satsumas have been in a growth spurt for a while, and one of my calamondins is leafing, too. One of my Meyers has fruit. Another Meyer is doing nothing :-0 Inside day temps will be approx. 20 degrees cooler. Most are in 5:1:1, with weekly/weakly feeding. Thanks for any feedback.

Comments (7)

  • johnmerr
    10 years ago

    I only know a bit about the Meyers... it is not the temperature change that is important, but the light conditions. Any significant change in light conditions will cause the Meyers to drop leaves. Moving from outside to inside should be done gradually. Bright indoor light is roughly equal to full shade outdoors. Ideally you should go from full sun to partial sun; two weeks, then to full shade; two more weeks to indoors. Reverse in the Spring when you put them out. Instead of moving them, why not try putting plastic wrap over the top of the pot to stop too much rain.

  • yakkwak
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    OK, we'll try that. Will cut up a piece of tarp material. Hopefully, the sun won't stay away too long. Thanks.

  • meyermike_1micha
    10 years ago

    Why are you afraid of days of rain?

    Rain is far different than watering by the hose or can and can actually benefit your trees if you fertilize them properly while the brightest days are here.

    Rain slowly sinks into your mix only keeping it moist not soppy wet...Unless of course you are using a mix that has a muddy feel to it.....I would leave them outside since there in the rain will be far better for them than indoors....

    Mike

  • yakkwak
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The concern is constant rain equals significantly reduced sunlight. Had this visual of all this beautiful growth being dropped. Guess I am overly concerned.

  • skinn30a
    10 years ago

    In a fast flowing mix like 5-1-1, a good rain will flush your pots of built up sodium and unused fertilizer. Even your tap water over time can do damage to your citrus as it containers chlorine and fluoride and other stuff that the trees don't need. It's good culture to flush your containers once a quarter with collected rain water at a rate of 3 times the volume of the container.

  • meyermike_1micha
    10 years ago

    Yeah, overly concerned but very smart to be:-)

    There is plenty of light even under the clouds, rain clouds that is....They should be just fine and just as Skinn mentioned, plenty of good reasons to leave them in the rain...:-0)

    Good luck with what ever you do

    Mike

  • poncirusguy6b452xx
    10 years ago

    I went on vacation 1 week 3 days. It rained every day, many inches and i worried. My kumquats and sweet lees did very very well. No need to worry.