I'm going to guess the answer is no since they won't survive outdoors here. My ex-husband's grandmother had a knack for starting citrus trees, mostly lemon I think, from the seeds in fruit she bought. Obviously they were indoor plants, but I think once she actually got one small fruit from one. I have no idea how she went about getting the seeds from bought fruit to grow.

Trying it does sound like an interesting challenge though, but I can't keep plants indoors unless I lock them up. I have one cat that thinks all plants and flowers I bring into the house are snacks for him. A friend brought me peonies from his garden a couple of years ago, and the only place I could put them was on top of the microwave oven. Even just carrying them through the house has the cat following me and meowing, wanting the flowers. I bought one small tomato plant two years ago and made the mistake of leaving it on the kitchen counter while I went to dig a hole to plant it. Came back inside and found he'd eaten every leaf on it! He also immediately threw it up.

Debra

Hi Lynn,

Sometimes I see Lime and Lemon trees in pots, ranging from maybe 2-gallon to 4 or 5-gallon sizes in Lowe's or Home Depot, often inside the garden center where they have the tropicals. Usually I see them more in the Feb.-Mar. time frame, although I don't know why. Sometimes they still have them in April. Having said that, I can't remember seeing any this year. I don't know that I would have noticed them though if they weren't in bloom....when they're in bloom you can't miss the delicious fragrance.

Susan has a cold-hardy Ichang lemon in the ground in OKC and I think she bought it in OKC, but it is possible she ordered it and had it shipped. So, if anyone will know where to find citrus in OKC, it might be Susan.

Hope you're doing well out there in western OK.

Dawn

Bill McKenzie is the owner of McKenzie Farms in South Carolina and he specializes in hardy citrus. I would have gotten mine from him had I known about him earlier, but he comes very highly recommended on the Citrus Forum. His plants are not cheap, but I hear they are great.

He is very responsive also to questions you might have. The Ichang Lemon is supposed to be a good one for pie making. It is hardy to 0F, but I think he only lists it as hardy to 20F. Mine survived this last winter, though, with some dieback, but not much. It is already putting on new foliage.

Susan

Here is a link that might be useful: McKenzie Farms

Lynn,
Finding citrus trees in Oklahoma is hard in itself. I'm in Duncan, and the times we have been to TLC I've never seen andy citrus trees but it wouldn't hurt to call. As mentioned before Precure, or Marcums(SP?). I've nver noticed citrus trees at Home Depot or Lowes in Oklahoma City but I have seen them at the Home Depot in Lawton, but not Lowes.
I've currently have 7 citrus trees that I grow in containers and move them in when the weather turns cold.
I've found most of my citrus trees in Texas. Most every Home Depot and Lowes has them.
For cold hardy I would suggest a satsuma orange variety. They are very sweet and peel like a dream. Simular to the cuties you see in the super market, but sweeter. I've got three, A MIHO, Owari, and a Brown Select. of the three the Owari is probably the cold hardest. All the citrus blooms in the late winter or early spring with the fruit ripe in the fall and early winter. Lemons are fairly cold hardy, but Limes are very cold sensitive.
If I can offer any more advice please let me know.

Charles

Well, I definitely guessed wrong!

I just got back from Horn. They'd told me yesterday they were expecting a couple of trucks in today that might have vines on them. I did find a Tangerine Beauty crossvine, but setting beside the crossvine in the parking lot where they'd unloaded the truck were five Valley Lemons. I don't know anything about the variety. What I remember from reading the tags was something about having small and thin-skinned fruits. They weren't much taller than the crossvines, but I think they all had flowers on them. They hadn't priced them yet, having only just unloaded them from the truck. I heard the gal tell the young men to take them into the greenhouse. So if you're interested in checking them out you'll find them inside the greenhouse area where they keep annuals.

Debra

Susan,

That is very interesting. Last year I ran across your post that you were growning an Ichang lemon tree so I sent Bill with McKenzie Farms an email about his recommendations for Oklahoma. He replied that in his opinion, lemon trees would not grow here due to our winter temps. I specifically mentioned the Ichang variety since you were having good luck with it.

You must be blessed with a very green thumb (or at least, lemon yellow). lol

Citrus trees in Oklahoma for the most part need to be grown in containers so they can be taken indoors in winter. They will still make a good crop of fruit each year.
Then over time will have to be moved into larger pots as time goes on, bot you can prune the root ball and the limbs to keep them in reasonable size containers. At present mine are in 14 inch pots I got at Home Depot.

Charles

Tell that to my Ichang that is putting on its shiny green foliage after a rather nasty winter. So far, it refuses to listen to the critics. I tell it every year that it might be its last, but it just snubs me with perserverance. I do grow it on the North side of my house which is the sunniest, oddly enough. I have 2 big Austrian pines and this flower bed runs right down the middle in between them (about a 25' space). I grow a huge Lantana 'Miss Huff' that kind of overwhelms it on one hand, but probably provides protection on the other. I am sure that this microclimate helps somewhat.

I will repeat your words of warning to the persistent little thing, but don't be surprised if it falls on deaf ears.

Debra, I see you've been at our favorite place again, naughty girl!

Susan

Charles,

I am also very interested in growing citrus. When you bring them inside for the winter, how much light do they need? My house has very little natural light.

Also, how big do the trees get in 14" pots? Do they fruit at that size?

What do you think is the best source for reading up on citrus growing in "northern" climates?

Charles, you don't know how excited I am to know that you and Susan are our resident citrus experts!

Andria

Yes, Susan, I just can't resist! Probably doesn't help that Horn is a maybe 10 minute drive from work so it's no big deal to run over there and look around during lunch.

This time, though, I really was looking for specific things. I'm wanting to plant a crossvine somewhere along the north fence in my backyard and a red-type honeysuckle along the piece of fence that faces east on the south side of the house. I've been going over at lunch to check for these things for a couple of weeks now, and one lady told me on Thursday they were expecting a couple of trucks in Friday that might have vines on them. Other than some of the really large plants they have, so much of what they get in sells so quickly that if I don't keep checking every couple of days I run the risk of having them get what I want in and sell it all out before I get one.

I only noticed the lemons because they had pretty little pink and white flowers on them and smelled really nice so I decided to look and see what they were. If I thought I had a place in the house for them to spend the winter I'd be tempted to get one, but I really don't think I have a spot where they'd get enough light to be happy all winter. Too bad, they really are pretty little things.

Debra

I was looking for a small lemon tree a few months ago. I found 'dwarf meyer' at precure nursery for 50$ it was a grown plant and you can expect fruits this yr.. no waiting and at Marcums nursey for 75$

Andria
Most citrus around here are grafted onto a dwarf root stock. They do get big enough to fruit. My wife is the real gardner of the family. she can grow about anything and has a real eye for design. She is the one who got me started on the citrus trees. This is all my opinon but it works for me.
What I do is to take the tree in the nursery 5 gal container and then repot into a 12 inch plastic pot, terra cotta gets too heavy, after a couple of years depending on how fast the trees grow I move them to 14 inch pots. Try to stay with a lighter color so the roots don't get too hot. You will need a well draining potting mix for the trees. You will need to keep an eye on the mositure as the trees like to be a little moist but not wet. Be sure to water until the water runs out of the botton of the pot. This will help flush out some of the salts from the fertlizer. Citrus trees in containers are big feeders. be sure not to leave out the micro nutrents they need.
On the citrus forum you can find all kinds of recommendations for fertilizer and potting mix. I use plain old MiracleGro at about 1/2 strength each week and I put Oscote in the pot to handle the in between needs when I water.
For the winter since I use our grarage for my workshop, I just moved the trees into it this year. In the house any wide spectrum light, I use flourscent lights will work for the trees. Last year we bought a MIHO Satsuma Orange and It provided us with 8 oranges. This years crop looks like it will be about 3 times that. Our Lime tree is covered with fruit this year while last year it provided us with about 12 limes.
We have some trees that were started as a bush and some that were started in a tree form. This next week or so I will try to get some pictures and post them. Depends on the weather and how busy I get.

Charles

While shopping for something else last Saturday, I ran across a huge selection of citrus trees (lemon, lime, kumquat, mandarin, etc.) at Memorial & Western in OKC. Loman's Landscape & Design set up shop on that corner a while back (former gas station) and offers trees, shrubs and a small farmer's market. Anyway, all their citrus trees (Monrovia) are in 6 gallon pots. The smaller shrub-like plants run $50 and the larger tree-like specimens run $80. Big Gulp (and I don't mean the 7/11 kind).

If I can figure out how to successfully over-winter one in the house, garage.... somewhere, I would really, really like to have a Meyer Lemon tree. At that price though, it's a big gamble as there is no warranty offered. I've been scouring the citrus forum for the last two days (this is a very bad sign for my pocketbook). Somebody please save me from myself!!! I've heard "friends don't let friends plant bamboo" but are there any such pearls of wisdom regarding citrus trees?

Susan or Charlie - since you both are growing them, could you share an update on how your container and/or in-ground plants have done for you this year?

TIA!

carson mimi,
You asked how my trees are doing. They are doing great, the MIHO Satsuma ornage crop is about twice what it was last year, the same can be said for the lime and meyers lemon. However, this spring a case of CAS (Citrus Acquisition Syndrome) hit and I acquiried several more citrus. I ordered from Almost Eden Plants. They arrived in April and are doing great. I'm going to post some pictures below so that you can see. The first is a family shot of all of them, this will be followed by some of the new arrivals.

These were taken in June of this year. In the family shot the large ones in back going from the left are an Improved Meyers Lemon then MIHO Satsuma Orange and then a Persian Lime. The large one in the from row is another Improved Meyers Lemon.

That should give you an idea on how they are doing. I over wintered them in the garage. I have a lot of florescent lighting as it is also my woodshop. I was surprised how well they did when we lost power for a week this winter. Luckly our garage has some gas heat in it to keep them warm.

Those are some really good prices. Next time I'm in the city I'm going to check it out and keep my eyes on it next spring.

If you have any questions please let me know. You can grow citrus in containers in Oklahoma....
Charles

Here is a link that might be useful: