Australia! How exciting. In the summer all of my citrus get moved outdoors (sometimes in spring if they haven’t bloomed yet and don’t have new, tender growth that could freeze). My goal is to get them to bloom outside if I can, but it doesn’t always work. Summertime, they get watered well and fertilized weekly, even heavily pruned if they grow out of hand.

So nice to hear from you Eddie! Let me know if you need help (P.S. I went to school at Saint Lewis Chaminade!).

Thank you, for sharing your story as I loved reading and viewing your photos. Being originally from Honolulu, Hawaii and eventually relocating to Connecticut, I am glad I found your site concerning Citrus plants. Being from the islands and growing tropical fruit trees was always a thing with many locals having one or two plants in their backyards. Big fan of Kumquats, mandarin and tangerine plants. Now, that I am here in New England and finding your site made me curious about growing several in containers. Will definitely look into Logee’s Nursery and hopefully be able to pick several different varieties of citrus.
Hopefully, be able to get some general feedback from you with advice.

Mahalo,

Hi Jeffrey
For topdressing, I apply an inch or two of fresh Pro Mix every year, usually when the surface roots look bare, but I have never had to remove soil first. I would be careful in doing this as those surface roots are quite active. As for repotting, I only repot every 3-4 years, and again, never really remove any soil from the rootball rather than allowing any loose soil to drop off. It's not unusual for me to reuse the same pot with the same plant however, so I am not really potting-up, unless it is a young tree.

Dear 02568
When it comes to pruning citrus I am always careful, as they grow only periodically throughout the year (more consistantly in the greenhouse, but irregularly if kept indoors). A misguided cut can take a few years to correct, but know that that citrus generally are not small trees one should prune with the interest of fruit in mind, and not as much shape. What I mean is, trying to prune a citrus into a topiary is almost impossible, but one could get a loosly pruned standard if the right cuts are made while young. Not that you are trying to create a lolypop tree, as I know you are a capable and experienced gardener, but even I am tempted to push the limits with some citrus -especially those that seem to want to grow into a shape! I mention this only because these are the one which I find seem to get congested growth which I sometimes have to remove. You probably notice that the calamondin has a slightly different growth habit that most other citrus (branchier, and softer branches at that), which I find makes them mmore challenging to keep trimmed and fruiting. As for your 50 year old tree – my gosh, the oldest one I have ever had is 12 so I am hardly they expert on handling that beast! I I do find that taking loppers to new growth is better than taking them to old growth, but that said, we cut back three large citrons with trunks 2 inches in diameter this fall and they are sprouting new growthe everywhere. Not sure how they will look in the end, but some citrus seem to not be bothered by such hard pruning if grown in pots while others (like an old orange trained as a bonsai that I cut back) are just dead from the shock of it all. I have cut back hard a large Mandarin orange in a huge 40 inch clay pot that I have, and it is doing better than ever. I only fertilize in the summer as most iron feeds need nitrogen and I read once that all of this is accessed better in temperatures above 70°F – not sure if it is true, but I have had no problems with it. Most of the citrus here slow their growth down in the winter anyways.