Citrus Varieties to Try at Home
If you can’t visit the tropics, try growing your own citrus trees in containers! Dwarf citrus varieties will grow year-round if kept in the right conditions. They all bear edible fruit, have glossy, evergreen leaves, and feature delicious-smelling flowers. (The scent is heavenly!) Learn how to care for your indoor citrus trees.
Many kinds of citrus work well as container plants. Even northern gardeners should consider giving them a shot. Here’s a look at a few of the most popular ones!
Varieties of Dwarf Citrus to Try
Meyer Lemon
Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a tangerine and is one of the most popular citruses to grow in a pot. I have two of these little bushes, and they always have either fruit or blossoms on them—or sometimes both at the same time! The blossoms are extremely fragrant, and the lemons are good-sized, very juicy, have soft, heavenly-smelling skins, and taste better than store-bought lemons. Since we know these fruits were raised organically, we have made homemade limoncello from their zest. It takes 9 to 12 months for the fruits to develop and ripen, but they are worth the wait. The fruit turns an orange-yellow when ripe.
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Bearss Limes
Bearss limes (also called Persian limes or Tahitian limes) have larger fruit than Mexican or Key limes and are slightly more hardy, too. These medium-sized trees produce many branches and bear lots of juicy, seedless limes—perfect for pies, limeades, or margaritas.
Kaffir Lime
Kaffir lime is popular in Thai and Indonesian cooking, which uses the fragrant leaves as well as the fruit.
Calamondin
Calamondin is a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange. It has tiny 1- to 2-inch fruits that taste like a tangy orange. The fruit can hold onto the plant for a year, making it decorative as well as practical.
Kumquats
Kumquats are fairly tart and tiny but make a wonderful marmalade. Their skin is sweeter than their flesh. ‘Nagami’ is a sweet variety with 2-inch oval fruit. ‘Meiwa’ is even sweeter with round, seedless fruits. Kumquats are a symbol of prosperity and good luck in China and are often given as gifts for the Chinese New Year. Celebrate by giving one to yourself or a friend!
Kumquats are often crossed with other citrus to make limequats, orangequats, and mandarinquats.
Tips for Growing Dwarf Citrus in Containers
How exactly do you care for your main squeeze? Dwarf citrus are frost tender, so they need to spend part of the year indoors in cold climates where frosts occur. Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to care:
- Keeping your citrus outdoors during the spring and summer is a good way to get them plenty of light and foster healthy growth. When moving them outdoors in the spring, don’t put them into direct sunlight right away; they need time to adapt to the more intense light level. Put them in a shady spot for a few days, then move them to a spot with partial sun.
- If nighttime temperatures outside are starting to dip to about 45°F (7°C), bring citrus indoors when that’s a concern in your area. Check your average frost dates here.
- Citrus thrives in bright light. Indoors, this can be difficult, but a sunny southern window will keep them happy through winter. Consider using supplemental lighting (such as an LED bulb) to give your plants more light during the darkest winter days.
- Keep them out of cold drafts and away from drying heat sources. They prefer temperatures between 60° and 70°F (15° to 21°C).
- Citrus like high humidity, so mist around the plants often, place the pots on a tray of wet pebbles, or keep them near a humidifier.
- The flowers are self-fertile, but you can help pollinate indoors by shaking the branches or using a Q-tip or soft paintbrush to move pollen among the flowers.
- Water citrus when the top 3 inches are dry. They need good drainage and don’t like to sit in soggy soil. One thing to keep in mind if you bring them indoors for winter: Outdoors, in bright sunlight, the trees will require a lot more water than they do when brought indoors and put into a dimmer environment. Adjust your watering habits accordingly!
- I keep my lemons manageable by trimming the tops and roots an equal amount—about 25%—every 2 to 3 years when I repot them, almost like a bonsai.
Dwarf citrus trees are proof that good things come in small packages!
See the ÃÛÌÒÁµÈË’s Growing Guide for Lemons, Oranges, and Other Citrus Fruit for more growing information.
Robin Sweetser
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I have a beautiful Dwarf Myer Lemon in a Oak half barrel. Have had it over 30 yrs. It is about 4 ft tall and girth of about the same. It does very well out on my deck at 2,500 ft in Northern CA. I had a nursery man tell me to put a string of small Christmas lights on the tree and in the winter when temps get low the warmth of the lights will keep it from freezing. We put a blanket over the top of it to protect it. We put it back under the roof line of an overhang of 8 ft. I pick in January up to over 100 beautiful lemons! We take it out of the container every 5 yrs and trim the roots and do a prune job as well. We have had a rough winter with low temps this year, but it is looking good. Love my Lemons!
UPDATE TO MY POST !
My Meyer Lemon lost all leaves in greenhouse this past summer. ALL! So as a last ditch effort I put it outside. The most beautiful green leaves grew and became gorgeous!
So now it’s fall and this morning it’s 29*…I do cover it with heavy row cover at night but am afraid there won’t be enough sunshine so think will move to front porch close to house. Should be a little warmer but definitely more sunshine. And protection from snow.
I have a dwarf tangerine - first I planted it in the ground, then after 2 years I was told it didn't bear fruit because it would be happier in a pot. So I transferred it to a pot where indeed, it seems happier, but after 3 years in the pot, it still doesn't produce blossoms or fruit. What can I do about it?
Add another tree or two of its same kind. It takes 2 trees of the same kind to produce fruit :) good luck!
Poster's tree isn't even blooming so this won't help. Also the article explains how to improve self-pollination in a single plant.
I don't know how to make it bloom either :-) but you could try a different watering cycle, i.e., water it more (or less) frequently for a while and see if anything changes. Also try feeding it (ordinary houseplant Miracle Grow, for instance, or research what type of minerals it actually requires).
Am not sure where you live but they need two things I have found out (besides good sunshine amounts), nutrients on a regular basis and dry out just a tad in between waterings. The pot should be large enough that the roots have oodles of room for,expansion and growth. The trees also require soil with good drainage and do well in loamy and sandy loam soils. The soil can range between 5.5 and 6.5 pH. You can amend your soil to reach the desired pH level, either adding sulfur to increase soil acidity or lime to lower overly acidic soil.
I live in Nova Scotia. Wondering where I can buy a dwarf lemon tree to grow inside? I've been asking around locally without success. I'd be happy to pay for shipping, but not sure who's reputable and ships to my area.
I am dying to get one or two..citrus is not permitted to be shipped to Arizona...so we must travel over 100 miles one-way to find a nursery carrying these. Since we are zone 7B we must be careful with winter exposure. It is 11/9/2020 and we had snow overnight. I have a greenhouse, but unheated..so not sure of best time to buy and plant.
I have tried to get a calamansi bush started but with no luck. These are commonly used in the Philippines and I do know a few people here that have the bushes that do produce, but they must be brought in the house in the winter. Is there a trick to get them started?
Where do I buy The container fruit? I can’t find any in my area. Are there any books.
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