How to Grow Citrus Indoors

Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2023

⏱️ 69 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Have you ever wandered through the citrus section of a nursery, inhaling the sweet scent of Meyer lemons and key limes, and thought “Oh my, I want one”? As someone who impulse purchased a struggling lime tree years ago—which I named Limey, by the way—growing citrus indoors is possible with the right care and conditions. Citrus plants can be great houseplants if you set them up for success, and they present a unique opportunity to engage all five senses! In this episode, I invited my long-lost dear friend Danny Trejo from Via Citrus to share with you everything you need to know to cultivate your own indoor citrus plant, from choosing the right variety to proper care for growth and fruiting.

In this episode, we learn:

[00:00] What citrus varieties has Maria grown over the years?
[11:59] What is Danny's background with citrus?
[15:01] Try Soltech's high-quality grow lights and get 15% off with code BLOOM15
[17:23] Where can you get the best citrus soil mix and citrus tone fertilizer?
[19:39] What citrus varieties does Danny recommend for beginners?
[21:20] Other citrus varieties Via Citrus are growing
[24:13] What conditions do citrus plants need to thrive indoors?
[28:01] Grow light specifications for citrus (a crash course)
[31:28] Why you should have a proper watering schedule
[34:09] Soil care and drainage hole for your citrus
[35:52] How often should you fertilize citrus?
[37:11] How to prepare your citrus in the winter
[38:37] When is the best time to prune your citrus plants?
[41:40] How to increase humidity for citrus in the winter
[42:53] What are some common citrus troubleshooting tips?
[44:08] Can you grow citrus from seeds?
[45:28] What is grafting?
[49:53] How to ensure that your plant's buds develop into fruit
[51:52] What exciting new sustainable pot line is Danny creating?
[55:06] Where can you find Danny on social media? (use code ‘GROWINGJOY' for 10% discount!)

Mentioned in our conversation:

Growing Joy Ep 206 The History Of Italian Gardens And Italian Citrus With Helena Attlee
Growing Joy Ep 203 How To Bring Your Plants Indoors For The Winter
YouTube video Limey’s Grand Adventure // Flying My Lime Tree To Florida
Helena Attlee’s book, The Land Where Lemons Grow: The Story of Italy and Its Citrus Fruit
We The Wild
Soltech Aspect Lights Collection
Espoma Organic Citrus Tone
Espoma Organic Citrus Food

For a deep dive into Danny's expert citrus grower tips,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Soltech Solutions

Ensure your plants are getting enough light indoors! Soltech Solutions makes the grow lights you’ve heard me talk about for years: whether you are looking for a pendant light, track lighting, or a simple bulb to screw into any standard light fixture, Soltech has got you covered. They offer quality products with great customer service, free shipping, and a 5-year warranty. Keep the sun shining and the plants green inside your home with Soltech Solutions.

Check them out at soltechsolutions.com and get 15% off with code "bloom15".

Espoma Organic

Make sure your plants are all set for the new season! Espoma Organic is dedicated to making safe indoor and outdoor gardening products for people, pets, and the planet. They have an amazing variety of high-quality, organic potting mixes, garden soil, fertilizers, and pest control products that are organic and eco-friendly. To top it all off, they have a huge sustainability commitment with a 100% solar powered plant, zero waste manufacturing and eco-friendly packaging.

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Follow Danny:

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

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Our Sponsors:
* Check out BetterHelp: betterhelp.com/PLANTS
* Check out Manukora: manukora.com/BLOOM
* Check out Outdoor Electronics: www.google.com

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	If you've listened to this podcast for a while, you know that I'm obsessed with growing citrus indoors.
0:05.8	I named my indoor citrus plant, my indoor lime tree, Liny. He's a beloved member of the Growing Joy community.
0:13.0	He was one of my first plants,
0:16.0	and one of my first house plants which I learned so many plant-parent lessons on,
0:21.0	like pruning, watering, and the importance of light.
0:24.4	But plant friend, I would not recommend getting into growing citrus the way that I did five years ago.
0:30.1	I bought Limy as an impulse by in the clearance section of the garden center. I had no idea how to care for citrus and doors. I was living in 500 square feet in New York City. I didn't know how much light I was getting and frankly I wasted a bunch of time setting him up in the wrong conditions and he was patient with me and flexed with me and didn't die on me gave me some time to fix my mistakes. But Citrus are a little picky with what they like, but once you get them
0:58.4	set up in what they need, they will thrive indoors. You will be able to grow fruit indoors and harvest a lime and
1:06.3	turn it into a mojito in your kitchen, which is a super fun process that I highly recommend. Citrus episodes and my passion for
1:14.4	Citrus has been threaded through the many years of this podcast from the recent
1:17.9	episode that I aired on the history of Citrus in Italy for Italian American
1:22.0	Heritage Month to the episode last year in which I shared the insane story
1:26.4	about how I took Limy, the lime tree, on an airplane to rehome him with my mom in Florida.
1:32.9	We talked about this a little bit in the interview today.
1:35.4	Two updates on buying him and how I cared for him
1:39.6	in the intros of the
1:52.0	Limes, lemons, calomonsi, cumquots, they could be marvelous plants to tickle all five of your senses and you can grow them indoors but you need to know what you're doing. So today we celebrate my
1:54.3	bumpy path as a citrus plant parent and ideally set you up for a much smoother
1:59.7	path to indoor citrus joy with an episode dedicated entirely to how to grow
2:06.5	citrus indoors and help them thrive so you can be pluck in
2:09.7	citrus fruit off a plant in your living room,
2:12.1	harvesting it, and enjoying it in your next glass of lemonade.
	...

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