Potted Citrus plants

Thomasina123

my new citrus potted citrus plants (Kumquat and Lemon) look great on my terrace but I will need to protect them during the winter. I am told that my apartment will be too warm. Will a mini green house thingy on my terrace protect them from frost? If so which type? If not, what do you suggest?

Borderline

Make sure you position your citrus plants in south or southwest position throughout the year. You can buy many types of mini greenhouses nowadays or even tall cold-frame.

Some greenhouses are of poor quality, and can get very cold in winter and I suggest that if your plants are still very young, stand the pots off the floor and loosely cover fleece over the plants when harsh frost has been forecast. Keep the doors opened on very sunny days to keep temperatures stable and minimise overheating. Your plants should be fine.

Thomasina123

Many thanks for this advice Borderline. Will a cold frame be frost free then?

Borderline

Coldframes can be frost free if constructed very well, but I still recommend to wrap the plants in fleece if minus temperatures are forecast. They can get quite cold in the night time. They are small versions of greenhouses and useful if you have small spaces.

Thomasina123

Many thanks for your advice.
I have also just ordered a Arbutus Unedo tree as a container on my terrace.

Borderline

You work fast! But I'm glad to hear that. Good luck with it, I'm sure it will look great on the terrace.

Thomasina123

Many thanks. As a somewhat inexperienced ‘gardener’, I have much appreciated your advice. 

Obelixx

I have recently moved to the Vendée - western France - and have acquired 3 citrus plants which I couldn't grow in my last house and garden cos it was way too cold and winters were long.   One is a "hardy" lemon which can be grown outside here in the ground but it would have copped it this winter as we went below the -6C it can cope with.  The other two are a yuzu and a limquat, both of which I am told I have to keep in a well lit, frost free place over winter and preferably a few degrees above freezing.  They all spent their first winter with me in an unheated annex so plenty of light by day but cool at night tho insulated so always at least a few degrees above freezing.

I would be very wary about expecting citrus plants to survive winter on a terrace or balcony unless you can keep all frost off and also allow them light and ventilation so that problems from pests and diseases can't take hold.   

Wrap the pots in bubble wrap to protect the roots from freezing and make a tent using canes to support a couple of layers of fleece to protect the plants against frosts.  I would also suggest a windbreak across the balcony to give further protection against wind chill in the cold months.

Thomasina123

Many thanks Obelixx for your advice. I will certainly take it.
i intend to get a tall coldframe for my terrace in which to put the citrus plants, but I will also follow advice about using bubble wrap and fleece.
excuse my ignorance but what is ‘fleece’ in this context?
Lucky you being in the Vendee!

Borderline

Thomasina123, if you go to garden centres or Homebase/B & Q, they are listed as Horticultural fleece. Can be in rolls or ready made to fit certain sizes. They are a material used to allow some water in but keeps frost out. But not always strictly true, which is why you sometimes need two to three layers of fleece if it's very cold at night.

You can use things like builders non-woven dust sheets or even old bed sheets. It's just a protective layer keeping frost off your plants.

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