Question
Will,

What do you recommend for winter care of our ornamental orange tree?  It is about 3 feet high with lush foliage and is still blooming and bearing fruit even now.  I live in the Kansas City area and was planning on bringing it into the garage for the winter.  Good idea?  There is very little natural light in that space.  Grow lights?  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank You,

Mike

Answer
Hi Mike,

You are confronting one of the difficulties of maintaining ornamental orange trees. In the winter, they need cooler temps (40-60 degree range), but also lots of sunlight. That is hard to do in colder climates.

Your garage may provide the right temperature range, but it may not provide enough light. Grow lights that are on for 12 hours per day will help, but that can be very expensive unless you use fluorescent lights that are placed very close to the tree.

Keep the soil on the dry side during the cooler winter months.

Please let me know if any of this is unclear or if you have any additional questions.

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Regards,
Will Creed, Interior Landscaper
Horticultural Help, NYC

You can E-mail me directly at: [email protected]

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