northern citrus

strider3700 · 11-21-10, 11:34 AM

I just thought I'd share what I do to have a lemon tree in ground above the 49th parallel.

It's a small wooden frame with standard poly for glazing. I've wrapped a coil of those cheap rope lights around it for cold nights. The tree should be good down to about -5 C without protection. I put the tent on if it's going to be near zero or worse. The lights get plugged in if it's going to be negative temps.
last night it was -2 and the temp inside the dome was +7. It's supposed to hit -7 tonight and -8 tomorrow so we'll see how it holds up, I may need to add an insulating blanket (old dog blanket).

This should be enough to get me through until things warm up again near the end of the week. When the tree gets larger I'll need a larger tent but the idea remains the same. The tree will also be tougher and the outer tips will be the parts to worry about not total death of the tree.

There are others in vancouver and slightly north of me on the island growing outdoor citrus and we all do the same. As far as I know we're pretty much the furthest north outdoor in ground citrus in the world.

11-21-10, 11:34 AM	#1
strider3700 Master EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver Island BC Posts: 745 Thanks: 23 Thanked 37 Times in 30 Posts	northern citrus I just thought I'd share what I do to have a lemon tree in ground above the 49th parallel. It's a small wooden frame with standard poly for glazing. I've wrapped a coil of those cheap rope lights around it for cold nights. The tree should be good down to about -5 C without protection. I put the tent on if it's going to be near zero or worse. The lights get plugged in if it's going to be negative temps. last night it was -2 and the temp inside the dome was +7. It's supposed to hit -7 tonight and -8 tomorrow so we'll see how it holds up, I may need to add an insulating blanket (old dog blanket). This should be enough to get me through until things warm up again near the end of the week. When the tree gets larger I'll need a larger tent but the idea remains the same. The tree will also be tougher and the outer tips will be the parts to worry about not total death of the tree. There are others in vancouver and slightly north of me on the island growing outdoor citrus and we all do the same. As far as I know we're pretty much the furthest north outdoor in ground citrus in the world. Last edited by strider3700; 11-21-10 at 11:47 AM..