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Gardening

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Please help me nurse my dead father's lemon trees through the winter!

2 replies

duchesse · 12/11/2013 18:32

My father died in May and I took over his 4 moribund lemon trees. I brought them back to the UK from France, repotted them, fed them and watered them and pulled them back from the brink. My poor father hadn't been well for a while and had neglected them quite badly.

They look much better now but I don't have good form in keeping citrus plants alive through the winter. They seem to get scale insect and just go downhill until they end up dying towards spring.

I've just brought them inside to our utility room, which unfortunately is not an orangerie but will have to do for now. It has two big windows but faces north and isn't super-light. We have a dehumidifier running in there a lot (to dry the washing)- is that likely to be too dry? What temperature should I be aiming for? Do I need to feed them through the winter (I have some winter citrus feed as well as the summer version)? What about watering? Cold water or warm water? Any pruning I should do?

I really need to keep these plants alive. I can't deal with them dying now. Please help and advise.

OP posts:
ComeIntoTheGardenMaud · 12/11/2013 20:59

I'm sorry to hear about your dad, but how lovely that you have adopted his plants. I'm afraid I can't help, but the RHS has some advice here.

MooncupGoddess · 15/11/2013 13:59

I suspect my dehumidifier did for my lemon plant last year. So, water them regularly - they prefer rainwater to tap. Apparently they like iron filings as well as feed. They prefer small cosy pots but you probably know that.

Good luck! Unfortunately the UK is not really made for lemon plants to thrive in but I have a friend who is devoted to his and it is doing very well.

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