Citrus as House Plants

Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County

Client;s Request: Hi! Do you know of any small citrus trees that would do well living inside? Thanks!

MGCC's Help Desk Response:  Thank you for your inquiry to the Contra Costa Master Gardeners regarding citrus suitable to be grown indoors. 

Growing citrus indoors will allow you to grow these trees in areas beyond their natural hardiness zones and avoid the problems of insects and excessive cold. But at the same time, citrus needs at least 6 hours minimum of direct sunlight (preferably 8 to 12 hours) to flower, bees to naturally pollinate the flowers for fruit, and high summer heat to develop sugar in the fruit. Therefore, to obtain fruit, a dwarf variety is probably the only choice and you should most likely consider keeping your tree indoors during the colder months, and then moving it outdoors during the warmer months. Hand-pollination could also be used for flowers produced indoors. If you cannot provide the appropriate light, you may also consider supplemental “grow” lighting.

Root stock will determine the overall size of the tree. Because you may need to move the potted plant, select a dwarf citrus, which is often grown on Flying Dragon Trifoliate Orange root stock – a natural dwarf that grows to about 10'-12'.  It has a limited root system and must be watered carefully (will not withstand missed waterings or drought). If needed, you can prune the tree to a manageable height and width. Plant in a well-drained potting soil mix in a pot that is at least twice the size of the root ball. You will probably need to re-pot the citrus again later as the tree matures.

The MGCC publication, Citrus for the Home Garden may also be useful to you //ucanr.edu/blogs/slomggarden/blogfiles/4260.pdf

Citrus varieties commonly available as dwarfs are lemons, limes, kumquats and clementines. The UC ANR publication Tried and True or Something New has a list of common and new citrus varieties for you to consider -http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8472.pdf

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Growing indoor citrus actually has a long history in Northern Europe and at one time was a sign of wealth and position with the building of orangeries. Most of the content of the references above is primarily meant for outdoor growing of citrus, one of the benefits of California-living for most of the temperate, lower elevations. Not so, for the colder parts of the United States where citrus are often grown indoors, especially in a sun room or a special room heated and usually with lots of glass for capturing as much sun as possible in the winter (Google: “Growing Citrus Indoors” ). 

California does have some large citrus specialty nurseries, several of which are located in Northern California. They do offer citrus that can be grown indoors (“house plants”). While some do supply mail-order access, it has been my experience that many of the citruses you might be interested in from these nurseries are also available in retail nurseries and even in some of the big box stores at times. One of the larger wholesale/retail growers also has several pages on the web on growing citrus as “houseplants” that should be of interest to you (e.g., https://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/tips-and-advice/growing-dwarf-citrus/as-houseplants.html). I'm sure other citrus specialty nurseries can supply similar information on their trees, especially dwarf trees.

Good luck with your indoor citrus selection! Please do no hesitate to contact us again if you have more questions.

Help Desk of the Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County (VLT)

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Note: The  UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions.  Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA  94523. We can also be reached via telephone:  (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.