Storing Citrus and Figs
All my dwarf citrus trees are now safely tucked away for the winter.
I have quite a large collection of warm-weather plants at my Bedford, New York farm, including citrus trees and a vast array of other tropical specimens. During the colder months, these warm-weather plants must move indoors, where temperatures and humidity levels can be controlled. Fortunately, I am able to keep them in high-grade greenhouses, where they can thrive for seven months out of the year. This week, my outdoor grounds crew and gardeners moved the last of the plants into their designated enclosures, grooming and feeding every one before it is brought indoors.
Here's a look inside the citrus hoop house. Enjoy these photos.
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- During the summer, I bring all the citrus plants outdoors. Dwarf citrus plants can be kept outdoors as long as temperatures stay above 40-degrees Fahrenheit. This year, they were displayed outside my vegetable greenhouse, all well-spaced so no two specimens were touching to prevents diseases from being transferred specimen to specimen. Here, they can be closely maintained and protected from any high winds.
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- Once it gets cold, the citrus plants and other tropicals are stored in one of five greenhouses. This hoop house down near my chicken coops is mainly for the citrus this year. The entire structure is built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel tubing covered with heavy-duty, woven polyethylene.
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- These are very young white pummelo grapefruits. The large, round fruit is also known as the Chinese grapefruit or shaddock. The tree has dark green, glossy foliage and produces fragrant white flowers in the spring that give way to large, juicy fruit in the winter.
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- Also growing nicely are these blood oranges, which are still green, but will be bright orange in a few months. The blood orange is a variety of orange with crimson, near blood-colored flesh. The dark flesh color is due to the anthocyanins, a family of polyphenol pigments common to many flowers and fruit, but not common in citrus fruits.
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- These are growing oranges. Most citrus fruits are harvested in winter. These will be ripe for picking around February, when they are also bright orange in color.
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- This is Citrus sinensis ‘Parson Brown’ – known for its cold tolerance, often surviving to the upper teens. The fruit was one of the leading sellers in Florida until around 1920. They’re large, very juicy with a mild sweet flavor.
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- Calamondin, Citrus mitis, is an acid citrus fruit originating in China.
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- Calamondin is also known as kalamansi, Philippine lime, or Philippine lemon. It is native to the Philippines, parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, as well as parts of southern China and Taiwan.
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- In the front of the house is this citrus limon ‘Ponderosa’ or ‘The American Wonder Lemon.’ This plant produces a thick mass of highly fragrant flowers, which become tiny lemons. Those lemons get bigger and bigger, often up to five pounds!
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- These are baby Meyer lemons. Citrus × meyeri, the Meyer lemon, is a hybrid citrus fruit native to China. It is a cross between a citron and a mandarin/pomelo hybrid distinct from the common or bitter lemon. The Meyer lemon was first introduced to the United States in 1908 by the agricultural explorer, Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China. Citrus limon ‘Meyer’ is my favorite lemon because this thin-skinned fruit is much more flavorful than the ordinary store-bought. I love to use them for baking and cooking.
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- These are more mature lemons. Dwarf citrus trees require at least eight to 12 hours of full sunshine and good air circulation to thrive. I am fortunate to have these hoop houses to keep my citrus collection in excellent condition.
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- Many citrus specimens have thorns on their branches. Some of the most common citrus trees to have thorns are Meyer lemons, most grapefruits, and key limes. Thorns provide protection from predators, specifically animals that want to eat the tender leaves and fruit. In here, they will be very well protected.
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- This is Citrus limon ‘Pink Lemonade’ – it produces fruits with pink flesh, and little to no seeds. The fruit grows year-round, and is heaviest in late winter through early summer.
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- I also have a couple grapefruit trees. As many of you know, grapefruit is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit.
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- It takes some time to grow grapefruits. Grapefruits take six months to a year to ripen in hot, humid climates; in relatively cooler regions, grapefruits can take 14 months and even as long as 18 months before they are ready to pick.
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- Outside the hoop house is my collection of fig trees. Figs, Ficus carica, are members of the mulberry family and are indigenous to Asiatic Turkey, northern India, and warm Mediterranean climates, where they thrive in full sun. These trees will also be kept in the citrus house.
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- The fig tree has been sought out and cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Most fig tree leaves are bright green, large, singular, and well-lobed.
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- The chill of fall signals to figs that it’s time to go dormant. Dormancy is vital to many fig species and a perfectly normal part of their life cycles. Yearly, leaves will change color and drop — and then new leaves will emerge in spring.
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- As with every plant before it is stored, these figs will all get groomed and fed before going into the hoop house.
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- Once ready, they are lined up on this side of the hoop house where they will stay until spring.
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- To simulate the best subtropical environment, we try to keep the temperature in this greenhouse between 60 and 80-degrees Fahrenheit with some humidity. These citrus plants, my figs, and other tropicals are now safely stored for the cold season ahead. This week is expected to be chilly – we got them all in just in time.
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