Not all the gardening comes to a halt in winter. I addition to growing garlic and other winter crops, some of the plants come inside. I have dwarf citrus trees that I knew would not survive a winter outside. Also, both the lemon and cumquat had large unripen fruit that I did not want to waste.
I will give one warning here. Indoor gardening requires a little more advance planning and some additional gear compared to outdoor gardening. I planned out where the plants would sit. I cleared a warm spot in one corner of the house. Being inside will keep the plant from freezing to death. But plants need more than just warmth to live. They also need light. Even inside near a window, there would never be enough sunlight during the darker winter months to keep citrus plants growing strong all winter.
The solution was to set up a grow lamp.
Grow lamps do not have to be expensive to work well. I saw plenty online for a lot of money. Instead I bought one for about 20 bucks at the local garden store. It is a simple LED bulb on a clip-on heat lamp base. But something tells me the plants will not care how the lamp looks compared to how it works. The LED bulb means it never gets hot and it does not use a lot of electricity. I can leave this lamp on during the day and not worry about the power bill. And the fruit trees will still get enough hours of light to stay alive and maybe mature some fruit.
An additional preparation I had to make was to protect the plants from cats. Anyone with house cats will know that some like to dig in potted plants. This will kill the plant. It will also make a huge mess. In order to prevent this. I built some screens to keep the cats out of the dirt. These are built onto the planter with chicken wire or hardware cloth and florists wire. I cut the chicken wire and hardware cloth into strips and connected them over the pots and around the plant with small pieces of florist wire. This forms a small cage over the pot and around the base of the plant. I then fastened the “cage” to the pot with more florist wire. This last step prevents the cats from lifting the barrier off the plant and digging under it. I made sure to tuck in the ends of the wires so there are no sharp parts sticking up.
The cages are not very attractive but they are functional. I suppose I could have painted these a darker brown to make them blend in if the look really bothered me. Also, I do not think the plant is concerned with the look over the function of the cat barrier cage.
The cats do still get something from this indoor garden arrangement. I have been able to extend the lives of their cat grass by placing it in the lamp light. And, I often find a cat “sunning” itself next to a fruit tree.
I will give one warning here. Indoor gardening requires a little more advance planning and some additional gear compared to outdoor gardening. I planned out where the plants would sit. I cleared a warm spot in one corner of the house. Being inside will keep the plant from freezing to death. But plants need more than just warmth to live. They also need light. Even inside near a window, there would never be enough sunlight during the darker winter months to keep citrus plants growing strong all winter.
The solution was to set up a grow lamp.
Grow lamps do not have to be expensive to work well. I saw plenty online for a lot of money. Instead I bought one for about 20 bucks at the local garden store. It is a simple LED bulb on a clip-on heat lamp base. But something tells me the plants will not care how the lamp looks compared to how it works. The LED bulb means it never gets hot and it does not use a lot of electricity. I can leave this lamp on during the day and not worry about the power bill. And the fruit trees will still get enough hours of light to stay alive and maybe mature some fruit.
An additional preparation I had to make was to protect the plants from cats. Anyone with house cats will know that some like to dig in potted plants. This will kill the plant. It will also make a huge mess. In order to prevent this. I built some screens to keep the cats out of the dirt. These are built onto the planter with chicken wire or hardware cloth and florists wire. I cut the chicken wire and hardware cloth into strips and connected them over the pots and around the plant with small pieces of florist wire. This forms a small cage over the pot and around the base of the plant. I then fastened the “cage” to the pot with more florist wire. This last step prevents the cats from lifting the barrier off the plant and digging under it. I made sure to tuck in the ends of the wires so there are no sharp parts sticking up.
The cages are not very attractive but they are functional. I suppose I could have painted these a darker brown to make them blend in if the look really bothered me. Also, I do not think the plant is concerned with the look over the function of the cat barrier cage.
The cats do still get something from this indoor garden arrangement. I have been able to extend the lives of their cat grass by placing it in the lamp light. And, I often find a cat “sunning” itself next to a fruit tree.
These are two lemons. One is just beginning to ripen.
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