GROWING CITRUS OUTDOOR IN THE UK
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- GROWING CITRUS OUTDOOR IN THE UK
The coldest nights in southern England normally occur under clear skies and with little wind. In central London the heated buildings and stored heat in bricks and concrete counter these conditions.
However, very rarely, a strong easterly airflow becomes established carrying cold air from Siberia. In winter this residual warmth from many sheltered microclimates can be rapidly carried away. This happened at the end of February 2018, when temperatures remained below freezing with strong winds for almost four days and in December 2022, when temperature in London fell as low as -10c from the 9th to the 19th of December 2022.
These conditions are the hardest for any outdoor citrus to survive in London but survive some do with rapid regrowth following the start of warmth in spring. The locations of where some of these outdoor and in the ground citrus trees can be found includes the 'Queenie' grapefruit tree in the Chelsea Physic Garden; a Bangladeshi citrus in Bethnal Green (probably a pummelo), a grapefruit in Balham, South London; a seedling orange in Shepherd's Bush; and in Edmonton, London N9 a citrus Reported and photographed by Ahmet Kemal in May 2019.
Ahmet has been following the progress of the citrus and reported its progress for the last five years. On his visit in November 2019 then in February 2021 the tree was in a vibrant and healthy state.
Sadly, on Ahmet Kemal last visit in May 2023 he found that the citrus tree was badly damaged by the extremely cold winter we had. The middle main stem of the tree seems to be dead but side branches were green and there were a few young green healthy shoots coming out of the bottom from the roots, so all was not lost, and the tree is expected to bounce back to its former glory.
I was also inspired to try and grow my citrus plants outdoors by many Citrus growers on TH-cam, Facebook and Instagram groups who are successfully growing citrus trees in the ground and in containers outdoors and all year round in sheltered areas in their garden. In May 2021, I planted a Navel Orange and a Mandarin Clementine in a sheltered position next to our garden wall and they survived the winter of 2021 with just minor leaf damage. However, the crowns of both plants were cold damaged during the devastatingly cold winter that started in December 2022. Thankfully both plants started their recovery in May 2023, and I am now working out new logistics for again overwintering them in my garden in the UK.
Nice set up with the acrylic panels Michael, and using the buckets sunk into the ground. Hopefully this will provide enough protection to see those citrus through the winter without any damage🤞.
Love the acrylic panels idea, Mike 👍🏽 Hopefully they help keep your Citrus looking as good as they do now.
Your banana also looks amazing. No shredded leaves.
Thanks Dominic. The banana is a Musa Basjoo, and I have had to brace the pseudostems against breaking due to forceful winds across the garden from time to time.
Nice to see your citrus trees are growing back well, Mike. I really hope this winter turns out milder than last year 🤞
I need to start preparing my in-ground clementine for winter, not fully decided on the protection for it yet, but was thinking of using a plant jacket and creating a frame around it to add to frost cloth. I like your idea with the acrylic sheets, I might consider adding a sheet on top to help protect it from the excess rain we usually get here over the winter months 👍
Fabulous idea peter, an open front acrylic shed. I might try that too 👍
Some of the best protection you can do is by giving your citrus sulphur granules now that will break down by winter. Cal Mag will help keep health cells in the plants as well. I think the cold is not your issue though. The wet is the killer… in the south east they only get half the amount of rain you get. Count yourself lucky I get nearly 3 times the amount of rain, hence why my citrus have been undercover since July or they would of all been dead! So I think some sort of make shift plastic dome would be more than enough maybe with auxiliary fleece on cold nights… did you amend the soil? Ie loads of sand and grit?
@@tropicalsat52n86 yeah, we certainly get more rain on the west side of the UK. December is also usually the wettest month here, so yeah I think covering from rain will be vital for its survival.
Haha, I should have amended the soil and probably planted it above grade too, both of which I neglected to do lol 😂. It will be a miracle if it survives here. Unless we get a mild, dry winter, which is probably quite unlikely lol.
I think someone else mentioned about adding sulphur on one of my videos, I’ll have a look into that 👍
@@PeterEntwistle you’ll be alright, I think it might take a hit this year but I guess it will get better as time goes on, as it adapts to the environment. Fingers crossed for both yours and mikes outdoor citrus.
Just as suggestion, use pipe insulation on the main trunk and protect the graft. As long as your roots and graft can survive the “Arctic cold”, your canopy will recover.
I am in total agreement with you Sam. I use pipe insulation for the trunk and graft union and cover shields on all my outdoor citrus growing in containers for protection against wind, rain, frost and snow.
Fingers crossed we just don't get such a cold winter Mike 🤞
That's the chance I have opted to take Brett. Even if the current plants are destroyed, lessons will be learnt and I will try again, maybe with alternative citrus plants that are considered to be more cold hardy.
Good that you are thinking about winter… it’s coming and I think it’s going to be colder this winter than last year. After a very cold wet summer I don’t hold up much hope for the winter. I’ve got myself a diesel heater and my citrus in a greenhouse and I’m still not sure that’s going to be enough.
With the onset of climate change. the weather is not easy to predict. In past years I have tried with various paraffin heaters; they are a pain and unreliable. What is the make of your diesel heater and how reliable are they.
@@myexoticfoodplants6727 mine is pretty serious… I have no idea what the make is but it’s not like a cheap paraffin heater, think mines rated at about 1 or 2 kw’s so it’s not like a little candle. It costs about £3 a night to run and will stay lit for about 12hrs. Even on the lowest setting it keeps everything toasty. I think I’ll only be using it when I really need it. You have a lovely big conservatory though, so I’m jealous of that and I’m sure your plants love it too. I’ll do a video at some point showing it.
@@tropicalsat52n86 The lengths we go to to protect our plants lol 😂
That sounds like a serious bit of kit 😱. I think the tubular heater I used last year is more akin to a candle lol 😂😂
This looks like a great idea, did they survive using this method?
I'm thinking of doing the same for my lemon tree.
Yes HK, they have survived and putting on new growth.