I have spent many a night reading from these wonderful forums (like many of you!)looking for some information about overwintering my lemon and lime tree in Washington. I live in Graham, WA and own a meyers lemon and bear lime tree (new this summer!) Last year I brought my lemon tree inside and the branches that were in bloom died (turned brown inside :() I clipped them and put it outside this last spring. Thankfully, new branches sprouted and now I have blooms and tiny lemons on it. I just brought it, hesitantly, into my garage (with no windows) today. The temp is beginning to drop into the high 30's to low 40's at night and I'm worried that both trees won't do well if it stays out much longer. Currently I am putting them outside before I leave for work in the morning and bringing them back in at night. That way I figure it's still getting some light. I know that this option is short lived since it will be in the high 30's-low 40's (or cooler) soon enough all day long! I have read up on the temp of the soil staying about 55-60 degrees to continue growth and so far so good. With the current situation, if I understand correctly, it should continue to grow with the provided light. Since I'm trying to be proactive this year and be ready for an appropriate winter home for my trees, I have been considering two plans. Plan A. Place trees in upstairs room with a magnetic block over the heat register. The temp is the coolest in that room ordinarily. Then the trees could get natural light every day. However, am I right in thinking that I should consider using a heat mat or Christmas lights around the base do to the loss of heat in the pot from evaporation (from heat generated by placement next to a window) which would lead to a cooled root zone? In heating the pot and providing it with natural light would that help the trees to keep their leaves (and branches) this year? Even with a blocked heat vent and a west window, I am concerned about the possible dryness of the room. I keep a tray with rocks in it under my lemon tree. I have read about the evaporation of the left over water helping to keep the air around the tree moist. Plan B. Keep trees in the garage. Buy grow light setup and place over the trees for 8-10 hours of light each day. Use Christmas tree lights to keep the root zone warmed. There are no windows in my garage at all and space is at a premium. I have been searching for information about how long the Christmas tree lights should remain on each day. Should they always be on? That seems like it would generate a bit of an electricity bill! Also, I'm a little worried about the remote possiblity of starting a fire when I'm at work. Or, do I just keep them on when the grow lights are on? By the way, I am currently watering with distilled water at least once a month (water from the tap for the other watering) since I have well water that is very high in salt and iron. When the roots are dry 2 inches down I water thoroughly and then rewater after 15 minutes to make sure that the entire root system is getting sufficient moisture. In the end, I guess I am asking for some advice on overwintering specifics. I want to keep the leaves (and fruit) this year! I know that some leaf drop is normal, but the dying branches were scary!
