HOUSEPLANT OF THE MONTH: CITRUS TREE
Get to know our October houseplant of the month – the zingy citrus tree!
Looking for a Mediterranean feel and a burst of sunshine in your home, whatever the weather? Citrus trees are a great way to bring some colour to your home, or outdoors on a patio or balcony. However, citrus trees offer so much more than just their looks - how many houseplants come with fruity fragrance and bear fresh zesty fruits you can eat or use as garnishes in meals and drinks?
Find out everything you need to know about this beautiful and unique houseplant, including our top care tips. You can find our full selection of citrus trees in-store today
POPULAR CITRUS TREE VARIETIES
Citrus trees provide your space with interest, no matter the size. They’re ideal for small spaces as they grow well as compact plants in pots. When not fruiting they still have a great colour - alongside their fragrant fruity blossoms, citrus trees have shiny dark green foliage, so you can enjoy them all year long. Here’s just a few varieties of citrus tree you can add to your home:
Citrus Lemon
This classic variety of citrus tree doesn’t just make a wonderful and quirky addition to your houseplant collection but also bears fresh lemons to harvest and enjoy in whatever way you desire. Inhale its fresh fruity scents as you walk by your lemon tree as a reminder of everything it has to offer – fruit, fragrance, and fabulous foliage!
Citrus Mini Citrine
Perfect for adding on shelves or kitchen windowsills, this compact citrus tree variety is both decorative and delicious! It will provide you with fresh edible lemons during its fruiting season, as well as attractive green foliage to brighten even your smallest spaces
Citrus Mini Calamondin
It’s not just lemons you can grow with a citrus tree! Calamondins are mini oranges that are hybrids between mandarins and kumquats. They have a sweet-sour flavour, somewhere between a lemon and a satsuma. The fruits from this tree can be eaten raw as a zesty burst of flavour, or used in food as a garnish or ingredient
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR CITRUS TREE
If looked after well, your citrus tree will fruit all the way to early autumn. Luckily, caring for this plant is easy peasy lemon squeezy! Simply follow our care tips below:
Light: Citrus trees love lots of sunlight, so place them in the brightest spot available in your home
Water: Keep the soil slightly moist, only watering when the top two inches of soil are dry. Keep in mind your citrus tree will be thirstier in summer than in winter
Humidity: If your tree is somewhere warm like a conservatory, keeping humidity levels high is important. Mist the leaves regularly, or stand the pot in a tray filled with gravel and water
Temperature: Since this plant is a sun-lover, it thrives in a warmer room. Make sure the temperature of the room is kept above 10 degrees. If your lemon tree is outside on a patio or balcony, bring it indoors when the temperatures start to drop
Feeding: Feed your plant with a citrus plant food once per month in spring and summer to encourage it to produce more fruit
Pruning: If your citrus tree is losing its original shape, carefully prune it back to stimulate more growth
Repotting: Citrus plants are sold in large pots, so they shouldn’t need repotting and can be kept in their original pots for many years
Harvesting fruit: Not all the fruits on your citrus tree will ripen at once. The plant only puts energy into just a few fruits at a time. Once a tree’s lemon looks yellow, plump and juicy, cut it off and enjoy. Your tree will then start ripening more fruits
WHERE SHOULD I KEEP MY CITRUS FRUIT
Since citrus trees love sunshine, any bright and sunny room will please your plant. Aesthetically, they’ll look beautiful in a kitchen, and as a bonus you’ll be in easy reach of its fruits whenever you want to use them in meals and drinks! You can also keep your citrus tree outside on a balcony or patio, as long as you make sure to move it inside during spells of cold weather
FUN FACTS ABOUT CITRUS TREES
While lemons originated in India, they’re now grown all over the world – and are even possible to grow in your home!
Citrus fruits are high in Vitamin C, which helps your immune system fight off illnesses faster
Citrus trees flower before producing fruit. These flowers also have a lovely sweet fruity fragrance
Contrary to what you might think, lemons turn from green to yellow based on temperature, not ripeness! A few green patches on a lemon doesn’t mean it’s not ripe – it will soon turn yellow after spending some time in the sun
Citrus fruits don’t ripen once picked, so make sure your lemons and oranges are nice and juicy before you harvest!