Hey everyone! I'm really excited to have a greenhouse now, and I've been thinking about growing some dwarf citrus trees, along with maybe a peach tree too. I plan to over-winter them in the greenhouse and then move them outside for summer. I've done some research, but I want to hear your opinions: what's your favorite citrus tree? Where do you recommend buying them? I'm leaning towards lime or lemon but I'm open to other suggestions. Just for context, I'm in Hants, so I'm hoping these trees can handle some summer time outside since I need the greenhouse space for my hot crops.
3 Answers
Peach trees can work, but they're a bit of a gamble in our climate. You might not get ripe fruit even in the greenhouse during winter. For citrus, I’d recommend kumquats since they’re edible straight off the tree and more resilient to our winters. If you're up for some hybrid citrus, just know they can be pricey and don’t always yield great fruit. Regular lemons and limes might hold up in a mild winter but could struggle too. If you like making marmalade, check out Poncirrus/Citrus trifoliata! For buying, I found JurrasicPlants has super healthy seedlings, and Burncoose has decent prices on 2L plants. LetsGoPlanting also has good deals with taller plants!
I was also interested in growing peaches, thinking they’d be easy to find since they’re so popular. But after researching, it seems like a risky choice in the UK. The common advice is to steer clear since they don’t usually thrive here.
Have you thought about apricots? The varieties Tomcot and Flavourcot are bred for the UK climate, so they might be worth looking into. I have one and it's been doing great!
I’ve looked into those before! Might have to reconsider, could be a better fit than a peach.
Thanks for sharing that info! I read somewhere that hardy dwarf lemons should be fine in a cool greenhouse over winter since they like a chill period. I'll definitely check those growers out!