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Manhattan Marmalade—Growing Citrus Indoors for Delicious Preserves
Plants & Gardens News Volume 19, Number 3 | Fall 2004/Winter 2005
by Scott D. Appell
The first time I grew a citrus tree indoors from seed was more than 30-odd years ago (a fact I rarely admit), when my grandparents brought back some freshly picked tree-ripened grapefruit from their annual midwinter pilgrimage to Florida. At first I wasn't mightily impressed—the fruits weren't even bright yellow like the ones from the grocery store! Rather, they were an unappetizing lime-green color (which is quite natural, incidentally—commercially grown citrus often have their skins artificially "degreened" by exposure to ethylene gas). What's more, I had been taught by my family to be suspicious of anything "picked" (i.e., anything that hadn't done time on a supermarket shelf).
However, at the insistence of Bubbi Irene, I tried one. And it was truly delicious. But what fascinated me most was a grapefruit seed I found already germinating inside the fruit! I immediately ran for a small terra-cotta pot and some potting soil. The rest, as they say, is history. Over the years, the resulting tree and I both grew, and I found myself devotedly lugging my surprisingly spiny and unfloriferous charge from state to state and home to home.
Pummelo (Citrus maxima.)
Photograph courtesy of Top Tropicals.
Fast-forward to the present day. Sadly, my pet tree has departed to that big old grapefruit grove in the sky, but it has left me with a deep appreciation for citrus plants as indoor landscaping options (even for gardeners in tiny Manhattan apartments). I adore and recommend their handsome, aromatic foliage, their shapely, colorful, and tasty fruit, and their unforgettably fragrant, waxy-white flowers, which can perfume an entire home.
As we are all aware, many familiar citrus are readily available for purchase in even the most humble of groceries: Oranges (Citrus sinensis), lemons (C. limon), and grapefruits (C. x paradisi) abound. Be aware that currently limes (C. aurantifolia) are available only in seedless cultivars such as 'Bearss' (yes, that's two s's). More recently, greengrocers have begun to stock mandarin oranges (C. reticulata 'Clementine'), Meyer lemons (C. meyeri), and pummelos (C. maxima). Specialty stores sell such citrus as the bizarre, clawlike Buddha's hand (Citrus medica 'Fingered') and the bumpy-skinned etrog (Citrus medica 'Etrog')—a fruit held sacred in the Old Testament and enjoyed during the autumnal Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles. All of these fruits can be grown from seed into beautiful houseplants.
Citrus are easy to cultivate indoors. Plant seeds immediately upon removal from fruit—contrary to popular belief, the seeds don't like to dry out. Start with a small pot and transplant the young plants as needed. Seedlings will need plenty of water, but don't let them sit in a saucer of excess runoff: Citrus hate wet feet. Use a compost-rich, well-draining, slightly acidic soil (about 5.5 to 6.0 in pH). Employ an acidifying fertilizer made specifically for citrus, as these plants have particular requirements for micronutrients that most fertilizers don't contain. A very sunny, cool window is the ideal location for cultivating your citrus.
Citrus trees grown from seed rarely flower and produce fruit. However, their fragrant leaves can be dropped into hot bathwater to impart a wonderful perfume. They can be added to stuffings, stews, and roasts or placed within the cavities of fish and fowl to add a delightful citrus flavor. Citrus leaves can be used in Thai stir-fries (leaves of the Kaffir lime, Citrus hystrix, are especially good for this). They can also be placed in the bottom of canning jars to impart a redolent tang to jams, jellies, chutneys, relishes, and marmalades.
The commercially grown citrus trees laden with fruit we observe in California and Florida are always grafted—usually on a distant Citrus cousin, the trifoliate orange (Poncirus trifoliata). However, small-statured flowering and fruiting citrus such as the Othaheite orange (Citrus x limonia) and 'Eureka' lemon (Citrus limon 'Eureka') are easily found in garden centers or can be purchased from nurseries. (A good mail-order source is Edible Landscaping, P.O. Box 77, Afton, VA 22920; 800-524-4156; www.eat-it.com.) These plants will bloom in late winter or early spring and produce harvestable fruit in about six months.
Scott D. Appell is a regular contributor to BBG publications and the author of four books, Pansies, Lilies, Tulips, and Orchids. He lives and gardens on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico.