Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Anybody grow citrus or bananas near Baltimore?, 0 by Pamgarden

Pamgarden wrote:
I think either Hart or Chantell, both here in Virginia, grows bananas outdoors. If they don't, one of them will remember who the Mid-Atlantic forum does.

I haven't grown citrus outdoors here because I don't think it could surrvive in my zone 7 (even by a brick wall with in an Z8 micro climate) When I had outdoor trees in zone 9, if the temp went below 28 for more than 4 hours, the trees lost many leaves and fruit might fall off. Generally the trees would get new leaves but since they only get one crop a year, little or no fruit that year. Prolonged temperature at or below 28 would result in a denuded tree that wouldn't make it.

I'm growing a calamondin in a pot that I can bring indoors in winter here in zone 7. It doesn't take up as much space as an orange or lemon tree, the flowers come on at different times, thus the fruit is at different stages, and it fruits young. I got a 6" pot in Nov '08. It had a half dozen green fruits on it then. I moved it into a 10" pot in May and took it outside. It started flowering as soon as I put it out, has given me numerous ripened fruits, and has been flowering and setting new fruits ever since. If there are any cons, the fruits are small (but they are pretty), and the fruits are seriously tart, but I squeeze them (they are very juicy) in low-cal cranberry juice and you can really taste the fruit. One issue for me is I haven't got any citrus fertilizer and my tree's leaves look much paler than when I got it. I think the green house have the knack for fertilizing and making the leaves really green and glossy. Here's a picture of it when I first got it (on the left side of the bench) but it's very hard to see the fruit.