Citrus trees are popular plants that can be grown in containers. Some of the best varieties of citrus, such as lemon trees and lime trees, can grow in a pot for years and produce an abundance of fruit. Most citrus trees can be traced back to southern and southeastern Asia, and many citrus species have been grown and utilized by various cultures for thousands of years. If you're interested in growing your own citrus fruit at home, Logee's has a wide variety of citrus plants and trees that you can easily grow indoors or out (depending on your location and time of year, of course). Here are fifteen popular citrus trees for sale at Logee's that our customers love year after year. We're sure they'll delight and excite you, too!
Our most popular citrus tree is the Meyer Lemon, an heirloom dwarf lemon with delicious golden-yellow fruit. It makes a fine potted plant and is the hardiest lemon for cool temperatures. The fruit is more flavorful than store-bought lemons and is prized by chefs. It bears heavily at a young age, flowering and fruiting year-round. Brought into the U.S. at the turn of the century from China, this lemon tree is thought to be a hybrid between a lemon and an orange.
Another citrus tree customer favorite here at Logee's is one that offers the promise of charm and practicality in a single package. Meet Citrus limon ‘Ponderosa,’ The American Wonder Lemon. This lemon tree will astonish all who receive it with both its beauty and unusual habit. The fun begins when the heavy surge of fragrant white flowers emerge each spring. Then tiny lemons appear. Wonder Lemons have the reputation for not knowing when “enough is enough.” They continue to grow to enormous proportions, often up to 5 lbs, even though the plant remains an easily manageable size.
Previously called Kaffir Lime, this highly sought after and useful citrus tree is most often used for its aromatic leaves. If creative cooking appeals to your senses then you won’t want to be without Lime Leaf in your collection. The popular Tom Yam soup in southeast Asian food would not be the same without Lime Leaf. The leaves add a lemony flavor to foods while the rough skin that covers the fruit is used as a rind in curries. The plant has a spreading to sprawling habit and its shiny leaves are curiously segmented. This is a strong grower that is adaptable to varying cultural environments.
Kumquats are among the hardiest citrus; they tolerate short bursts of cold temperatures into the 20s°. The 'Meiwa' kumquat tree is known as the Sweet Kumquat with the typical golden-orange colored fruit that other kumquats have. Yet eating a ‘Meiwa’ kumquat is a delight unto itself. Pop the entire large gumball-sized fruit into your mouth and allow the sweet flavors to permeate your senses. The highly fragrant blooms of this citrus tree arrive in summer with fruit ripening during the winter, usually from December through April. This is the perfect plant to give you that vitamin C boost in the dead of winter.
Rare and hard-to-find, the Changshou Kumquat is grown for its large juicy fruit. Fragrant white flowers bloom from May to September with the fruit ripening year-round. Changshou’s pear-shaped fruit is larger than other kumquat varieties and it usually has five or six segments of fruit inside the sweet, thin skin. We’ve been working for the past five years to bring the Changshou, or ‘Fukushu,’ kumquat to the US market since we think it’s the best kumquat we’ve grown and it makes a perfect potted specimen. They are also self-fertile.
This rare Australian Red Lime (previously called Red Finger Lime) is an exciting addition for any citrus tree lover. It starts fruiting at 1’ tall in containers and produces burgundy-red, 2” long fruit that have tiny juice vesicles inside. The flavorful juice vesicles pop in your mouth or are used in salads or drinks to provide a zesty lime taste. Australian Red Lime’s unusual color and compact growth habit makes it a wonderful potted plant. The leaves are small and the flowers are sweetly scented which is highly unusual and not your typical citrus aroma. Sweet flowers emerge in springtime and fruit follows that ripens red just in time for the holidays.
‘Frost Owari’ is a favorite satsuma mandarin with medium-size, deep orange fruit that are seedless, sweet and juicy with easy-to-peel skin. Originating in Japan, it’s a vigorous grower and highly productive fruit tree. It makes an ideal container plant for northern growers since it only reaches 10-15’ tall in outdoor gardens but can be maintained at a much shorter height in containers. The fruit starts to ripen in late fall and it’s usually ready for harvest in early winter. Satsuma mandarins are cold hardy citrus being able to withstand temperatures into low 20s°F and even into the teens for mature plants. This is a grafted plant that blooms and fruits sooner.
⇨ Buy Citrus ‘Frost Owari’ Satsuma Mandarin
Selected as a sport in Ventura County, California, the ‘Smith Red’ Blood Orange tree has red pigmented rind and the inner flesh is deep red with a sweet, delicious flavor and very few seeds. The fruit of this citrus tree ripens in late winter but holds onto the tree well into late spring. Deep red blood oranges have a high percentage of anthocyanin pigments, and tend to have higher amounts of vitamin C and antioxidants. When fruiting, higher temperatures during the day and lower nighttime temperatures encourage the deepest red color and sweetest fruit. ‘Smith Red’ is a vigorous variety that produces an abundance of fruit.
⇨ Buy Citrus ‘Smith Red’ Blood Orange
This citrus cultivar is one of the most unusual and exotic fruits we grow. The oldest known citrus in cultivation, it produces a large fruit with long protruding fingers and a thick rind. The fruit is nearly absent of pulp. The rind, however, is often candied and somewhat sweet.
Looks like a lime, smells like a lime, but with an exceptionally sweet flavor. A hybrid of unknown origin, this vigorous grower flowers and fruits throughout the year. It is so prolific that it often flowers and fruits more than it grows.
Sometimes called the “Pink Lemonade Lemon,” Variegated Pink-Fleshed Eureka Lemon is a showpiece that’s well worth growing. The variegated leaves are green and white adding to its ornamental appeal and the lemon rind on the fruit is striped green and cream before it turns pink and yellow when fully mature. This lemon tree variety fruits easily and the inner flesh is light pink with very few seeds. The taste is comparable to a regular lemon. The primary fruiting season is late winter, spring and early summer. Enjoy these delicious lemons from your own tree. We recommend pruning when the plant is young to promote a full, bushy habit.
⇨ Buy Variegated Pink-Fleshed Eureka Lemon
The Key Lime is known by a number of names such as Bartender’s Lime and Mexican Lime. The oval leaves and thorny stems of this popular citrus tree yield fruit that is wildly aromatic and daintier than store-bought limes. Keep Key Lime above 60ºF and it will repay you with an abundant supply of fruit for yourself and your friends.
Eureka Lemon is one of the most popular lemon varieties grown today. This citrus tree is a vigorous grower and tends to bear while still young with fruit arriving late winter through early summer. The prolific yellow lemons are small-to-medium size, with tender, juicy fruit and few to no seeds. The rind has prominent ridges and is full of fragrant oil that gives it an intense citrus scent. It originated in Los Angeles, California from a group of seedlings of Italian origin. Eureka is a true lemon, not a hybrid like Meyer lemon, and its juice and zest are often made into baked goods like lemon meringue pie or lemon bread. It also makes delicious lemonade and other drinks.
⇨ Buy Eureka Lemon (Citrus limon ‘Allen-Newman’)
Kumquats are a favorite citrus fruit among people of all ages. Their thin outer skin is sweet and their inner pulp is surprisingly tart. Kumquats are meant to be eaten skin-and-all, so in combination, the taste is a distinctive flavor. The fruit of the ‘Nagami’ kumquat is oval and about 1 1/4” long x 1” diameter. Our grafted plants, shipped in 4” pots, will give you a jump on flowering and fruiting. Within one year, they will flower in the summer and set fruit just in time for the holidays. At Logee’s our kumquat tree has taken its permanent residence in our greenhouses for over 100 years. As with all citrus trees, keep the roots healthy by drying out between waterings and give full light and moderate amounts of fertilizer for steady growth.
⇨ Buy Kumquat ‘Nagami’ (Fortunella margarita)
This sour orange is one of the best citrus plants for containers because of its compact growing habit and hearty root structure. With densely foliated myrtle-like leaves, in spring it produces fragrant, white flowers and fruit that holds well for months. Pruning this enduring grower produces a well-shaped bush.
Although citrus trees grow in sub-tropical and tropical climates, many of them can tolerate short periods of freezing. For example, mandarins can take it down to 20 degrees F and Meyer lemons and kumquats are cold tolerant as well.
The most important factors for your citrus trees are light and watering needs. Most citrus trees need full sun, or at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day. Plant your citrus tree in well-drained soil in a clay pot. We recommend clay so the roots dry out and the soil gets aerated, therefore preventing any root disease.
All plants, including citrus trees, need nutrients to grow. Because citrus plants can be heavy feeders, we recommend you fertilize them to increase the chances of having a healthy, fruit-bearing tree. Properly fertilizing your citrus fruit trees can make all the difference when it comes to harvest time.
Your citrus tree will be the most nutrient-hungry during the time between blooming and having firmly set fruit. It's important that you fertilize when the tree is in bloom so it has enough nutrients to properly produce fruit. If your citrus tree's leaves looks lush and dark green, and it is holding onto its fruit, it does not need to be fertilized as often. Over-fertilizing, especially when your citrus tree looks healthy, may actually cause it to produce fewer or inferior fruit.
An acidic fertilizer can also be beneficial when fertilizing your citrus trees, as they prefer a somewhat acidic soil. However, for best results with minimal hassle, we recommend a citrus fertilizer made especially for citrus trees, such as Dr. Earth Organic Citrus, Avocado and Tree Fruit Fertilizer:
Citrus, avocado and other fruit trees need a steady supply of essential plant nutrients, minerals and micronutrients as well as beneficial soil microbes for optimum health, flowering and fruiting. Dr. Earth Organic Citrus, Avocado and Tree Fruit Fertilizer combines feather meal, wild-caught Alaskan fish bone meal, cold water kelp meal, alfalfa meal, mined and micronutrient-rich colloidal soft rock phosphate, naturally mined potassium sulfate, and seaweed extract into an easy-to-apply organic fertilizer for all your fruiting plants. It’s ideal for citrus, avocados, and all types of tropical and hardy tree fruits. All organic 5-5-2 analysis.
Another option when it comes to fertilizing your citrus plants and trees is to use a chelated nutritional supplement:
Chelated Liquid Iron provides quick and easy correction of iron deficiencies. Iron chlorosis, the yellowing of foliage, occurs in potted plants such as citrus, gardenias, jasmines, etc. Liquid Iron is chelated iron with copper, manganese and zinc. For potted plants, apply 1/2 teaspoon per quart of water. Repeat monthly. Aids in the production of vigorous dark green plant growth and corrects micro-nutrient deficiencies.
Summer Rayne Oakes is an author, eco-activist, and plant enthusiast who currently has more than 1,000 house plants in her Brooklyn, NY apartment. We recently had the pleasure of visiting with Summer Rayne at Logee's Greenhouses to talk about citrus tree care and propagation. In the video below, she and Logee's owner, Byron Martin, discuss general citrus care tips, pitfalls and propagation. You can learn more about Summer Rayne at her blog Homestead Brooklyn and her 'Plant One On Me' YouTube channel where she helps people reconnect with nature.
Growing citrus trees in your home or garden is a rewarding endeavor and will produce flowers and fruit year-round, depending on the variety. The flowers are fragrant, the fruit is delicious and ornamental. But whatever reason you grow citrus, we are sure you will enjoy the fruits of your labor!