The Tropical Fruit Forum
Citrus => Cold Hardy Citrus => Topic started by: Leif79 on February 23, 2018, 10:52:35 AM
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I have spent some time trying to find the hardiness of these varieties. Is the Kishu like other mandarins and good to the mid teens or is it the mid 20s that some websites state? Are any members growing Kishu outdoors in zone 8b? The New Zealand Lemonade Tree has been even more difficult to find any hardiness information on. A few websites gloss over it without really going into detail. So I have the same question is it a mandarin hybrid good to the mid to high teens like the Meyer Lemon or is it like a more traditional lemon that can survive in the mid to high 20s.
I appreciate any responses.
Thanks Jasen
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Some say the NZ Lemonade tree is a hybrid between a lemon and a mandarin that first was crossed in Australia. Other sites such as UCR say the parentage is unknown. Most say it can be grown in USDA zones 8 to 10. Never seen any information stated as an estimated low temperature survive ability. The tree certainly is a very productive fruit bearer.
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There was a genetic study in Japan that showed that Kishu was one of the parents of Satsuma. Kishu probably has less cold hardiness than Satsuma, however, since it was likely the other parent (kunenbo, also believed to be the parent of Keraji and Bloomsweet) that conferred cold hardiness. My guess is that the cold hardiness of Kishu isn't anything special compared to other mandarin varieties, but mandarins as a group do tend to be fairly cold hardy, certainly more so than oranges.
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Thanks for the replies looks like it will be trial by fire hope I dont burn the plants up to bad. Good thing is I will be able to update next spring to let everyone know how well they did.
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The last two winter's I reach 21F. The first year 80F one day the next 21F. This year we had a week of cold weather before the 21F freeze. First year -Kishu 80% was defoliated, but still made a light crop. Fair sized NZ lemonade killed, this was the only citrus I lost. This year- Kishu 15% defoliated, looking good now.
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My Kishu -in Vancouver Wa.- died at 22F, but it was small, and that temperature occurred during a prolonged cold spell with two days where the temperature never rose above freezing.
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Interesting you both have them having issues in the low 20s I guess I will see how they do.
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Bumping my thread my coldest temperature was 23 degrees I had no damage to the one year old in ground New Zealand Lemonade tree. It was a warm winter overall just thought I would give back a little information.
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I have Kishu and NZL in ground in zone 8a in Georgia. I kept the NZL covered on below freezing nights because it started blooming in the fall and never stopped. A lot of the blooms got damaged during the polar vortex, but some still look viable. It has only lost a few leaves. The Kishu is already starting to put on bloom buds and has also lost just a few leaves. The kishu was not protected this year. Our coldest night this year was only in the mid 20's. Hope this helps.
TFN