Author Topic: Cold hardiness of yuzu  (Read 1685 times)

lavender87

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Cold hardiness of yuzu
« on: August 08, 2019, 02:36:36 PM »
  I have seen many different information about cold hardiness of yuzu from different nurseries. Some claimed that yuzu is hardy down to 0F while other said 12F. What is the truth about yuzu hardiness?

will2358

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2019, 02:48:47 PM »
I think when you grow a plant from seed you just do not know. A lot of Yuzu are grown from seed.
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Ilya11

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2019, 02:57:57 PM »
  I have seen many different information about cold hardiness of yuzu from different nurseries. Some claimed that yuzu is hardy down to 0F while other said 12F. What is the truth about yuzu hardiness?
It depends on what you consider an end point for hardiness. Some Yuzu plants will survive after one season with short temperature drop to 0F, but will be severely damaged and will die if it happens next season. To thrive and fruit Yuzu plants should not be exposed to temperatures lower than 10F.
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lavender87

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2019, 03:13:57 PM »
So how is yuzu's hardiness compared to its parent (Ichang Papeda)?

lavender87

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2019, 03:15:08 PM »
I think when you grow a plant from seed you just do not know. A lot of Yuzu are grown from seed.

  I heard many people claimed that yuzu nearly always comes true from seeds.

Ilya11

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2019, 06:14:12 PM »
Actuaĺy, according to DNA studies C.ichangensis is not a direct parent of Yuzu.
 For the hardiness, Yuzu and ichang papeda react very differently to the winter hazards. Yuzu keeps dormant at sudden increases of day time temperatures, while papeda rapidly starts vegetation  and can be severely damaged with winter returns.
In climates with uniform winter lows papeda is more hardy than Yuzu, while it is inverse in areas with unstable winters.
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lavender87

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2019, 10:18:14 PM »
Actuaĺy, according to DNA studies C.ichangensis is not a direct parent of Yuzu.
 For the hardiness, Yuzu and ichang papeda react very differently to the winter hazards. Yuzu keeps dormant at sudden increases of day time temperatures, while papeda rapidly starts vegetation  and can be severely damaged with winter returns.
In climates with uniform winter lows papeda is more hardy than Yuzu, while it is inverse in areas with unstable winters.

Thank you very much. It was very clear and helpful.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2019, 09:23:30 PM »
My prior research, reading things from different sources on different forums and the internet, led me to believe Yuzu is hardy down to approximately 10 °F.
But it may suffer some light damage that low. And that's a larger plant, not a smaller size.

lavender87

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2019, 11:55:31 PM »
My prior research, reading things from different sources on different forums and the internet, led me to believe Yuzu is hardy down to approximately 10 °F.
But it may suffer some light damage that low. And that's a larger plant, not a smaller size.

 It's good to know this specific info. Thank you very much.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Cold hardiness of yuzu
« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2019, 02:05:56 AM »
I have a small Yuzu that survived the winter outside in the ground in the Pacific Northwest (Olympia, WA, zone 8a). It was a colder winter than normal, and I only covered it with a paper bag and put a gallon container of water under there during the coldest night when the temperature was forecasted to drop down to 12 F in the very early morning. The lowest I actually measured was 19 F in that spot, and that was about 3 and a half hours before it was supposed to drop to the low point, so it's very well possible it never actually reached anywhere near 12 degrees in that spot.
After that it got completely buried in snow for a week.
It survived, lost half its leaves, some of the top branches died back, and it suffered severe bark damage on the biggest main branch at the bottom. But in late July it started putting on a flush of growth. Amazingly the leaves from last year have turned a healthy green color again, the leaves recovered.

It's on the south-facing side of the house, in a sunny spot.

I also planted two Yuzu seedlings as an experiment. One, in a shadier spot, did not survive the winter. Another, planted in a garden in a downtown area, surrounded by a courtyard and in a sunny spot, managed to survive unprotected. It was killed back and all the branches died, only the little trunk was left. All the leaves fell off, except for one tiny little green leaflet caught between the two main upper branches, but even that eventually dropped off in June. The seedling was only 5 inches tall, got killed back to 2 inches. It now looks like it has recovered to about the size it was last year. It was unprotected, except for being buried in snow. I tried to give it a little water every few days during the dry season.

I have posted pictures of this in another thread.
« Last Edit: August 11, 2019, 02:16:06 AM by SoCal2warm »