Citrus > Cold Hardy Citrus
Harvey lemon, cold hardiness down to 16F, is it a myth?
lavender87:
I just wonder how a lemon tree survived a low temperature of 16 F without any damage? I don't see any trait of trifoliate orange or Ichangensis papeda characteristics in it. People claimed that it was the only survival after a disastrous winter in 1960-1970 in FL.
Anyone confirm this for me please, is this a myth?
Especially, the winter temperature of FL is usually very mild, so it means that a sudden sharp change in temperature would easily kill citrus trees there.
Bomand:
As far as lemons I can see a 16 degree survival...if the rootstock is poncirus....if environment was right and we are not speaking of sustained 16 degrees
M Lemon on poncirus is probably as cold hardy as lemon gets....and it usually does not do well at 16 degrees suztained without cold protection. It will survive but I feel that is a ways from (cold hardy).
SoCal2warm:
In the Olympia-Tacoma-Seattle area in WA state there are many anecdotal reports about Meyer lemon trees in containers up against a house being able to survive some Winters.
A typical Winter will get down to about 15F for just two nights, and it might be one or two degrees warmer in a specific area or near a house, so interrpret that however you will.
Protection from wind might be a factor as well.
lavender87:
It seems like no body have heard of Harvey Lemon. There were also very limited info about this variety. Some one claimed that it is far more cold hardy than meyer lemon, but why and how??? Did the normal lemon tree mutate its own gene by chance to tolerate colder climate? It is deffinitely not a trifoliate hybrid nor Ichangensis papeda hybrid. If the fact that this lemon mutated it self to tolerate the colder climate then it is promising that it will mutate itself again in its next and next generation by chance to improve its cold hardiness.
lavender87:
--- Quote from: SoCal2warm on June 02, 2019, 10:22:34 PM ---In the Olympia-Tacoma-Seattle area in WA state there are many anecdotal reports about Meyer lemon trees in containers up against a house being able to survive some Winters.
A typical Winter will get down to about 15F for just two nights, and it might be one or two degrees warmer in a specific area or near a house, so interrpret that however you will.
Protection from wind might be a factor as well.
--- End quote ---
That makes some sense to me, but I just wonder even if this Harvey Lemon is as cold tolerant as a meyer lemon tree, it is still a great mystery for a normal lemon to make it that far. This harvey lemon was described as seedless as well beside its super cold tolerance. I would choose harvey lemon over meyer lemon for its closer characteristic to original lemon and less seeds than meyer lemon. I don't find meyer lemon useful beside candying.
I will buy one tree for experiment and will report the result after the next winter.
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