Author Topic: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest  (Read 66946 times)

mrtexas

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #25 on: October 01, 2017, 11:39:15 AM »
On average you can grow a mango tree outside in Seattle. However it is not the averages that kill a citrus or mango tree it is the extremes and the duration of freezing weather that kill semi-tropical trees. Mangos are killed by a freeze of any duration. 0F, 6F, and 11F kill citrus trees after an hour or two. Seattle has very little citrus friendly weather with cool, rainy and cloudy the most frequent occurences. Where I live in Houston has similar weather to Bradenton,FL where they grow mangoes outside unprotected. However the yearly hard freezes prevent growing mangoes in the ground unprotected.

seattle by philip sauber, on Flickr
« Last Edit: October 01, 2017, 10:13:42 PM by mrtexas »

Citradia

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #26 on: October 01, 2017, 09:19:13 PM »
And, the reality is that if you live somewhere where it ever gets down to 5 degrees, you are going to have nights and days when it never gets above freezing, sometimes not getting above freezing for several days. If the temps don't rise above freezing when the sun comes up the morning after the cold snap, your citrus ( other than trifoliata) is in trouble.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #27 on: October 16, 2017, 04:38:10 PM »



SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #28 on: October 19, 2017, 11:28:35 PM »

Here's three of a really rare variety.
It's either ([trifoliate x Temple orange] x C. ichangensis) x Minneola Tangelo, or it's Minneola x C. ichangensis x Temple orange. There may have been a little mix up so its exact origin is in doubt.

I think this is only hardy to zone 8 but the fruit quality is supposed to be pretty good.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2017, 11:30:51 PM by SoCal2warm »

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #29 on: November 03, 2017, 05:48:14 PM »
At the very end of October the temperature early morning outside was 44°, 55° inside the greenhouse.
This morning, November 3, there was a surprise: the ground was covered in snow. It's very unusual for snow to fall this early in the year, usually any snowfall is preceded by two months of rain.

Here's a yuzu in the early fallen snow



SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #30 on: January 28, 2018, 05:55:54 PM »
Very unusual weather this year. Although there was snow in early November (very unusual), what's even more unusual is that so far, since then, there has not been a freeze, as far as I'm aware. Daytime temperatures have been hovering at about 46 °F almost every day, maybe 41 in the night (with just a few of the coldest nights down to 36 at the lowest).
 There was a rose on my bush blooming on New Years Day with several more buds that looked about to bloom, and I also just yesterday saw several blooms on a huge camellia bush. With temperatures like this a normal citrus tree could probably be left outside unprotected (although its leaves would have gotten a little frost bitten from the freak freeze in early November). It seems while the rest of the country has been experiencing deep freezes, the West coast has been unusually mild this year.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2018, 06:00:30 PM by SoCal2warm »

Citradia

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #31 on: January 29, 2018, 09:43:39 AM »
The weather on this continent is really unpredictable. We were supposed to have a warm dry winter, but it's been the exact opposite.

Tom

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #32 on: February 01, 2018, 12:09:14 PM »
The general explanation has been that the jet stream has been moving around in unusual patterns this year. Hard to believe but a dip in the artic jet stream caused central AL to be colder than parts of Canada at the same time. Yes it has been rough and the flu seems worse too. Tom

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #33 on: March 07, 2018, 12:32:43 AM »
Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a9hpySojNM

This guy has Miyagawa Satsuma fruiting on Flying Dragon trifoliate rootstock in Virginia Beach, right on the edge of the water. He's got a bunch of other rare cold hardy varieties grafted into the tree as well, Thomasville citrangequat, Ventura lemandarin, Glen citrangedin, Ichang lemon, Dimicelli, Shikuwasa, etc.
He's had the tree for a few years.
Virginia Beach is in climate zone 8a.

The video was taken December 10 and the leaves were all green. By February the leaves all turned brown and shriveled up (as seen in another video). The East Coast got pummeled by a pretty freezing winter this year. The only scion that didn't lose its leaves was a Swingle citrumelo. The tree suffered a lot of damage but he says it looks like it will come back.

few quick notes:
Ventura lemandarin is believed to be a cross between taiwanica lemon x either Satsuma or keraji mandarin; Glen citrangedin is apparently a cross between Willits citrange x calamondin; Dimicelli is a cross between Clementine x either trifoliate or CiTemple edible citrange


I just checked the weather report and the temperatures in Virginia Beach this week are looking pretty similar to here (March 6-13). Well actually the average in Virginia Beach is a little warmer but the colder days are still the same.

We did end up getting freezing temperatures and some snow in the second half of February, but it only lasted a few days. Again, this Winter has been very unusual.
« Last Edit: March 07, 2018, 12:47:08 AM by SoCal2warm »

Millet

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #34 on: March 07, 2018, 01:16:52 PM »
The Ventura lemandarin  that was seen in the above U-Tube was propagated by a friend of mine.  He is actually a member on this forum under the name of Eyeckr.  If you see him on, you can ask him any questions.  He know a lot about cold hardy citrus.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #35 on: March 20, 2018, 07:02:21 PM »
The temperature inside that little outdoor clear plastic enclosure I showed you earlier was 90 degrees F.
March 20, 3:40 in the afternoon, full sun, thermometer reading taken on the ground laying up against the small tree. The temperature right outside, in full sun, set on the ground, read 71 degrees. I was surprised it got that warm considering the weather service says the temperature is only supposed to be 53 degrees right now. Maybe it's because it's in a protected space, against a South-facing wall in full sun. And the dark colored soil also probably absorbs light more strongly than other surfaces, helping things remain warm.

A temperature differential of 21 degrees between the inside and the outside. Obviously in full sun the greenhouse effect is playing a very big role here.
Even for something that's basically as thin as vinyl shower curtain.

Just took a temperature reading in the night, 11:20 pm, inside the enclosure it's 51 degrees, that's about 3 degrees warmer than outside. (March 21)

Another temperature reading, today it's cloudy cold and drizzling rain. 50 degrees inside the enclosure, 47 degrees right outside. (in the middle of the day around noon, March 22)
It appears when it's grey and overcast the greenhouse effect and temperature differential is not as strong. The weather service says it's supposed to be 42 degrees right now.
« Last Edit: March 22, 2018, 03:38:08 PM by SoCal2warm »

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #36 on: March 31, 2018, 08:00:08 PM »
found this post on permies.com forum:

dawn shears
Location: Gold Beach, Oregon (south coast, zone 9b)

"I was super tickled to find meyer lemon trees growing well, outside in my new community on the south Oregon coast.  Come to find out lots grows here that does not even grow well in many places in northern California...

They call it the "banana belt" of Oregon and it's something like climate zone 9b in a little sliver on the south coast..."

https://permies.com/t/69696/Lemon-trees-Montana-anyplace-cold

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #37 on: April 06, 2018, 05:10:22 PM »
One of the interesting things I just learned, even though it doesn't get very freezing here in the Winter, and there are several subtropicals that are marginally able to survive here, the number of chill hours (between 32°F and 45°F) are around 3500 annually! (Yes, that's thousand) I had to look that up and double check it because I couldn't believe it. More than plenty enough chill hours for any temperate deciduous fruit tree you can think of. It's because of the extended season of cool temperatures and things not starting to warm up until later in the year. Right now, as of the beginning of April, we have New Zealand like weather. Yes, so imagine that. We have English Winters, a New Zealand Spring, Southern California Summers (maybe on the latitude of San Luis Obispo, sort of, it's fairly humid but with no precipitation, like the Southern California coast, but the hotter temperatures approach somewhere partially just a little further inland, but with cooler nighttime temperatures). Not really sure what you'd compare the Fall too. Maybe it starts off like the Northern part of California but farther inland where it's drier, and then suddenly transitions into buckets of rain pouring down, unlike any other region on earth.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #38 on: April 06, 2018, 05:14:49 PM »
Just thought I would post this here from one of our other members in this forum:

jim VH
Vancouver,Wa. zone 8b
"Yes, My Sudachi and Yuzu easily survived 8F (-13.3C) in January 2017 in Vancouver Wa., just across the Columbia river from Portland Or., with only minor small twig damage and about 20% defoliation on each.  The Sudachi appeared to have a higher percentage of small twig damage than the Yuzu.  On the other hand, the Yuzu is a much larger tree, and size does matter."

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #39 on: April 06, 2018, 06:51:26 PM »
Another interesting post from the permies.com forum:

Matt Hedlund
February 2018
"I too live in Seattle and have a cold hardy citrus collection of my own. In the ground i have:

Indio Mandarinquat
Owari Satsuma
Kuno Wase Satsuma
Nagami Kumquat
Fukushu Kumquat
Marumi Kumquat
Calamondin
Chinotto Sour Orange
Bloomsweet Grapefruit (kinkoji)
Yuzu
& Poncirus trifoliata

To date, these have all seen 18 degrees unprotected with no damage across the last 3 winters."

https://permies.com/t/74712/Hybridizing-cold-hardy-citrus-grow


I think we should be taking this with a grain of salt though because being in an urban city can really insulate from the surrounding regional climate. Seattle near the water is in the higher part of zone 8b, perhaps almost bordering on 9a if you were only going by absolute low temperatures. All those paved surfaces and buildings dumping out heat into their surroundings make the localized climate just a little bit warmer during Winter. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if a severe Winter comes along in the next few years and freezes back half of everything he has.

Just in case anyone is thinking about trying this, the order of cold hardiness is:
calamondin < mandarinquat < kumquat

I don't really know whether calamondin or satsuma has more cold hardiness, I've read numerous conflicting reports. I'd have to guess they are probably near the same level.
If I had to make an educated guess, the varieties out of that list most likely to die would be Chinotto, with the Calamondin dying down to its roots before sending up new growth, while I can see the Satsuma and Bloomsweet struggling and not doing the best most years. (but this is just my intuition and I don't have any solid evidence to present to you right now to back it up)


This was posted by someone else in the same thread:

Frank Cordeiro
"My Yuzu limes have survived three days of 10 degree weather with just some minor stem damage.  It is producing lots of good fruit with no freeze damage the last two years.
I use my trifoliate orange to make a household cleaning solution by soaking cut up and squeezed oranges in white vinegar.
I am in Southern Oregon.  Most years we hit 10 degrees in winter but sometimes a bit lower... "
« Last Edit: April 06, 2018, 08:17:52 PM by SoCal2warm »

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #40 on: May 15, 2018, 08:39:18 PM »
The Satsuma is beginning to put on new growth.


Two weeks ago I had to open up the enclosure, it was getting up to 92 degrees (F) in there when the sun came out.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #41 on: June 07, 2018, 04:52:31 PM »
Satsuma is blooming



SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #42 on: June 10, 2018, 03:11:15 PM »
Here's a citrus labled "citrumelo" at Jungle Fever Exotics.



It has a few blossoms on it.

They also have a small Yuzu in a container.
He doesn't have a greenhouse, he keeps all the plants outside.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #43 on: June 13, 2018, 09:37:16 AM »
There's also an Ichang papeda growing in the Lan Su Chinese garden in Portland. It's in the ground planted up against a wall with good sun exposure. I saw a few small undeveloped fruits on it. The leaves smell slightly lemony but very mild, they don't smell like the leaves of Yuzu or Flying Dragon. It's definitely an Ichang papeda, I can tell by the leaves, perfectly symetrical sized leaf petioles and their plant guide also lists it as Citrus ichangensis.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #44 on: June 15, 2018, 08:27:13 PM »
keraji seedling

I planted it out in the ground mid-March and it lost all its leaves and partially died back just a little bit because of the cold temperatures, or sustained cool temperatures (not freezing though). However, it looks like it is now starting to come back, regrowing tiny little leaflets. I've been keeping it well watered.

Amazing, such a tiny seedling citrus would never have been able to survive out in the open ground in Southern California, the temperatures would be too hot and it would get dried out. So there is some irony to trying to grow in a cooler climate. It's very lush and green here and plants tend to grow very fast during the growing season (that is when the temperatures aren't too cool).

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #45 on: August 01, 2018, 06:00:42 PM »
There was an interesting old thread on the Cloud Forest Gardener forum titled "hardy citrus, after the freeze", which discussed citrus growing outdoors in the PNW.

I'll copy some of the posts here in case the link disappears in the future.

____________________________
jim
Location: Vancouver Wa.
Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b
Dec 02, 2010

Well, it's been over a week, enough time to evaluate the damage. While this freeze was not particularly severe compare to last year (48 consecutive hours below freezing with lows of 23F(-5C) and 17F(-8C) this year compare to 117 consecutive hours below freezing with four consecutive lows a degree around 11F(-11.6C) in December 09) the earliness of the freeze probably affected the plants a bit severely, since as Eric of the Dalles/gorge pointed out, plants have not had as much time to harden off compared to prior years.

I have a number of unprotected citrus that I'm evaluating for PNW hardiness, as well as some in christmas tree light heated mini-greenhouses. The greenhouse protected citrus were undamaged, fruit and all. In fact, it looks like the LA early Satsumas ripened a bit more, and may be ready by new years. The unprotected citrus:

Yuzu- the tips of the second growth flush were nipped back an inch or two, not surprising since the second growth flush never hardens off. This is comparable to previous years, except last year when all the second growth flush was killed.

Unprotected Changsha- slight tip dieback. This particular Changsha is the sole survivor of 23 unprotected seedlings I started out with two years ago, and survived (barely) last Decembers freeze, sort of unnatural selection of the hardiest variation of a random population.

Indio Mandarinquat- It's toast; white bark and dead leaves to the graft. Oh well, I was wondering where I was going to put the Kishu mandarin I'm protecting in a pot indoors.

Citrumelo- fully hardened off. No damage. It only had one growth flush this rather cool year.

Thomasville citrangequat seedlings- there are six in pots. The pots are set in the ground with soil to the top of the pot, to protect the roots. Three of them show some damage- slight bark whitening, tho the leaves look OK. The other three seem undamaged. There's also a one inch tall Sudachi seedling, which appears undamaged.
_________________________________

Las Palmas Norte
Location: Lantzville, Vancouver Island
Climate Zone: USDA zone 8b
Dec 02, 2010

My (potted) citrus had no issues with the last cold spell. They are in a large 1,000 square ft coldframe (polytunnel - British equivalant) and the smaller ones where just gathered together in the center area - no heat. I'm not sure of the temps in there but outside the coldest night on Nov.23 was -8.3°C (17°F).

Atwood Navel
Changsha mandarin
Owari satsuma
Yuzu
Ventura lemandrin
Sudachi
Meyer Lemon
10° Tangerine
... and several seed grown mandarins

My biggest problem was scale insect on some of these and now a black sooty mold has formed. Looks like a big maintenance issue come spring, should they make it.

Cheers, Barrie.

_____________________

jim
Location: Vancouver Wa.
Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b
Dec 02, 2010

For an unprotected in-the-ground citrus, the Yuzu seems to work in the Portland area. My Yuzu has survived the last three winters unprotected. Part of it's hardiness, I suspect, is that it;s grafted to a true poncirus rootstock, giving it early dormancy. I haven't seen any problems with soot or scale. Perhaps because it's been outside, the rain washes off sticky sweet that causes sooty mold, and the freezes kill the scale. It's available from One Green World nursery, although I suspect, based on last years results, the 0F degree hardiness they claim may be overhyped. Also, it's actually used in cooking by the Japanese, although a lot of people don't care for the taste or texture. There are hardier citrus: the poncirus or trifoliate orange, the citrumelo, the citrange, etc. but most people can't stand the taste (although some are able to eat Citrumelo's, cutting out the sections like a grapefruit, which it resembles, making sure none of the bitter peel oil gets into the fruit. When or if mine sets fruit, I'll test the hypothesis). The following, somewhat more edible citrus may be as hardy, or hardier than the Yuzu, particularly if grafted onto a poncirus rootstock: Taiwanica lemon (seedy but edible, and, being a lemon, it will ripen here) Thomasville Citrangequat (some people don't like the taste, the one I got from Stan McKenzie tastes great, like a lime) Sudachi ( the one I have tastes fine to me, and it's used while still green, so ripening is not an issue. The ten degree tangerine, from Las Palma Nortes list, may also be hardy enough, and maybe the Juanita tangerine, but I haven't tried them (too many citrus, not enough room, or money) There are also things like yuzuquats and razzlequats and a host of other hybrids, enough to drive one mad
_______________________

eeldip
"George in Portland"
Climate Zone: 6/8b
Dec 02, 2010

i have a poncirus in the ground, and its been great. pretty close to my house, in the winter the contrast against the wall is incredible. stole that trick from the chinese gardens. it hasn't flowered yet though, making me sad...
_______________________

John S
Climate Zone: USDA8
Dec 06, 2010

Don't buy a 10 degree tangerine. I think it makes it in SC because it gets so much heat that it can lose some. Mine died here. I waited to put it out until it was bigger, and it still croaked. I'm being a little conservative on my citrus. I will put my yuzu out eventually but I wan't it to grow up. Flying dragon and Ichang lemon the only ones out all year and they're fine.
John S
PDX OR

____________________

jim
Location: Vancouver Wa.
Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b
Dec 06, 2010

John, it's good to know about the 10 degree tangerine, something else to cross off the list. People who try out these different varieties help everyone else; out motto 'we kill exotic plants so others don't have to'. Even the Ichang can be iffy, mine was killed by last Decembers freeze, even though my grafted Yuzu survived. My guess is, the freeze came after a fairly warm November last year and sap was still flowing. When I inspected it, the bark was split and peeling, I'm guessing the flowing sap froze. The raging east winds probably did not help. If it had been grafted on Poncirus rootstock like the Yuzu, it may have gone dormant and survived.
________________________

John S
Climate Zone: USDA8
Nov 27, 2013

I love this thread. My yuzu died last winter, then regrew from roots and is a small bush again. Jim, I love your idea about growing it on flying dragon rootstock. Maybe I'll try to bud it this summer (2014). I have been almost killing my citrus for years. I love to see the experiments of others to see if I'm on the right track.
John S
PDX OR
_________________

jim
Location: Vancouver Wa.
Climate Zone: sunset Z6, USDA 8b
Nov 22, 2014

This is an update of this thread about the travails and joys of growing cold hardy citrus in the PNW, detailing the outcomes of nine unprotected citrus during the winter of 2013-2014.

Last winter was characterized by two significant Arctic blasts.

The first began Dec. 5th 2013 and ended Dec10th and was characterized by 113 consecutive hours below freezing, one low of 10.8F (-11.8C), one low of 13.6F (-10.2C), and four lows in the low 20's. Daytime highs were in the mid-high 20's on four of those days. This freeze also had strong east winds of 20 mph with gust to near 40 during the first couple days.

The second blast began Feb. 4th and ended Feb. 9th 2014 also with 113 consecutive hours below freezing. The nighttime lows were not particularly remarkable (for Portland), with three around 19F (-7.2C). What WAS noteworthy was a period of 36 consecutive hours where the temperature never rose above 21F (-6.1C). Daytime highs were also low-mid twenties for two other days.

The compost pile indicator shows that the ground froze solid to a depth of 12-15 inches during each of these two extended freezes.

Four of the nine unprotected citrus survived these two freezes:

Yuzu on Flying Dragon rootstock: 30% defoliated, one small twig died

Citrumelo on Flying Dragon rootstock: 20% defoliated, no small twig death.

Thomasville Citrangequat on Flying Dragon rootstock: 100% defoliation, 30-40% small twig death

First of twoThomasville Citrangequat seedlings on its own roots: killed to the ground, regrew one shoot in late July

The following five unprotected citrus died:

Troyer Citrange on it's own roots: This was the rootstock of the Kishu mandarin that died the previous winter.

Small 5 YO Changsha tangerine on it's own roots: This was the seedling that barely survived four nights near 10F in the of freeze of Dec. 2009. Not this time. Two freezes in one winter were two much for it , I guess.

Large 9 YO Changsha tangerine on it's own roots

Second of two Thomasville Citrangequat seedlings on it's own roots

Sudachi on Carrizo Citrange rootstock

A few additional observations
All of the five citrus that died looked pretty good until the weather warmed in late March, whereupon they turned brown and died. In fact, I was able use the wood in February to graft the two Changsha's and the Citrangequat seedling onto Flying Dragon rootstock, indicating the wood was still alive.

Second, none of the Citrus showed any signs of the bark splitting that indicates sap was flowing at the time of either of the freezes. Clearly they were all dormant.

Apparently, then, on the five plants that died ,it was the roots that were killed when the ground froze to a depth of 12-15 inches, i.e., the citrus themselves were top-hardy to 10F, but not root-hardy. The one Citrangequat one it's own roots that survived perhaps had a deep root that somehow survived, the root possibly protected by some Lingonberry plants that were growing fairly close to it.

This, then, seems to be a second mechanism whereby Deciduous Poncirus rootstock improves the hardiness of those cultivars grafted onto them. Not only does the rootstock cause the tops to go dormant, protecting it from bark-splitting death, but it also gives it a set of freeze-proof roots.

I was a little surprised that the Citrange died. It is reputed to be hardy to zero Fahrenheit. But then, Portland is a "hard" zone 8. Freezes here can last for up to two weeks without the temperature exceeding freezing, whereas in the South and Southeast, where most observation come from, temperatures of near 0F are often followed by rapid warmup above freezing in the following day or two.

Base on observed damage, the Citrumelo is somewhat hardier than the Yuzu. Both can probably take a few more degrees of frost, possibly to 5F, or even lower.
Both are hardier than the monofoliate clone of Citrangequat that I obtained from Mckenzie farms. The two Citrangequat seedlings appear hardier than that clone- both had some bifoliate and trifoliate leaves.

Only one of the Citrus -the Changsha- was grafted. The Sudachi was a rooted cutting.


http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/gardening/hardy-citrus-after-the-freeze-t70.html






Millet

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #46 on: August 01, 2018, 10:13:17 PM »
SoCal2Warm thanks for the post.  I'll have to spend some time looking it over.  Appreciate your kindness.

jim VH

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #47 on: August 02, 2018, 11:41:44 AM »
Socal2warm,

Thanks for copying that stuff over from the Cloudforest forum.  Since it went defunct I've been unable to post the results from the 14 day  arctic blast of January 2017 during which the temperature never rose above freezing, except for one day where it rose to 34F.   One low was 8F (-13.3C) and a couple in the low teens.   A number of citrus survived, a couple died.  At the moment I'm swamped, it's the harvest season and I'm busy picking and preserving stuff, but when I have time I'll consult my records and give a detailed update.

Briefly though, survivors were Yuzu, Citrumelo, the Thomasville citrangequat from Mackenzie farms, Sudachi  and the sole-survivor Changsha discussed above.  All on flying dragon rootstock.  Also surviving was the Thomasville seedling on it s own roots growing out of a patch of Lingonberries, which seem to protect the roots.

Dead were Kabosu on unknown rootstock, and the Changsho from Mackenzie farms that I later grafted onto a FD rootstock.

The Kabosu actually looked fairly good, so I suspect the rootstock, which was quite dead.  I'd already grafted it onto an FD rootstock, so will retest it whenever the next artic blast comes, along with Ichang lemon (Shangwaun) on PT rootstock and Prague Citsuma, among others.

SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #48 on: August 27, 2018, 12:34:24 PM »
Some more posts recovered from permies.com

Ben Zumeta
(March 2018 ?)

My best friend from childhood's parents have a lemon tree in their yard in NE Seattle. It's at least 15yrs old and seems quite productive and healthy. He is a lifelong orchardist and vintner though and may have used old farmer magic.

...in terms of the happy lemon in Seattle, beyond good ol farmer magic I would attribute its success to being about 2/3 of the way up a SE facing hill with a house above it to the NW. The bottom of the hill has a grocery store parking lot and large arterial covered in black top, and this undoubtedly radiates heat. It also probably likes the boner view of Mt. Rainier.


Marco Downs

I heard recently that Dave Boehnlein got a Yuzu harvest from a tree he planted in a parking strip in Seattle, no special earth/stone works, but lots of feeding and watering. I haven't seen many posts from him on this forum lately but I know he's pretty approchable. From what I've seen, yuzu and other (semi)hardy citrus can grow leaves just fine, which can be wonderful for cooking, but getting the fruit to ripen can be tricky.

https://permies.com/t/82882/Yuzu-Western-Washington




SoCal2warm

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Re: Citrus in the Pacific Northwest
« Reply #49 on: August 27, 2018, 02:47:12 PM »
very small Keraji seedling, in ground

it's putting on some leaf growth.

small Yuzu seedling, in ground

this one is in the Yashiro Japanese Garden, Olympia
only gets infrequent watering but seems to be doing quite well, perhaps because there's a pond nearby that raises the level of humidity, and the garden is enclosed on all sides creating a windbreak, and there's lots of nearby shade from plants & trees which helps keep ambient temperatures a little lower than they otherwise would be in the blazing hot summer.