The Tropical Fruit Forum

Citrus => Cold Hardy Citrus => Topic started by: Perplexed on March 08, 2019, 12:34:58 AM

Title: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Perplexed on March 08, 2019, 12:34:58 AM
Mainly for zone 7b(8a), lately the weather has been good this year not falling below 20F at the moment. Lowest this year so far was 26F though the weather is very bipolar though.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on March 08, 2019, 12:43:49 AM
Eyeckr is in Virginia Beach (8a) and TaiTri is the most vigorous growing/fruiting variety he has.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on March 09, 2019, 01:00:58 AM
N1tri seedling on the left, TaiTri seedling on the right
(https://i.postimg.cc/qgFDvZFW/20190308-215403.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/qgFDvZFW)

I don't think it's a coincidence they are both showing leaf yellowing.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Florian on March 09, 2019, 11:21:01 AM
I have a bunch of seedlings from seed eyeckr kindly sent to me. I wonder how they handle European (i.e. Swiss) winters. USDA zones are only of limited use over here. This winter would have been 8b/9. But our winters are long and damp, days or even weeks below 0C occur every so often.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on March 09, 2019, 03:56:32 PM
USDA zones are only of limited use over here. This winter would have been 8b/9. But our winters are long and damp, days or even weeks below 0C occur every so often.
I'm in the Pacific Northwest so the climate here is somewhat similar to Europe. In more northerly climates there's no danger of a plant prematurely coming out of dormancy, because the temperatures remain constantly cool. But it also seems with the cooler temperatures and shorter growing season, hardy citrus plants can run out of energy and may not be able to recover from damage that they do incur.

I think TaiTri should do perfectly fine in European climate zone 8.
Eating quality is not very good though. It's practically like a slightly improved version of trifoliate. However, grown from seedling you never know, there may be a seedling that lacks bitterness. I think most of the TaiTri seeds are zygotic.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on March 09, 2019, 04:08:37 PM
Keep in mind that TaiTri is a cross between Taiwanica lemon and trifoliate.
Tiwanica lemon (Nanshodaidai in Japan) is actually a type of sour orange in genotype, and is almost as hardy as Yuzu. It grows well in zone 8b in the (U.S.) South.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Florian on March 10, 2019, 10:24:50 AM
Thanks! I know that Taitri isn't supposed to be very good tastewise but I am happy with anything even slightly better-tasting than Poncirus as long as it survives our winters and is able to ripen. Would Taitri be more coldhardy than Citrumelo?

Here are some of my seedlings. I have to keep them in community pots because of lack of space. I use a well-draining substrate in order not to over water them and to be able to seperate them easier later on.
(https://i.postimg.cc/G9Zfjhmx/20190310-150409.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/G9Zfjhmx)
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on March 10, 2019, 06:09:49 PM
Would Taitri be more coldhardy than Citrumelo?
Going by its ancestry, I would assume so, but I can't say with absolute certainty.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: mikkel on March 11, 2019, 05:30:54 PM
another TaiTri seedling (http://yuccaundanderefreilandsukkulenten.xobor.de/t595f9-My-small-Citrus-collection.html) in a garden in western Germany.
It is much bigger by now.
Probably never protected.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: SoCal2warm on April 08, 2019, 11:03:40 AM
How hardy is TaiTri?
I can't comment about TaiTri, but can share this about Taiwanica.

On April 5 (2019 ) I talked to Nat Bradford. He used to live in Seneca, South Carolina, which he insisted is zone 7a. (I'm looking at a USDA hardiness map and Seneca appears to be listed as being on the border of zone 8a/7b though, but I pressed him on this point at he was adamant that the location was definitely not in zone 8 )
He said he grew a Taiwanica lemon and an C. ichangensis outside there unprotected, and they have survived for 7 years. At one point he says the temperature got down to 4 °F. He says his Taiwanica lemon survived all this time. I specifically asked if it had survived the freeze in 2017-2018, and he said yes, he had gone back to the property and saw the tree was still there, even though he doesn't live there anymore. The Taiwanica was grown from a seedling and is not grafted. He initially grew them in one gallon pots and left them outside, they survived. Then he eventually planted them out into the ground.
The C. ichangensis has lost leaves and the leaves have turned yellow-brown every Winter, but he says the Taiwanica did not lose leaves.

I was very surprised to hear this.

His Tiwanica has fruited, but he says his C. ichangensis never set flowers.

I also asked how his hardy citrus hybridization attempts have been going, and he said he's been busy and has a few seedlings from his Taiwanica, but nothing else besides that.

This is the same Nat Bradford whose name is connected to the Bradford watermelon, once a famous heirloom variety in the South, and he did an internship at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania.


Since TaiTri is a hybrid between Taiwanica and trifoliate, I think we can assume this implies something about its hardiness.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Millet on April 08, 2019, 06:55:56 PM
I believe the Bradford watermelon is still available.  A couple years ago it was sold on a first come first served.   
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: will2358 on September 19, 2019, 05:37:55 PM
My Tai Tri seedling is growing pretty fast. I may plant it out next year. I think this is one that I will plant in the front yard. I may also plant Swingle in the front yard also. How does Swingle taste?
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Bomand on September 19, 2019, 05:51:53 PM
Not good. IMHO. Has that poncirus wang to it. I did eat a couple but wished I had not.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: Laaz on September 19, 2019, 09:55:41 PM
What Charlie doesn't understand is that the PNW & south is nothing alike... Apples & oranges.
Title: Re: How hardy is TaiTri?
Post by: will2358 on September 22, 2019, 12:29:49 PM
I had to repot my Tai Tri and the root system was so long.
This is the one that I will plant in the front yard next year.
(https://i.postimg.cc/sQTYF2Md/tai-tri.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/sQTYF2Md)

(https://i.postimg.cc/NKXkyYzm/tai-tri-repot.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/NKXkyYzm)