Cold Hardiness of Cherry of the Rio Grande?

[Kevin Jones]

Winter dilemma... I have limited space in my greenhouses... and as usual... I have accumulated more plants than I can fit inside... so I've had to cull some of my plants... including Cherry of the Rio Grandes... several year old plants mostly in 5 gallon containers or larger. Surprisingly they have endured a dozen nights with below freezing temps... with several in the low 20s... and with no damage. I had written them off initially... but now I have a suspicion they will be sticking around for another season.
I am in West central Alabama - Zone 7a-8b... in the middle of town.

Just curious about other people's experience with winter hardiness of COTRGs.
Thanks for your thought.

Kevin

[850FL]

They are one of those plant I have written down that I keep forgetting to buy seeds... I read that either grumichama or cherry of the rio grande withstands 15-20F and the other to about 20F but I forget which order. Sorry but I’d keep it.. you can also stack pots and plant multiple plants in pots for more space

[spaugh]

mine gets some minor damage from cold here and it never freezes.  i think frost will damage it but have no experience with it.  it seems more cold sensitive that citrus.

plants seem to get less damage in the GH vs outdoors with the same temps. 

[850FL]

Leaf damage is different than stem damage..

[Jaboticaba45]

Kevin,
If you ever decide to cull them, send me a pm and I would be happy to pick them up from you.

[Kevin Jones]

Ryan... Thanks for the offer... But they have now turned into a science experiment.
Most of them were 6 ft tall or larger and I cut them back hard before I realized I was out of greenhouse space.
Now I'm thinking they might just grow OK outside.
That's why I was asking about hardiness.
Also... I have an Owari Satsuma that has survived 7 years in my front yard and it set fruit this year with 30 or so fruits.

Thanks.

Kevin

[CarolinaZone]

I think they must be tough. The all the ones I have are doing just fine in my unheated greenhouse. Note the green house has close to 100% humidity all the time. The greenhouse plastic is always dripping and It even froze to the plastic once this year. I'm in zone 7. Nothing in side has seen any negative effect.

[Tropheus76]

I have had one. It was a nice bushy 6' tall tree. Got hit with frost and low 30s and its now a 2' tall tree after having been in the ground for 5 years or so. IMO it is not cold hardy, maybe a light frost and that's about it. Its on my short list for replacement. I am in 9b for reference.

[WilliamTheYoungGrower]

Little bit off track here but have you noticed if COTRG prefers full sun or partial sun when mature? Mine is gettin to maturity and im not sure if i should plant it out in full sun.

,William

[NateTheGreat]

They have no issues down to 26 here, full sun. I don't think grumichama is very hardy.

[Bush2Beach]

I agree, it is the most cold hardy Eugenia I have found along with Guabiju.

They have no issues down to 26 here, full sun. I don't think grumichama is very hardy.

[achetadomestica]

COR has a huge range and the trees vary allot. So far I am more impressed with
the E. calycina which some say is another type of COR.  I have 5 different COR and
2 different E. calycina. In Florida some types are prone to die back and 2 of the trees I have
both have dieback. So far the 2 types I got from Argentina seem very hardy but the trees
are only pushing 3 years now.

[Epicatt2]

COR has a huge range and the trees vary allot. So far I am more impressed with
the E. calycina which some say is another type of COR.  I have 5 different COR and
2 different E. calycina. In Florida some types are prone to die back ...

I'm wondering if there is any relation to the soil pH and die-back with CotRG.  I have one that was growing quite well in a 3 gallon pot so I planted it in the ground because it had gotten 3-ft tall.  It grew nicely for one season and then experienced some dieback.

Now it is only a foot tall and growing very slowly despite being mulched, watered and fertilized periodically.  It sailed through the recent cold weather here exposed to the open sky with no damage of even leaf burn.

I also have half a dozen small (8 inches tall) seedlings of E. calycina (in 6-in pots) and they weren't affected by the recent cold either.

Paul M.
==

[Kevin Jones]

Well so far... my little science experiment has yielded some interesting results. ... and I'm encouraged.
We had temps here in central AL down to 13 degrees overnight last week during the big freeze... and so far my COTRG are fine. They had the advantage of having some cover from overhead branches of a small nearby tree/shrub ... but they also had the disadvantage of being stuck in various sized containers and pots... which froze solidly. These are run of the mill COTRGs grown from seed collected from CA and FL... not Nelitas or Garnets.
As far as I can tell... they look fine. They don't appear to have suffered any damage from the cold.
We'll see as the weather warms if there is any lasting damage.
To be continued...

Kevin

[ScottR]

My trees are on the older side a least for me they have been in ground since 04 and we had a freeze down to 16f in 06 I must have covered with frost cloth and they are now ten feet tall and this have given be two crops of excellent fruit. Both are seedling but my oldest has been in ground since -1999 or -00 and was a seedling that had terrible fruit so, I have been top working over to 'Ben's Beaut' which is good and getting better every year but not as good as my other two seedlings. I think the older more established the trees get and get some girth on trunk they give better fruit and become harder to your climate to a extend.

[K-Rimes]

Mine does ok down to 26f. It does have branch die back but I think that's just part of the species, not necessarily weather related.

[Tropical Bay Area]

Just lie guavas, the leaves turn red and even if they completely defoliate the plant is still fine...