Citrus > Cold Hardy Citrus

Winter 2014 damage

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Pancrazio:
I was wondering what kind of damage your outdoor citrus have had during the 2014 winter.
Since as far as I can hear this winter had been on of the worst in years in the USA, I imagine that a lot of plants have been tested.
What did you lose? What did unexpectedly survive? What kind of temperature did your plant experience?
It would be nice to have some kind of map of what happened to citrus grower in the USA on such harsh winter to use it as reference for future use.

Tom:
I'm in zone 8. We had 60 hours in a row with below freezing temps and during that time a low of 11 1/2 * F. Then we had about two weeks of ok weather and then another spell of about 50 hours never above freezing but the lowest temp was 20*F. I used frost cloth and plastic woven tarps with old fashioned incandescent light bulbs for heat. I have a Meyer lemon and several Satsumas and kumquats. Non of them would have had a chance without protection.  The worst thing about our zone 8 winters is we can have 70 to 80 * F in the middle of winter and have a cold snap with freezing temp around 20 * more or less. That can be a killer without protection. I hope that helps. Tom

elsedgwick:
Here in N. Florida/S. Georgia we had an absolute low of around 20, with two or three days where temperatures remained below freezing until around midday. 

Out in the country, we lost a Meyer lemon.  Although it was protected by frost cloth over a frame, it had suffered limb breakage prior to the freeze, which I believe can significantly decrease cold tolerance by stimulating the tree.  With similar protection, we had some trees defoliate (pummelos, a Lakeland limequat, a Duncan grapefruit, and, surprisingly, a Ponkan).  A neighbor lost an unprotected grapefruit on Swingle that had just been planted.  Unprotected satsumas did fine, and an unprotected Ponkan graft I had high-grafted just a few months prior came through unscathed.   

In town, the recorded temperatures were about the same, but it's hard to know exactly what temperatures were around my house, everything in ground survived.  There was some defoliation seen on a Shiranui/Dekopon (on Swingle) and a Rhode Red Valencia (Trifoliate).  A Flame Grapefruit and Ponkan (both Swingle) came through pretty well.  In an unheated and partially open house (three walls and roof), lemons (Sanbokan, Lisbon, Harvey, Meyer, Ponderosa), limes (Kaffir, Persian, Lakeland Limequat), and various other plants (several mandarins, a pummelo, etc...) did fine - one of the lemons lost some new growth it was pushing out prematurely, but that is about it.  Almost all have set fruit.  Again, it's hard to know exactly how cold it got, but a mango and some pineapples in the same house died.  Another mango (~2" trunk diameter) died back almost to the graft, but has since come back. 


All trees are 1-3 years old except one 20 year old grapefruit that was unprotected and defoliated but has since come back and several older satsumas, which were also unprotected and did fine. 

Tom:
I have been to John Neighbors where he has three rows of high tunnels of citrus each about 250 feet long. They have not all died like I had heard but a few at one end in the middle tunnel did die when the wind tore a hole in the end of the tunnel. I believe one of the dead Satsumas was the Brown Select that won best of show several years ago at the South East Fruit Expo. All the living Satsumas and Meyer lemons were hurt badly but look like they will survive. There will be very few fruit for a year or two if we don't have a repeat of bad weather next year. All the new planted grapefruit died. Tom

Pancrazio:
Thank you for your contributions.


--- Quote from: elsedgwick on May 29, 2014, 07:15:33 AM ---Out in the country, we lost a Meyer lemon.  Although it was protected by frost cloth over a frame, it had suffered limb breakage prior to the freeze, which I believe can significantly decrease cold tolerance by stimulating the tree.  [cut]
 A Flame Grapefruit and Ponkan (both Swingle) came through pretty well. 

--- End quote ---

I'm pretty surprised about the lemon, my lemon isn't a Meyer, but it looks capable of surviving to 20F (but i must admit that I have it planted along a south wall of an heated building). It must be what you have said, the plant must have been somehow stressed (maybe not hardened enough?) because Meyer should survive to 20 F. I'm sorry for you. The other surprise from my side is the Ponkan, i did expect it to be one of the most tropical among the mandarins.

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