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Citrus General Discussion / Re: Amoa 8 Blood Mandarin…woah!
« on: February 20, 2024, 06:44:08 AM »I have it. It is really dark red every year and tastes sweet. A bit small the fruits and not the complex special aroma of Moro blood orange but definitely tasty. Blooms willingly.
But I do not believe in the hardiness claims. Such a hardiness is totally unlikely given the parents of Amoa 8. I would assume that it is not hardy at all, not more than any common citrus. I have seen that Italian nurseries often make totally exaggerated claims of hardiness. I do not know how they come to these data. They even state that pure Pumelo is hardy to -10°C (14°F) or sour orange hardy down to -15°C (5°F) which is foolish. I shall believe that they survive such temperatures for one hour without any wind when temperature is then again above freezing. But that is not the hardiness we use to speak about here. If Italian hardiness claims were true noebody would waste a thought about (really) hardy citrus.
I have a few of these in the ground. My place hit 16 degrees this winter on the 17th of January. I banked soil around the young trees to protect them but it was not needed. The branches above the banked soil survived with damage to the thinner parts. It did warm up the next day well above freezing temperatures. It was one of our colder lows for this area but not with prolonged temps barely above freezing for several days.