The Tropical Fruit Forum

How did these grow for you?

Sprout now. Going to take them outside probably next month.

The fruit is really beautiful, have you tried letting the whole fruit sit on your counter for a "rest" perhaps the flavors become better? Read somewhere that some citrus lose acidity by doing this and become sweeter, doesn't work with lemons though.

My graft of Morton on tai-tri so far looks good after -15c polar vortex and two days below freezing. Hope it survives the rest of winter and puts out some growth in the spring.

Depends on the citrus. Some ripen their fruit by fall. Others over the winter or into spring which won't work for me outdoors. I'm only collecting hardy varities that can ripen by the fall, with some exceptions I'm not sure when ninkat x poncirus ripens and pretty sure Yuzu won't color up until December which is too late but then again some citrus can be used before they are ripe. they will be sour, so can be used like a lemon. I don't plan to eat anything hardy I grow fresh off the tree will have to be processed in some way.   

My question is this.....How much time does it take from formation of flower bud to the actual picking of the fruit? Do they need as much time as apples.....ie May flowers bloom.... to Sept./Oct when the fruit is usually ripened....

Some of my hardy citrus have this white almost blistering on the stems. This is the only apparent damage after 5f over the weekend.


Ninkat x poncirus





Prague chimera

Only on the upper leader, lower branches are unaffected. Looks much worse in the picture for some reason lol

Following, and I'll report on these in a few days, low of 5f: *small update*

Yuzu on own roots somewhat protected (stacked bricks covering the main stems)- this one died to the ground last year at 6f with freezing rain- lots of damage on the top of leaves and tender growth turned white and burned

Yuzu on Poncirus -damaged leaves

Tai-tri own roots- leaves turning yellow no obvious damage to stems

Citrumelo own roots- leaves curling no obvious damage to stems

Morton on Tai-tri- scion looks a little dry

Morton on Citrumelo- scion looks a little dry

Prague on Tai-tri- whole branch turned slightly yellow (is this poncirus influence?) leaves turned yellow

Prague on Poncirus- top looks sun burned but lower part of plant is fine with green leaves

Ninkat x Poncirus- top looks sun burned but lower part of plant still holding leaves

random seedlings of kumquat and sour orange- some survivors of kumquat, sour orange very damaged, random yuzu seedling took almost no damage just top leaves

and of course Poncirus/+ which shouldn't have a problem- still holding leaves

Non-citrus:
Feijoa protected (agribon + incandescent lights)- healthy green color leaves look good, small amount of leaves closer to the top of the fabric slightly dry and light brown possible damaged from touching fabric

Feijoa unprotected - these dropped leaves  last year at 6f with freezing rain- light brown leaves definitely damaged not as bad as last year

Kadsura coccinea somewhat protected (stacked bricks and agribon small plant not a vine yet)- two tender young leaves turned brown at the top otherwise the whole seedling survived

Loquat small graft on apple- doesnt appear damaged

very nice! giving me ideas in similar zone to you. the cherimoya and the passion vine look really good.

If it's not insect related could be ph of mix and or nutrient issues. I never got to that stage since I keep losing my plant but I did have a pretty bad spider mite infestation in mid summer.

good idea aerating the roots. my meiwa which came grafted to a sour mandarin has stunted fruit growth and branch die back compared to my graft to citrumelo which has nice round fruit that is starting to color up. I suspected root rot, so I pulled it out of the fabric pot and yes dry and rotting roots. The potting mix was very dense too so it wasn't draining. Repotted in fresh mix with perlite, I don't have 5-1-1 ingredients or anything else. I also put it back into a plastic pot, I'm finding that the fabric pots with this potting mix causes it to become hydrophobic and dry around the sides of the pot but the middle of the mix is dense and never dries out.

The buddhas hand will perfume a room you place it in. I candied one once, and saved the remaing sugary liquid in the pot as syrup. It's a little bitter but I mix it into tea which gives it a nice flavor. Too much trouble otherwise, there is no pulp so you can't even use it as a lemon

Bigger leaves are probably response to lighting conditions

Tai-tri (taiwanica x trifoliate) has narrow leaves like your plant from Lenzi. Maybe they are selling hybrids or off-types?

I'm doing something similar to your experiment with feijoas. Since they are already hardy down to 5f before getting damaged, I am covering with frost cloth and incandescent lights on a thermocube.

In addition to what everyone is suggesting with temp controls you can graft a piece of your already mature ponderosa to trifoliata which will keep it smaller and easier to cover and thus less space to heat as well as avoid root issues stemming from cold and wet weather.

Ah yes I remember seeing that, looks good. I might have to graft a piece to my tai-tri which is very hardy and vigorous for me here. Should help it grow faster than standard poncirus.

does it retain the "yuzu" flavor and or scent in the peel or juice?

I've only had fruit from it once, but it was OK. Small lemonish sour fruit, a bit smaller than my citrangequat. It also never gets sweet. An extremely thorny plant...