The Tropical Fruit Forum

Hey thanks for the advice.  I will be on guard next winter.  Using the same methods I used this year.

Mike A

Just a little message to say that with a little bit of planning and with the help of this group Citrus can be grown successfully in South Central PA.  I actually had more trouble controlling the temp from becoming to warm and than too cold.  Thanks everyone.

Mike A.

yes, Arbequina....not a vary good speller.

Mike aDams

I was able to achieve temps in the mid 50's F. even when the temp was at 15 F.  The biggest thing was getting a tight seal around the plant.  The "box" I created was very tight fitting.  I think that was very important. 

Zone 7a/6b  my 2 year old owari satsuma in ground in South Central Pa.  Took the plastic and styrofaom off the plant.  I left the Christmas lights on.  January saw 10 days of highs in the low 20's and lows in the low teens. 

So after over two week under plastic and temps in the teens for at least 8-10 nights....I actually made things too good for my Zwingle Citrumello....New growth....I undercovered it yesterday when the temps were in the low 50's.

I put 4 citrus and one olive tree in the ground last spring. I have been researching for about 2 years on how to get them to survive a winter by using 100 watts of electricity (a string of Christmas LIghts) along with plastic, styrofoam and wood chips. I am actually having a problem with them being to warm. Last night it was 16 degrees and inside my set up it was 62 degrees...as you look at my photo the trees are actually 2 feet below the level of the plastic. i planted them 1 foot below ground level and added 1 foot of wood chips. At 10 cents a kilowatt hr...my lights are running at 100 watts an hour.  So basically 1 cent an hour to heat my setup

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Thank you for sharing.  Keep us up to date...

Mike A.

I do not know enough about Flying Dragon fruit tree to know the difference.  That was what I was told when someone gave it to me.

Mike Adams

I was very surprised to see this fruit hanging from my flying dragon tree.  It had to have set not long ago.  I live in Zone 7a in South Central Pa.  Our weather has been consistently 5-10 degrees above normal. They usually set in the middle of spring, right?

Yes.  The lowest we get is usually between 10 and 15 degrees F.  Last year it did get down to 4 dgrees however.

Great idea about blowing air in from your basement