Author Topic: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?  (Read 3699 times)

Vlad

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Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« on: June 16, 2020, 11:20:07 PM »
I already planted in ground a Flying Dragon and some sort of trifoliate citrus but am looking for something at least close to edible to plant. So, anybody growing citrus in ground in zone 5b/6a If so, what are you growing?

 
« Last Edit: June 17, 2020, 09:28:36 AM by Vlad »

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2020, 06:30:26 PM »
I think you will have to protect anything “edible “. I have to protect my edible citrus and I’m barely in 6b on the USDA google earth map. I made decent poncirus marmalade last fall.

Vlad

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2020, 11:16:18 PM »
Citradia, what are you growing in ground and is it with or without protection?

poncirsguy

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2020, 01:57:09 PM »
I live in zone 6A just 1/4 mile outside of zone 6B with my trees close to my house and probable zone 6B








« Last Edit: June 18, 2020, 10:19:50 PM by poncirsguy »

Millet

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2020, 05:52:56 PM »
Poncirusguy, I believe all of your in ground trees are protected inside an enclosure throughout the winter, Correct?  I'm in Colorado zone 5, at 5,440 ft elevation  and planted a 3-ft Flying Dragon outside, the tree died the first winter.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2020, 06:01:21 PM by Millet »

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2020, 07:21:54 PM »
I’m growing in ground with protection 4 mil plastic Ventable enclosures with small space heater on thermostat from late October to early April: owari satsuma, kimbrough satsuma, Changsha mandarin, Rio red grapefruit, Meiwa kumquat, and just planted an Ichang lemon On flying dragon in a frame enclosure. I also have Poncirus hybrids In ground that I cover with frost cloth or plastic and heat with space heater if temperature gets into the teens or single digits or if it’s going to be below freezing for several days: Thomasville citrangequat, citrumelo 80-5, Dunstan citrumelo, swingle citrumelo, ichangensis seedlings. I have lost over the years to week or month-long freezes all of the above varieties if not protected by electric space heaters in plastic enclosures. I’ve also lost these poncirus varieties and others ( nansho dai dai, bloom sweet, Changsha, Morton, Ichang lemon, swingle) when the trees started to show quarter inch spring growth and experienced a 14 degree freeze in mid March. In my experience, the only citrus that is truly hardy consistently without severe damage in my area every year is poncirus and flying dragon, and some years they bloom too early and their blossoms are not able to withstand a freeze. My Thomasville and Citradia and Dunstan have come back from roots several times over the years and Im protecting them some now to preserve them for grafting onto poncirus to make dwarf fruiting specimens, especially the citradia since I can no longer find this variety anywhere.

poncirsguy

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2020, 10:33:28 PM »
They got a little protection over the winter.

New Zealand lemonade protected on all sides with 4 layers of glass with the north wall my house.


Fukushu kumquat seed grown with 4 layers of glass east and west.  3 layers for south wall


Valentine pomelo behind 4 layers of glass east and west. 3 layer south wall


Meiwa kumquat with 4 layers of glass with no heating devices


Vlad

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2020, 10:49:07 PM »
Citradia, please describe the protection you provide or show pics.

Florian

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #8 on: June 19, 2020, 03:12:11 AM »
They got a little protection over the winter.

New Zealand lemonade protected on all sides with 4 layers of glass with the north wall my house.


Fukushu kumquat seed grown with 4 layers of glass east and west.  3 layers for south wall


Valentine pomelo behind 4 layers of glass east and west. 3 layer south wall


Meiwa kumquat with 4 layers of glass with no heating devices


Impressive setup you have there. I would be much too lazy to build such a sophisticated protection every winter. Here's hoping winters contiue being as mild as they have been the last few years here.

poncirsguy

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #9 on: June 19, 2020, 09:36:07 AM »
My trees keep outgrowing their greenhouses.  Once they reach their chosen size I will have a permanent frames that I will just slide glass into.  Building the frames is the real time killer.  I work about 10-15 hours a week so I have time for the important things in life.  It is the Jay Owe Bee that gets in the way of the important aspects of living for all of us.  The big question is!  Will I get enough citrus fruits to put up with these trees needs?
« Last Edit: June 19, 2020, 04:38:22 PM by poncirsguy »

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #10 on: June 19, 2020, 07:12:38 PM »
These are my pics of protection for owari, Rio red, Meiwa.








Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #11 on: June 19, 2020, 07:28:32 PM »
These are Changsha in tall permanent frame made of 4x4x10 wood uprights with pvc dome frame and my owari before it got big and needed a frame instead of the pvc pipe dome frame. The wood frame is a chore to put up but during the ebb and flow of winter temps here, it’s easier to just roll up one side of the enclosure to vent it instead of having to remove rocks holding down edges of plastic to pull it up and over the pvc frame. I staple the plastic sheeting around three sides of the wooden frame and leave fourth side on East or south side of frame open and then staple the fourth sheet of plastic to the top of frame and staple a 2x4 board to bottom of sheet so I can roll up this side and hang it on large utility hooks screwed into top of frame. I call this side “the door”.








Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #12 on: June 19, 2020, 07:34:46 PM »
This is the Rio red with door rolled up.






Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #13 on: June 19, 2020, 07:50:02 PM »
This is the owari with door down; notice board with end of sheeting wrapped around it on ground. Owari and Meiwa with door rolled up and hung on hooks. I take these and the big Rio red frames down in spring so they are not an eye sore all year long. I secured the legs of these temporary frames to the ground with bent rebar stakes run through L-shaped metal straps that have a hole in the end of it. If the frame is not nailed to the ground, the high winds here will throw it when plastic is on.






Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #14 on: June 19, 2020, 07:56:03 PM »
I tape the edges of the doors down with duct tape or ,if too cold/wet, packaging clear tape to keep the door from blowing open in the wind. I also use cinder blocks or pots or whatever is convenient to place under the bottom edges of plastic walls to help vent the enclosure when the door is up.

Millet

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #15 on: June 20, 2020, 12:08:33 PM »
Citradia, how sweet are your Rio Red growing in your environment?  Grapefruit require a lot of heat unites to sweeten.

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #16 on: June 20, 2020, 07:19:29 PM »
The Rio red is pretty good now that the tree is older. I think the Croxton is sweeter though. I eat both without adding sugar. May not win a taste test with grapefruit from FL or TX, but I eat them without being tempted to buy fruit from a store. Here’s my Croxton and Rio Red that I’m still harvesting now.


hardyvermont

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #17 on: June 21, 2020, 01:09:04 PM »
Millet, it would be a good experiment to plant a poncirus on the north side of a building and protect it from the wind.  That way cold tolerance could be tested apart from the desiccation  of sun and wind. 

In the earlier citrus forum someone posted pictures of citrus kept in total darkness for weeks without leaf drop. as long as they were kept very cold. 

Someone in Massachusettes posted on that forum pictures of a frame covered with a tarp and kept heated with an aquarium heater in a trash barrel. 

It goes against the grain to think that plants could do better in the dark, but having transparent covers raises the intererior temperature and makes plants less dormant. 

A 10 x 17 carport from Harbor Freight covers an Owari in zone 8a for 3 to 4 months every year, with no leaf drop and large crops of fruit.

Millet

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #18 on: June 21, 2020, 03:01:17 PM »
Hardyvermont, Yes, I think planting it on the north side would have made a big difference.  I remember you writing about much the same suggestion a year or more ago,   I planted the FD on the south side of a barn, up next to the reflecting wall.  Surely the plant never developed cold tolerance in that situation..   

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #19 on: June 21, 2020, 08:53:05 PM »
These are pics of the south side of my house. This is my “citrus favorable microclimate” when it’s in the single digits or zero degrees F with 30-60 mph winds. When I stand outside and look at the south side of the house in those conditions, I say to myself that “microclimate “, north/south/East /west side doesn’t matter here: It’s too dang cold here to be growing citrus! I’m in NC at 3,000 ft elevation, so I betcha where Millet lives, it’s so cold and windy up there that even poncirus outside is like “yeah, right.” I’ve had digital thermometer inside my enclosures in winter when it was single digits and watched the inside temp drop a degree every few seconds when the heater was off, and that’s with water barrels inside. That’s 4 mil/ 6 mil Clear plastic. I’m sure my citrus other than poncirus would die here without the space heaters running. The power did go out for a day during this storm shown, and I had to plug my drop cords going to the trees into my portable generator.



« Last Edit: June 21, 2020, 08:56:24 PM by Citradia »

Eric101

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #20 on: July 25, 2020, 09:14:18 AM »
Do you mind me asking what kind of space heaters do you use.  I have a couple old liquid oil-type heaters that work in my greenhouse but they would give me a little concern out of doors where they might get a little wet.

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #21 on: July 25, 2020, 07:32:29 PM »
I use small desk-top heaters with fans in them. The brand names I’ve bought from Walmart and Amazon are Lasco and Soleil. They usually cost around 9-12 dollars, and some have a safety switch to turn off if they tip over. They are electric and not meant to be outside. Mine are inside the “greenhouses” so they don’t get rained on and I avoid hosing them or pick them up when watering my trees in winter. I set heater on a brick/flat rock to keep it off the bare ground. I’m posting a pic of one of my “big” heaters that I put in my big grapefruit enclosure and my Kimbrough satsuma enclosure. The other smaller enclosures get the smaller heater.

« Last Edit: July 25, 2020, 07:34:13 PM by Citradia »

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #22 on: July 25, 2020, 07:43:06 PM »
Lasko 100 MyHeat Personal Ceramic Heater, Compact, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003XDTWN2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HhmhFb8F4BAEP
This is my small heaters. When I uncover the tree that has pvc pipe frame with loose plastic sheeting, I cover the little heater with a black plastic bucket/tree pot with drain holes covered in duct tape and weight it down with a rock to keep rain off the heater. On of my trees has heater inside an upside down clay pot that has a big sliver cracked out of it so the heater can blow heat out the crack and I don’t have to remove a bucket from it when I cover/uncover the tree.

Citradia

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #23 on: July 25, 2020, 07:48:01 PM »
You can see my little lasco heater on the ground, it’s white and black, in my new Meiwa frame. These small heaters come in different colors, even purple and teal.


Eric101

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Re: Anybody growing citrus in ground in zones 5b/6a?
« Reply #24 on: July 25, 2020, 08:51:41 PM »
Very helpful. Thank you.