Citrus > Cold Hardy Citrus

The Citrus I have

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Skandiberg:
Hi all,

I am starting a thread to document my Citrus adventures and experiences for all who care to read and also for myself, so all relevant info of my plants will be stored here. Be warned: it will be a long read, I apologize in advance. Any questions, comments, recommendations are welcome, and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything.

Last February I was surfing on the web and I accidentally ran into some hardy Citrus, I think it was some yuzu stuff. Then I found Virginia Fruit Grower's hardy Citrus taste tests, I got into his Changsha selections and the next thing I knew, it was late at night. Well, it's been going on pretty much like that ever since.

After a lot of reading I decided to get some plants hoping they would survive in my zone 7 garden. You know, just a few ones for fun's sake. Then I found this forum and began to read about the crosses you guys make and the light went on in my mind: I want to do this! I want to have the excitement of finding out crosses that may work, spotting seedlings with all the expected and unexpected leaf shapes, growing them to cropping trees, evaluating their fruit, hardiness and all. So I carefully selected 4 varieties to cross. Great, let's buy them! Oops, some of them are in the US only. Hm, what to do? Oh, wait a minute, they say Thomasville is nucellar. What does it mean? Long story short, I spent hours every day reading the forum and studies online, checking all available webshops and I soon knew 4 plants wouldn't be enough. Maybe a dozen would do. (Edit: of course not. Not even three dozen.)

So I began to buy trees, get and grow rootstocks, buy grafting tools, ask for material and advice. I owe you guys a big big thank you for all the useful info, seeds, seedlings, budwood, plants, shipping assistance and everything else. Many of you have been very generous to me, and I am really grateful for that.

So I am presenting what I have now, then I will tell you about what else I plan to acquire, finally I will go into details about the breeding directions I aim to follow. My primary goal is breeding but it takes a lot of growing to do some breeding so my growing skills will obviously need to improve.

To be continued...

Skandiberg:
Collection

I am starting with the ones I bought, in chronological order.

Yuzu N4 and Ichangquat 6-7-2 (hardypersimmons.eu)

They were the first ones I bought last autumn, grafted on PT. They have Adavo labels.
When they started to push, I saw spots on them. Okay, it must be sunburn. Two weeks later they looked very bad, and I soon saw the spots on the neighbouring plants, too. Mites dropped by to say hello. I sprayed them twice before I could say good bye. By that time, most of my other plants also had already been attacked. But since then, all new growth has been nice dark green.

I wanted N4 because some sources say it's the hardiest yuzu and its fruit is big and a bit sweet, compared to N1 and N3. Even if it's less productive, that made me curious.

Ichangquat has it all. Good absolute hardiness, deep dormancy, very quick fruit production. What else can you ask for? Well, sweet fruits, which happen to be a number one priority for me. That will be a matter of further crosses. Ilya says its seedlings usually die after a while but as a pollen parent, it can be usable. He has hybrids with Ichangquat as a father. So I have a few crosses on my mind with Ichangquat. More on that in the future projects section.

Ichangquat began to grow a good week after yuzu N4, when it had been hot for a long time. It really has a deep dormancy.

Xie Shan, Marumi and Clemenrubi (Lenzi)

They are probably all grafted on C-35 which is the primary choice of Lenzi these times. They arrived with the first flush of growth on, except Marumi.

Marumi was so tiny that Pietro generously made a partial refund for the plant after sending the pack. I didn't expect anything from it, having just 2 twigs of 4-5 cm length. Then in June it began to grow and had flowers, and the same happened in late July. The plant sadly dropped all handpollinated fruits but I'll be glad to try any fruit at all. Being a hardy and zygotic kumquat, I bought it with breeding on my mind. It has 2 open pollinated fruits.

Xie Shan came with three fresh little twigs but did nothing later on this year. Very early Satsuma, among the hardiest, taste test winner - yes, I must have it. In addition, its pollen is usable.

The fresh new growth of Clemenrubi was partially damaged, probably by frost. It put out a good second growth in July, making it the biggest of my Lenzi plants by a long shot. It's seedless when self-pollinated but it has zygotic seeds when pollinated (like clementines in general) so it's good for breeding. In addition, it's very early and its hardiness isn't that bad, either. What's not to like?

Malayan kumquat

My wife spotted it at a supermarket, it cost some 8 Euros. Based on the pear-shaped fruits, I thought it for a Fukushu. It had fruits in early April. I sowed all its seeds and I think pretty much all of them germinated. I posted about some weird looking seedlings:

https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=45056.msg554971#msg554971

These seedlings died in September, while the others kept growing. I guess those peculiar leaves were the sign of some genetic defect. Later leaves looked just like any leaves of the other seedlings by the way.

Marcin and Till doubted it was a Fukushu plant with these long, spear-shaped leaves and after some research, Marcin identified it as Malayan kumquat (thank you!).

It's grafted on something trifoliate. I know it because I removed a shoot that came from under the grafting point.

Its old leaves were very thick and leather-like. They were drooping nearly all the time when I placed the plant outdoors. It started to grow in June and had many flowers. Then it had a second flush/flowering in July and a third in August. It's flowering freely. Just like Marumi, it also dropped all the handpollinated fruits which is very annoying but it's also still a small plant so there is time for crosses later. By the way, I don't know if it's zygotic or not. I know it's less hardy than most kumquats. But why not cross it if the chance arises. Its seedlings grow well and I find no root rot problems with them which I think is not common among kumquat seedlings. I delibaretely gave it much water to test its susceptibility to root rot but it seems to be just fine. I found a flowering Lipo lemon at a garden center when the last flush of flowers were open so I collected some pollen. It seems I will have a few pollinated fruits. And the first set of fruits began to turn yellow already in late September. Is it ripening earlier than other kumquats? Yes, it is! The fruit more ecposed to sun is fully yellow/orange by mid October. That means mature fruit in 4-5 months. Very good! I picked the first fruit today, you can read my review after the introductional posts. Our last couple mornings brought the first frosts and this plant lost a few leaves outside at the terrace. It must have faced about -3⁰C. Many leaves have a brownish hue.

The fruits it had in April were probably overripe but they tasted like Nagami. Sour flesh (a bit toned down by April) and sweet, somewhat dry, oily rind/albedo. What I found really strange is I tried to make a cross-section of the fruit by cutting it in two pieces and the rind just came off the fruit halves in one piece like mandarin peel. I think that's quite unusual for a kumquat. Zipper peel. But again, the fruits were a bit dry already so they were past their prime which might be an explanation for that. If anybody wants seedlings next spring, I have about 15 ones I can spare.

Iwasaki and yuzu N30 (Vessieres)

Vessieres don't ship to my country so a Citrus friend helped me with my order in April. Thank you Ulrich!

Well, these two are also nice plants, grafted on PT. I was shocked to see they both had 20+ flower buds when they arrived in April. All flowers on Iwasaki (and N30, too) resulted in little fruitlets. Then Iwasaki dropped them all when they reached 1 cm size. End of story.

However,  N30 kept them all a lot longer. After that, there were a few weeks when nothing happened. Then it dropped most of them, the remaining six began to grow like crazy. Another one fell off, then another one, so now I have 4 fruits. One of them is pollinated with Bajusz, one with HRS899 O/Q. I have no idea if N30 is zygotic to any degree or not but if these fruits get to ripen, I will find out soon enough. The fruits are turning colour in mid October, showing the slightest yellow hues.

I expected N30 leaves to have wider petioles due to its yuzu heritage but most leaves look just the same as Iwasaki leaves. N30 has very little growth due to its fruitload. Iwasaki grew two moderate flushes.

The genetics of N30 make it a must have for me. Iwasaki is a very early ripening Satsuma. My favourite Citrus have always been mandarins, and early, hardy Satsumas are top choices for further breeding. I remember a post by Ilya in which he writes that Satsumas are more likely to have viable pollen (or any pollen at all) if temperature is high. I can confirm that. Iwasaki had no pollen at all until a very hot day (30⁰C) came around Easter. On that day I saw pollen on the single open flower. Good to know for the future. If you have a potted Satsuma and you want its pollen, it might be a good idea to place it in a full sunny spot or close to a heater indoors.

Owari FS (Anjou Citrus)

Thank you Rei for helping me with shipping!

It's my understanding that Francis Soules is an Owari selection that's one or two degrees hardier than regular Owari. That means it's among the hardiest mandarins available on the market, along Keraji D14 and some Changsha strains.

Cara Cara and Amoa8 (Citrus és pálma)

These arrived from a domestic webshop in June. They are Italian import plants. I have no idea about their rootstocks.

They are huge, about 130-150 cm high including pots. Cara Cara had 8 little fruits when it came but they fell off one by one. Amoa 8 has a darker foliage with yellow hues. It must be some nutrient deficiency. I fed it well but it didn't get much greener through the season. For whatever reason, both of them were planted in rock solid clay in foil containers. Their soil lost water very easily so I planted them in normal pots. Their original potting mix might be the trouble so I think I will take them out of their pots next spring, remove some of the original rootballs and fill up the space with fresh potting mix.

Cara Cara is my favourite orange. Its milder, soft flesh and its taste make it the best orange I have ever tried. And its colour is beautiful. A study says that Cara Cara pollen has very low viability, and being an orange, it's probably quite nucellar, too. That is if you get lucky to find a seed at all which is unlikely to happen. But its fruit is so good that I don't care. It's one of the few Citrus that I don't mind having despite the fact that it's not really usable for crosses. And that's a shame because I hear it's a quite hardy orange.

Amoa 8, on the other hand, is a cornerstone of my breeding ideas. Its red colour looks beautiful. As soon as it starts flowering, it will be used big time. Blood yuzu, blood kumquat, Ichangblood are among my projects. And I think I will try it with some Poncirus hybrids, too.
If I recall it correctly, Till said he had spotted some hybrids among its seedlings so it might not be totally hopeless as a mother plant. The 'strong' pollen of Ichang IVIA is a likely candidate for a good partner. We'll see.

Bendizao / 4475, Tada Nishiki / FA5, Keraji D14 /Fa5 and Clemyuz 2-2 / FA5 (Greffeur d'Agrumes)

I ordered these guys in July from France. There is quite a buzz around Tada Nishiki so I thought why not get a seedless yuzu. I guess this is from a seedling because it's tested negative for tristeza while most European Tada Nishiki in circulation (I mean the little there is at all) is said to be infected.
I read the name 'Bendizao' in an article about Jiouyuezao. It's very hardy and it has somewhat different genetics from the regular commercial mandarins.
Keraji D14 is another hardy mandarin, presumably the hardiest Keraji variant. Some Keraji strains are palatable well before complete ripeness (like the ones owned by Tedburn and Tom McClendon) so I'm curious how it tastes.
Clemyuz 2-2 is a worthy variety in itself but as Mulberry says, it's fairly zygotic, too. That makes it an ideal mother plant in my book.

They survived the long journey well, except Clemyuz which had some terminal dieback from heat. I fed them and placed them at a spot with dappled sunshine and all of them began to sprout out a bit. Clemyuz got downright crazy, it put out 8 lengthy side shoots from the upper end of the central stem. I see it growing well in August like yuzu N4. It's a good thing while they are in pots, becoming bigger and maybe offering a better chance for spring flowers. It would be a problem though in ground. I guess you must apply Citrus feed sparingly after July for all Citrus trees planted in ground.

Yuzukichi/PT and Cocktail pomelo/FA5 (Quissac)

They are smaller than the ones I received from Greffeur d'Agrumes but they are okay. They arrived in September so I don't have much experience about them at this point.
Yuzukichi Nagato is a very interesting variety, I hope this one will prove to be the same. From the descriptions, I guess it might be something like Nagasaki yuko, so it should be like a sweetish yuzu that happens to ripen early.
Cocktail pomelo/mandalo is another exception to the rule, just like Cara Cara. Probably it's not usable at all for hardy Citrus breeding but after reading a lot about it, I got super interested in its fruit so I pulled the trigger when it became available.

Tokushima yuzu/PT and Fukushu/FA5 (Quissac)

The main selling point of Tokushima yuzu is its early ripening. If it proves to be true, and if it's the same hardy and zygotic as the main yuzu selections (N1, N3, N4), I want to cross it with the hardiest mandarins to create a series of 'improved Clemyuz'-like seedlings. Changsha, Owari FS and Keraji D14 will be the other parents of these crosses which is great because they all have different mandarin genetics. One of these seedlings might meet most of my ultimate breeding goals (sweet fruit, hardiness down to -13/-14⁰C, good dormancy, early ripening). It might pair well with Clemenrubi, too, for a real, early ripening new Clemyuz. And by the way, Clemenrubi should be pollinated with the same mandarins. Hopefully, an early ripening hybrid will come along with the same hardiness as that of the mandarin parent.

Fukushu is praised a lot over the forum. It's reported to have earlier flowering than other kumquats so it might be some hybrid. Anyhow, it's a fun Citrus to have. But of course, trust me to pollinate it when I have a good partner in bloom.

Skandiberg:
Seedlings

I have a lot but now I will go into details only about those which show some interesting features.

Pursha: I have one of the lot which has radically different leaves from the rest. It has very low vigor, its leaves look like willow leaves. I'm sure this is a zygotic Pursha hybrid. But if I look at its leaves, I have no clue what the pollen partner could have been. Maybe willow leaf mandarin, C. aurantium salicifolia, or an Eremocitrus or its hybrid? Tell me if you have an idea. And one seedling has wider petioles then most others. Pictures:








Taiwanica: one seedling of the batch has a bifoliate leaf. I learnt not to be too enthusiastic about some miraculous looking first leaves. I made that mistake more than once. In my experience seedlings can have all kinds of leaf shapes and when they have 4-6 leaves, they usually have a break. And the final leaf shape usually comes afterwards. This bifoliate leaf is the 7th leaf of that plant. The next leaves will be decisive. The bifoliate 'glove' leaf is right next to the three dry spots:



Carolina lime: very different looking seedlings. Some of them have a very distinct first leaf which looks like it was formed by two little leaves that decided to grow into one. I don't know how to put it any better. In general, Carolina leaves are lush dark green, thick and smooth. Here are those weird first leaves/preleaves:













5 star mutation: also very different seedlings, from regular trifoliate to fully monofoliate.

Skandiberg:
Planned acquisitions and why particularly them (feel free to chime in if you have first hand experiences)

Tunisian bergamot: unlike most bergamots which have a reputation to taste bitter-sour, this one is described as sweet. Probably a bergamot hybrid. If it has fragrant rind as other bergamots, it can be an interesting breeding partner for PT+ which would greatly benefit from some sweetness and good quality rind. But I imagine it could also create exciting offsprings with yuzu or Ichang for instance.

Arcobal: for me, its beautiful stripes and red flesh lend it the biggest appeal. It's also fairly hardy for what it is and a little sweetness is an extra.

Doppio Moro: blood orange with red flesh and dark purple rind. The gateway to all kinds of Citrus hybrids with red flesh and/or rind.

Yuzu IVIA: a good quality yuzu with a little sweetness. If it's the same hardy as N1, N2 or N4, it's a winner.

Golden grapefruit: another exception to the rule because I want it simply for the fruit. Golden grapeftuit won't be easy to get, being grown mainly in Texas.

Hyuganatsu and Haruka: sweet taste and sweet albedo are the catch.

Clementino rubino sanguigno: I'm a bit helpless about this one. Clementino rubino is often Amoa8, sold under an incorrect name by several big nurseries in Europe. But it seems there is a 'true' clementino rubino, I guess this is called 'clementino rubino sanguigno'. Please enlighten me if you know the answer: is it a red fleshed mutation of a true clementine or also just a blood orange hybrid? If it's a true clementine, then I guess it's zygotic and that automatically makes it a top choice for breeding blood Citrus hybrids. I have read so many contradicting info about it that I don't know what to think.

Poncirus+: it never hurts to have a PT selection with the same good hardiness, better quality fruit and some zygosity.

Ichang IVIA 358: from what I've read, this is the Ichang equivalent of Poncirus+. A juicier, better tasting, milder version of the basic species which also holds all the merits of the original. It seems like an excellent pollen and seed parent for breeding.

Yuzu kito: this is an old standard Japanese selection. If it's good enough for them, it's worth a try.

Keraji Voss Gelb: I read a thread in a French forum in which Alias praised the fruit of this Keraji selection. Some French nurseries sell a certain Keraji Djelb. Can anyone confirm if they are the same? The similarity of their names makes me think so. The hardiness of Djelb is rated the same as D14 which would be great news if true.

Skandiberg:
3. Breeding directions

This is where my imagination goes really unleashed.

I'm fascinated by red fleshed Citrus. So I want to create some blood yuzu, blood kumquat with Marumi, Ichangblood, blood citrandarin, blood bergamot etc.

Besides that, my general breeding directions are very simple:

Long, deep dormancy to avoid spring frosts and waking up too early, so it would be ideal to have the plant flowering in May when planted in ground

Sweet fruit that ripens before late October

Consequently it has to produce fruits very quickly (5 months from flowering)

Reliable hardiness down to -13/-14 ⁰C. That would be probably enough in my area in the foreseeable future

These are my wishes. Making them come true won't be that easy though. And of course there are many crosses which would be interesting just for the sake of it. So here are a few ideas, besides the ones I mentioned previously:

HRS899 O/Q x Honey Changsha/Owari F.S./Keraji D14/Amoa8/Clemenrubi

Honey Changsha x Ichangquat

Summer yuzu x Honey Changsha/Owari F.S./Keraji D14/Amoa8

Clemenrubi x Honey Changsha/Owari F.S./Keraji D14/Amoa8

Staraji x Honey Changsha/Owari
F.S./Keraji D14

Staraji x yuzu N4

Staraji x Clemenrubi both ways

Pt++ x Keraji D14

Bishop x Satsuma

Clemyuzquat (Clemyuz 2-2 x Marumi both ways)

Kiyomi x Summer yuzu

Ichang IVIA x Staraji

Clemenrubi x Marumi

Clemenrubi x Eremomandarin

Clemenrubi x Summer yuzu

Eremomandarin x Xie Shan

Arcobal x Honey Changsha

Amoa8 x Ichangquat

Yuzu N30 x Ichangquat

Honey Changsha x Ichangquat

Ichang x Xie Shan

Marumi x Keraji D14

Marumi x Eremomandarin

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