Possible Sacaton citrumelo x Ten Degree Tangerine

[Mulberry0126]

Hi all, I wanted to share a cool seedling I found amongst a batch of Sacaton citrumelo seedlings. I got the fruit from Stan McKenzie, and having been to his farm, it seemed like his Sacaton citrumelo and Ten degree tangerine are close enough to cross-pollinate. I suspect that could be why the leaves of this seedling look much different and more yuzu-like.

[mikkel]

I have found this leaf type in Sacaton seedlings as well as monofoliates. Sacaton tends to have a high rate of segregation or cross-pollination

[Mulberry0126]

Very interesting. I'm curious to see this leaf type to maturity, I wonder how the fruit quality and/or hardiness might be.

[Till]

I also have a Dunstan seedling with this leaf form. Definitely zygotic. But usefull? Lets talk again in a few year!

[Mulberry0126]

Haha yes. A few years will tell! Maybe useful, maybe not, but always cool to see the variations between seedlings!

[Mulberry0126]

I'll have to get a better picture when this seedling is taller, but this seed came from the ten degree tangerine fruit and it has trifoliate leaves! This confirms it is some sort of hybrid either with trifoliate orange or another hybrid.

[SoCal2warm]

A hybrid with Ten Degree Tangerine could have a lot of potential.

I tried growing Ten Degree Tangerine, and it obviously seemed to have a lot less cold tolerance than Yuzu. It wasn't immediately killed, but seemed to decline after going through two or three winters, and wasn't able to put out the growth to be able to recover.
Ten Degree is a Clementine x Yuzu cross, so presumably it has some cold tolerant Yuzu genes but those genes appear to be mostly recessive. In my opinion it might take another cross to get those dormant Yuzu genes to be functional.

And crossing a poncirus hybrid like citrumelo with another cold hardy variety which does not have any poncirus genes sounds like a great way to be able to eliminate the bad tasting poncirus traits.

[Mulberry0126]

A hybrid with Ten Degree Tangerine could have a lot of potential.

I tried growing Ten Degree Tangerine, and it obviously seemed to have a lot less cold tolerance than Yuzu. It wasn't immediately killed, but seemed to decline after going through two or three winters, and wasn't able to put out the growth to be able to recover.
Ten Degree is a Clementine x Yuzu cross, so presumably it has some cold tolerant Yuzu genes but those genes appear to be mostly recessive. In my opinion it might take another cross to get those dormant Yuzu genes to be functional.

And crossing a poncirus hybrid like citrumelo with another cold hardy variety which does not have any poncirus genes sounds like a great way to be able to eliminate the bad tasting poncirus traits.

I agree! In the chance that this is both hardy and good-tasting, I think it would be a perfect combination.

[Mulberry0126]

I finally got around to recording some video of the seedlings, plus a multi-graft project of mine:
https://youtu.be/Is5GYbMrgqM?si=q1G10FVYOnTi6pOq
As you can see, quite a few of the seedlings derived from Clem-yuz/Ten Degree Tangerine fruit have bifoliate and trifoliate leaves. Fingers crossed they live and produce in the future!
I also have a single Yuzu seedling that is no more than 1.5 months of age and it is already blooming!

[a_Vivaldi]

Nice videos, your others with all the reviews were fun to watch too.

What grafting technique are you using for that multi-graft tree?

[Mulberry0126]

Nice videos, your others with all the reviews were fun to watch too.

What grafting technique are you using for that multi-graft tree?

Thank you! I tried providing some honest feedback about these varieties. Modified side veneer grafts are the majority, though I have maybe 5 of them that are normal cleft grafts with the scion slightly offset.
The success rate has been very high with the modified side veneer, probably because it provides a lot of cambium contact as well as sap flow with the remaining branch still in tact.

[tedburn]

Interesting trys you are starting, will be interesting to see the developments in the future.
Very interesting that more and more citrusfriends are engaging in trying to make
crossings with the goal of coldhardiness and edible fruits  .
Hope that we all have enough patience to cultivate them to bloom and then get
rewarded with success.
Keep on and Good luck 

[Mulberry0126]

Interesting trys you are starting, will be interesting to see the developments in the future.
Very interesting that more and more citrusfriends are engaging in trying to make
crossings with the goal of coldhardiness and edible fruits  .
Hope that we all have enough patience to cultivate them to bloom and then get
rewarded with success.
Keep on and Good luck 

Thank you very much! I am interested as well, and I think we can accomplish a lot of good things as a collective. I am still young so time is on my side and I will try and make every cross that seems worthwhile.