Arctic Frost Report

[GregW]

Greetings.
As I have mentioned before, I have two Arctic Frost trees that are around five years old. They have up until this point been a disappointment. The first orange was terrible, with a flavor that would cut your throat. Last summer I decided to make a last-ditch effort with them and planted them in the ground. They survived the cold snap of 17 Degrees last winter. I built a makeshift shelter consisting of ladders and tarps with a space heater for four nights/days.
This summer they have held their own, but nothing to brag about. At this point, I believe that my care of the trees is substantially responsible for their mediocre performance. I failed to appreciate the high nitrogen requirements of a tree planted in the ground. I'm convinced that had I fertilized correctly, they would have had a good year.

Currently, one tree has quite a bit of fruit, and the other just a few.
Please see the attached photo's:
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I find it somewhat odd that one tree has ripening fruit and the other tree has green fruit.
Maybe this is a normal occurrence.
The ripening fruit is all rather small, not a lot bigger than a golf ball. I have picked a couple of them. I am impressed with the flavor, the burning flavor in my throat is now absent. I have honestly bought "Cuties" from the store that tasted worse.

I'm blaming the small fruit size on the lack of fertilizer.

The tree with the fruit that is still green, I don't know about. Maybe it just didn't have any new growth to set fruit on. The fruit is bigger on this tree.

Based on tree size, can anyone recommend the proper amount of Osmocote Plus for next spring's application?

[poncirsguy]

You can use Jacks 25-5-15,  I use Miracle grow 24-8-16 along with 20-0-10 grass feed with iron for my in ground trees.  I got 62 lemons on my in ground New Zealand lemonade tree.

[GregW]

Thank you for your reply.
I was hoping to use a time-release formulation next season, I do have a bag of the  Jacks 25-5-15.
What is the best application rate and frequency for in-ground citrus?

Thank you again.
Greg

[GregW]

I'm continuing to harvest the fruit. I'm really happy with the taste.
I'm looking forward to a good crop next season. I will definitely make sure the trees are protected if the cold gets extreme.

If Arctic Frost holds true to its cold-hardy name, it's going to be a winner.

[nullroar]

Hey GregW, I'm near the Harvest, AL area, so we're about 90 minutes apart. I also have an arctic frost satsuma, though shortly after purchase, I was told by many in the community that it seems to fare no better than most other satsumas, and the name appears to be mostly for marketing purposes. We'll find out soon - I've got it on the south side of my house, but this is going to be its first winter in the ground.

I can say that, however our arctic frosts perform, it appears that some of the desirable qualities here may be (as others have told me) early ripening and how the tree handles dormancy. If it is grafted, is the graft high? if it goes dormant, does it break dormancy easily? Etc.

I'm looking into some early Louisiana varieties I hear may be viable. There's also the Xie Shen, which I'm trailing, as I've heard stories that it may be slightly more cold hardy than the arctic frost due to a longer dormancy period.

Let me know how it goes!

[GregW]

I've read some reports of problems with cold hardiness. I hope that my trees can survive down to 15 Degrees, but I don't know if I will have the nerve to test it. I will probably be cautious and cover the trees and use a heater.

[countryboy1981]

I just tasted my first arctic frost today.  I bought the tree last year.  It is a cross between changsha and a satsuma.  Mine is closer to the size of a changsha and with a seed count of in between the two.  Mine tasted similar to a satsuma, I was not disappointed in the flavor at all.  But, I also do think the changsha mandarin I have tastes fine as well but think of it as more a of juicing mandarin due to its seed count.  Do you know what rootstock your tree is on?  My regular satsumas survived more than one night with lows of 16 and making it just above freezing the next day but I am on the south side of the state.

[GregW]

My trees are not grafted. I wonder if a grafted tree might have been a better choice. When I bought my trees, I didn't see any grafted trees available.

[kumin]

My recollection is that the trees are on their own roots. This allows re-sprouting after a freeze. Top killed trees remain true-to-type upon regrowth.

[Millet]

Kumin is correct, Arctic Frost trees are always sold growing on their own roots.  The tree is a cross between a Satsuma and Changsha mandarin by Dr. Yang Doon, and is hardy to about 15F when dormant, and mid 20sF if not dormant.

[GregW]

Millet, thanks for the information. I'm going to try to be prepared for any cold snap we may have. I definitely don't want to lose the trees.

[countryboy1981]

My recollection is that the trees are on their own roots. This allows re-sprouting after a freeze. Top killed trees remain true-to-type upon regrowth.

I purchased mine locally and it was grafted by Saxon Becnel & Sons, most likely on a trifoliate hybrid rootstock similar to carrizo citrange (they used to use this exclusively but may have switched in the past few years)

[Millet]

There is always exceptions.

[GregW]

I wonder what benefit there would be to having Arctic Frost on a rootstock?

[countryboy1981]

I wonder what benefit there would be to having Arctic Frost on a rootstock?

Disease resistance and potentially more cold hardiness if they had used pure trifoliate but they did not.

[nullroar]

Kumin is correct, Arctic Frost trees are always sold growing on their own roots.  The tree is a cross between a Satsuma and Changsha mandarin by Dr. Yang Doon, and is hardy to about 15F when dormant, and mid 20sF if not dormant.

I have one and I believe it was grafted. I'll check tomorrow.

[CarolinaZone]

I'm pretty sure mine are grafted too. I got Orange Frost and Artic Frost in ground.

[nullroar]

Yeah mine is definitely grafted as well. Graft pics + the sole fruit.

[GregW]

I wonder why the original developer of Arctic Frost chose to release it on its own rootstock. rather than a grafted tree?
Either the developer thought it was good enough and saw no practical improvements from grafting, or perhaps something else influenced their choice.
Without field trials of the other rootstocks, the world may never know.

[Millet]

Artic Frost is grown on its own root stock so that if the tree is killed by a cold spell, it can regenerate from it roots.  If a killer cold spell is expected, the grower banks the roots with dirt to protect it.

[nullroar]

Sounds to me like I should try rooting a water shoot from this next year, then…perhaps air graft for roots and then try that as it’s own plant?

[countryboy1981]

Sounds to me like I should try rooting a water shoot from this next year, then…perhaps air graft for roots and then try that as it’s own plant?

You can bank the soil up the tree above the graft line to protect your tree.  It saved a few of my less hardy trees in 2017 when it got down to 16 here.  Here is an illustration:



The soil insulates what is below it and it will regrow from that point.  Just do not leave the soil on it too long.  A trick I have used is a nursrry pot.  Take a plastic nursery pot that is as tall as you would like to bank, cut the bottom out, cut it so you can place it around the tree, then staple it shut, and then fill it with soil to the top.

[SoCal2warm]

You can also wrap a mesh cage around the plant in a circle and fill it with dead dry leaves. That should help provide some insulation against the cold.
For example chicken wire.

[countryboy1981]

I am at a loss as to why this variety gets a bad rap.  I just ate one today and other than the scent similar to the peel of a changsha mandarin when peeling this variety, it is very good and is of no less quality than my satsumas.  It is more aimilar to the size of cuties than satsumas but they taste very good.  But to note again, my tree is not on its own roots, it is grafted on a trifoliate hybrid.

[GregW]

I believe the bad opinions of Arctic Frost may be based on younger trees. I know the first 4 or so years fruit from my trees was not good. This year I have been really pleased, other than the fruit is small sized. I really believe to a large extent, this is my fault due to lack of fertilizer.