The Tropical Fruit Forum

3 in ground trees...Owari Satsuma, Swingle Citrumelo, and Taveres Limequat.....Temps in January.....10 days of mid twenties for high and lower teens for the low.  I used Christmas Lights, styrofoam and plastic. Today April 13....All showing new growth.  The two small plants in the front were pots that are in ground that also overwintered...They are grapefruits that I started from seed.  No winter burn at all.  I also have a Xie Shan and an Arbiguina Olive in another spot that did well. 

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. 

I am in zone 7a and planted last spring 3 cold hardy citrus and an Arbiquina olive outside.  I have been preparing for a cold blast like this for at least a month.  It will be interesting to see if my plan works.  I am using Christmas lights, styrofoam, frost blankets, plastic, and straw....Time will tell. Temps are supposed to dip down to the single digits....mid week.  The cold is supposed to last at least a week...

Mike Adams

I picked my one and only Owari Satsuma today....Now the fun begins to see if I have it ready for the winter.

Mike A

Of these three which one do you think is the most cold hardy...Lila, Joey or Fantastic avacados?

Thank you.
Mike Adams

I am in zone 7 trying to grow several varieties of hardy citrus outdoors.  I have the owari satsuma, swingle citrumelo, Taveres limequat and the Xie Chan.  In order to get fruit to ripen before it gets extremely cold what time in the spring do they need to start flowering and what low temp do I need to maintain in order to get them to  flower to ripen roughly on schedule in the fall?  I overwintered a ponderosa lemon outside last winter.  I understand how to get a citrus to survive 2 degrees F. last year.

Has anyone tried insulating their citrus trees trunks with swimming pool noodles? Last year in zone 7a it got down to 2 degrees F.

Mike A.

If I have an Owari Satsuma outside when does it have to bloom in order to have ripe fruit by Thanksgiving?  What temp does it need to produce flowers and bloom?

Mike Adams

So I started a grapefruit from seed about 5 years ago in a pot.  I kept it indoor in the winter all of those years until last September.  I decided to plant it outside (I live in South Central PA zone 7) and see if I could overwinter it.  I only used 1 string of incandescent Christmas lights and a 100 watt lightbulb....I also made a styrofoam shelter around it and piled up a lot of wood chips...the coldest it got was 2 degree F.  It worked.  Tomorrow is April 1st and it doing well....I will post a photo when I remove all the styrofoam from around it....

An Owari Satsuma growing in the ground in zone 8a......when does it usually start bearing new leaves in the spring and when can i roughly expect to pick the fruit in the fall to eat?  Thank you.

Mike Adams

If you took a cutting from a citrumelo that been grafted on a trifolate.....propagated a cutting from it.....how wingter hardy would the cutting  be?

Mike Adams

Is there anyplace to order cold hardy citrus to sample?  I would like to try some different varieties before I decide to buy any more trees?

Unicycle Mike

What are the most cold hardy lemon and lime trees that have a decent taste?
Unicycle Mike