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Cold Hardy Citrus / Re: Cold Hardy Citrus Experiment Zone7A NJ
« on: May 19, 2025, 12:43:06 AM »
Looks like it is coming back very good and healthy.
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I’ve had one for a few years. I got it from Stan. Here it is in flower a week or two ago in Georgia. I still think it is a CiClem back-crossed with something else, likely Clementine.
Citrus basically needs 2000+ growing-degree days and wants more like 5000 GDD, especially as they get more tropical. Wilmington, NC (9a) has about 5500-6000 GDD per year. Seattle has about *2500*.
https://weatherspark.com/y/20822/Average-Weather-in-Wilmington-North-Carolina-United-States-Year-Round#Sections-GrowingSeason
https://weatherspark.com/y/913/Average-Weather-in-Seattle-Washington-United-States-Year-Round#Sections-GrowingSeason
The US South and East just have hotter, more humid summers.
NC 💪 ☀️
I'm about 90 miles north of Wilmington, but regardless, yes, we have very long, very warm summers here.
It also helps that even after cold snaps our day time temperatures warm back up quickly. That hurts dormancy of course, but it also means that it's not unusual for temperatures around 70 F a week or even a few days after below 20 F freezes. And on the days with sub 20 F freezes, it's usually above freezing by mid morning.
I'm jealous of the good dormancy and milder weather you European and PNW guys have, but at least for citrus, it's a trade off I'm ok with.
It does not look like a Prague. They say "The tree has trifoliate leaves and fruit that is somewhat like satsuma." that means it should have a good taste. If you have extra seeds I would love to try growing them here in zone 7 to test cold hardness.
Assuming they are correct that it's a chimera, the seeds likely will not be particularly hardy, especially any zygotic because the only other citrus flowering at the same time was a Persian lime. But I will be sprouting them and I'll report any signs of trifoliate leaves or hardiness.
The UC researchers specifically told me via email that it had a bad taste, so I think they just mean the appearance of the flesh of the fruit is like a mandarin, but the flavor definitely is not.
US-1284: Fruit length is 4.3 cm, diameter is 5.3 cm. This selection was developed by Kim Bowman as part of a large effort to develop Citrus rootstocks with less vulnerability to HLB.
US-1279, US-1281, and US-1282 developed during the same time period are 100% zygotic in seed production.
List of leaf images including US-1284:
https://rhq.3e4.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Visual-guide-to-USDA-citrus-rootstocks.pdf
List of seed production characteristics:
https://rhq.3e4.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Nursery-characteristics-of-USDA-citrus-rootstocks.pdf
More info:
https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/extension/citrus_rootstock/tables.html