The Tropical Fruit Forum
Citrus => Cold Hardy Citrus => Topic started by: Unicyclemike on December 03, 2022, 04:14:15 PM
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Okay...so I started a citrus tree ( Ponderosa lemon) from seed about 6 years ago. I left it in a pot all those years. So I decided to stick it outside in the ground out of the pot and see if I could overwinter it in zone 6b/7a...Red Lion Pennsylvania. I am only using about 150 Watts of electric heat......christmas lights and a 100 watt bulb...I am also using wood chips, styrofoam and 6 mil plastic. We have had several nights at or below 25 degrees F. And guess what it is flowering.....incredible....
Mike Adams
(https://i.postimg.cc/KR8Sp46g/DSCN8307-lemon-tree.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/KR8Sp46g)
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My ponderosa flowers in the fall too once I bring it inside lol. Amazing that you grew it from seed way to go!
Hope your protection is enough, it's very frost tender from the citron in it. A better variety to protect outside in zone 7, if you want a lemon like fruit, would probably be ichang lemon.
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Thank you for your comment. I did it as a test to see if I could indeed overwinter a citrus "on the cheap" without buying a greenhouse and using 1500 watts of heat 24/7. If it works the "how I did it" I will share with the group. So far so good. I was just stunned to see the flower buds. This is hopefully preparing me for next spring when I plant a Owari Satsuma and a Zgwingli Citrumelo which I purchase from the one and only Stan Mckenzie....I want to keep my wattage under 200W per hour.....
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My suggestion is to control the heat source by thermostat.overheating is as detrimental as freezing.
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Good point. I will keep that in mind. Thank you.
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If your low temp is 25 F, you only really need to go up a few degrees, and stop ice formation on the plant, to moderate or prevent frost damage. I am in a Citrus growing area, and we get occasional lows like that. Since it is not a tropical plant that you need to keep well above freezing, it looks like an economic strategy.
Have you thought of installing a stop start thermometer to monitor the overnight temp in the protection. You can probably get a phone App on an old phone to do the same ?
Since you are already using Christmass lights, and have real lemons on the way, don't forget to enter your tree in the Neighbourhood Xmas display competition, sounds like a winner.
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I'm doing something similar to your experiment with feijoas. Since they are already hardy down to 5f before getting damaged, I am covering with frost cloth and incandescent lights on a thermocube.
In addition to what everyone is suggesting with temp controls you can graft a piece of your already mature ponderosa to trifoliata which will keep it smaller and easier to cover and thus less space to heat as well as avoid root issues stemming from cold and wet weather.
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Just to clarify what vnomonee said, if you want dwarfing, you'll want to graft onto flying dragon specifically; Poncirus trifoliata in general is not dwarfing, producing a relatively full-sized tree with many (most? all?) scions. Of course, if you're getting dwarfing along with a reduction in vigour, that can be good in cold climates, but has its drawbacks, too.
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Slower growth tends to be more resistant to weather
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Ponderosa is not true from seeds.
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Ponderosa is not true from seeds.
The seedling plants I grew seem to be a mix of Citron and Lemon characters, nothing much way off that so far.