Citrus In ground Zone 8a

[Mysta]

So I have 2 meyer lemon, Cara cara, Brown's Select, Strawberry Guava, Midnight Valencia, Sumo, Moro, Bloomsweet, and Golden Nugget Mandarin citrus varieties currently in pots. Now the plan is to put some of these in ground(clay soil) and protect with covering/incandescent lights similar to how i've been doing with my peanut butter fruit and banana. Then permanently keep the others in containers.

I believe they are all on cold hardy rootstock(mix of some from Jonina and some from Stan Mackenzie.
They are all around 2 years old I believe. Any you would avoid putting in ground, and would they be okay in ground now assuming I protect them, and additionally - what temp do you start protecting them at this age?

[poncirsguy]

Some of those varieties will not survive zone 8a even with light protection.

[Mysta]

Some of those varieties will not survive zone 8a even with light protection.

Which? My banana starts dying back to the ground at 40 degrees and it's still 10ft tall after having days down to 14.

[Nick C]

You might struggle with moro, Valencia, cara cara, and the guava

[Millet]

In zone 7, sooner or later your trees will die, unless they are protected in some manner during winter cold spells.

[Mysta]

You might struggle with moro, Valencia, cara cara, and the guava

I'll consider keeping those in the greenhouse then.

[Mysta]

In retrospect - probably should have posted this in the Cold Hardy section.

[1rainman]

Meyer lemon would be good with night temps down to 20. I would add sand or perlite to clay soil along with compost. Might do ok with plastic around it in the winter and a heat source. Just keep some small holes in the plastic so it can breathe maybe keep a bucket of water inside the protection to help stabilize temps during night time lows. They have the new cold hardy sun dragon orange that would probably be the best one to try.

[Mysta]

Meyer lemon would be good with night temps down to 20. I would add sand or perlite to clay soil along with compost. Might do ok with plastic around it in the winter and a heat source. Just keep some small holes in the plastic so it can breathe maybe keep a bucket of water inside the protection to help stabilize temps during night time lows. They have the new cold hardy sun dragon orange that would probably be the best one to try.

Indeed, my method this year was the incandescent lights + horticultural fabric, I was able to keep my banana above 40 degrees when it was 20 out, and with just another layer of fabric I kept it even higher with the temps into the low teens.

I also validated an idea instead of christmas lights, I can put a bucket of water and a pipe heater around it to keep it warm.(saves from having to wrap the lights)

I guess I'm just surprised the plants tolerate even like 30s and 40s without affecting fruit. Are any of these varieties going to drop or slow fruit production heavily when it drops to 30s-40s?

[Tortuga]

I have most of these varieties in zone 8b. As long as you cover with fabric and light them up you’ll be fine. I’ve been doing this method for 7/8 years.

Check out millennial gardener on YouTube

[1rainman]

Below freezing temps will damage or kill small new fruits. There will be brown or black spots or they may fall off. Large nearly ripe fruit can tolerate lower temps but can be damaged mostly you can still eat them though. Anything above freezing wont be a problem. It sometimes gets into the 20s in south florida for short periods at night. Only harms fruit, very small plants or extremely sensitive varieties like valencia. But it warms up quickly during the day. Hasnt gotten cold in about 15 years though. The large fruit will crack and split open but you can eat it if its ripe enough but large fruit tolerates light freezes its 20s it might be a problem. Baby fruit might die off or be damaged depending how big it is the bigger it is the more tolerant. Sun dragon seems to grow and produce in georgia without protection. It has some trifoliate and grapefruit mixed in it but mostly orange and edible decent fruit.