The Tropical Fruit Forum

They need to sell it for $5.00 at LOWE'S.

I think Ichang lemon tree is beautiful. Mine have grown well this summer having lost no leaves after a mild winter here with a one or two time low of 10 degrees F inside my high tunnel with garbage cans of water between them. They did lose their leaves the winter before last when lows of zero and one degrees F.  I planted one outside this year that is several years old and 4 ft tall, and am afraid to not cover it with plastic dome this winter. I think I'll just put large garbage can full of water against it and leave uncovered unless high winds with temps in low teens. I saw the large Ichang lemon and Changsha trees that DR Hanna has grown on university grove in Tifton GA during the SE expo two years ago, and was really inspired; his trees were huge and went unprotected out in the open with changshas covered in fruit. The lemons were mostly done fruiting at the time.

That's great! My citrus tree and I are debating about what to do with our paw paw harvest; jam or eat them with a spoon?

Although every site is different and different citrus varieties handle cold differently, etc, does anyone know of a standardized list of number of cumulative hours below freezing during a winter season different citrus varieties can endure before damage or death?  For instance, although Changsha is supposed to survive a low of 5 degrees, how many total hours below freezing could a 10 ft tall Changsha handle before it needs to be protected from any further freeze to avoid damage? I know there are too many variables, but just wondered if any other data out there concerning cold damage other than the lowest temp a variety has survived.

Hey, has anyone experimented with solar power heaters or solar power generator that could run a small space heater all night?  Brands, suggestions?

It is. My trifoliata trees went through the polar vortexes without protection without any problem , but all my other hybrids, including carrizo, died horrible deaths even with water barrels and coverings, packing in leaves, etc.

Pancrazio, these are photos of last winter's protection for my Kimbrough satsuma and my owari. The Kimbrough is surrounded by a permanent wooden frame that I staple 4 mil plastic sheeting to around end of October when threat of first freeze. My other sats and Meiwa and Crocston and star grapefruit and Changsha are covered by plastic over PVC pipe frames that are temporary and easily erected and dismantled in fall/spring. I put small mason jar-size space heaters controlled by Thermo cubes in each tent/dome to help moderate temps. Each tree also has a 30 gallon black plastic garbage can full of water up against it too for added protection in case power goes out on cold nights. I pull plastic back on domes and roll one side of kimbrough's "greenhouse" up to vent on days when high predicted to be in 50's or higher. This past winter I think my low was only 10 degrees F one night; was a warm winter here. The two winters before were the lowest I've seen anywhere, with lows of at least 0 degrees F all night for two nights and hardly got above freezing even during the day for month of January two years ago. Last winter, my trifoliate hybrids and Ichang lemons and nansho dai dai went through winter in high tunnel with only barrels of water for protection and didn't fully defoliate. Winter before last they defoliated but flushed out in spring. I lost all hybrids two winters ago due to polar vortex since they didn't have space heaters like my satsumas. Even dunstan citrumelo and swingle citrumelo died ( over six feet tall) with only plastic wind breaks and wire cages around them filled with leaves when it was 0 degrees all night and freezing all January. The only one to come back from roots from that event was Thomasville citrangquat. Oh and yes, the Crocston I ate today was as sweet/good as one I'd buy in a store.

So good to hear of something positive, a sign of hope to save citrus species.

Thanks for the clarification, Millet.

Ok. What is steaming? Are we spraying hot water on the trees to bake out the bacteria? Kind of like raising temp inside plastic tent?

In reference to a post on the topic of satsuma cuttings, do satsuma seedlings have thorns? According to Tom Mcclendon's book, Hardy Citrus for the Southeast, "Satsuma (citrus reticulata) is really a class of mandarins". We all know that mandarin seedlings are very thorny, like most citrus. I've only seen grafted satsumas, Kimbrough, owari, St Anne, etc, which of course is mature fruiting thornless wood grafted onto a rootstock. Has anyone grown a seed from one of these "seedless" sats and got a seedling satsuma tree with thorns? Maybe thornless seedlings is a difference between "satsuma" and its reticulata sister "mandarin".

Great. Hopefully they can figure out how to wipe out the psillids before they wipe out citrus.

Oops! According to the map on plantmaps.com, my house is sitting in a small mountaintop island of zone 6b instead of 7a or 7b zones that are at the lower elevations only a few miles away. I was surprised to actually see my street in this gated community on the color-coded zone map on plant maps.com.