Frosthardiness experience with citrusvarieties in zone 7, down to 3,2 F

[tedburn]

Test of second fruit of my inground Keraji.
Not the biggest of my fruits, but beginning to turn colour.
For this early time already surprisingly good to eat,
Good taste and not too sour, already good to eat.
And with 6 seeds per fruit not to seedy.

[Skandiberg]

That's great!

A few weeks ago I saw a youtube video, I think it came from Tom McClendon. He tried a few of his immature fruits and Keraji was one of them. All evidently unripe but he said they were already sweetish and tasted fairly good. I was really surprised but didn't think much of it because his climate is so different. But if your Keraji tastes good in mid October in Germany, that's a lot more relevant.

Did you detect any proper sweetness? And did you cut the fruit up or it just split up on its own like your Sanford? I can't make it out from the picture.

I gave up on Keraji because of its late ripening but if they can be picked and eaten even when the fruits are still green just like many Satsumas, that can bring them back to the game.

Thanks.

[tedburn]

Hello Skandiberg, I was also a little surprised that the taste of Keraji
already now in October was quite good, mandarintaste, only slightly sour and
a little bit sweet already. One advantage of Keraji seems also that
they don' t get fruitsplit. And right, I like my Sanford but she is a little bit
susceptible to fruit split.
But in anyway for colder climates I can recommend them both, though
Sanford is still later ripening. But I grafted additional Nippon Orangequat, Silverhill Satsuma and
Keraji on it and they also fruit now for the first time with nice fruits.

[Skandiberg]

Thank you!

That is really interesting. So a half ripe Keraji is already a good tasting Keraji. Good to know! Do you know what kind of Keraji it is? Is it a selection like D14 or Gelb, or it isn't specified?

Please keep us informed how the next fruits will be during the following weeks.

Thanks.

[tedburn]

You are welcome, yes I will update in Nov/Dec.
Also interesting will be to harvest Satsuma Silverhill and Nippon Orangequat
on Sanford Curafora in ground, they also start to slightly turn colours.

[BorisR]

One advantage of Keraji seems also that
they don' t get fruitsplit.

From the French forum.

[tedburn]

Interesting, but I never had this at my Kerajis 

[Skandiberg]

You are welcome, yes I will update in Nov/Dec.
Also interesting will be to harvest Satsuma Silverhill and Nippon Orangequat
on Sanford Curafora in ground, they also start to slightly turn colours.

Great, thanks! It will be interesting to see their quality compared to each other.

[tedburn]

After more colourchanging of my citrus today I tried in comparison a Kerajimandarin and a Satsuma miyagawa.
Miyagawa in pot and Keraji in open ground.
Very surprised, while miyagawa was still a little bit too sour, Keraji already balanced sweet / sour, what
I wouldn' t have expected especially because these are my first Keraji fruits of my inground plant.
Both fruits nearly same size and weight of about 35 g.
So Im very happy with my Keraji, up to know the best of my in ground citrus in
regard of frosthardiness and fruit quality.

[BorisR]

Oh, my karaji is not that colored yet. So far, only the central hollows on the tops of the fruits have turned yellow and one fruit has started to turn a little yellow. But I already ate one fruit a week ago

[tedburn]

Sonds like your Kersji though not
so yellow was tasty  .
I still have other Kerajifruits on a multigraft
Sanford Curafora with Sanford-, Nippon Orangequat-,
and Silverhillfruits this year, so hoping
to get a few open pollinated seeds
of Keraji, Nippon Orangequat and perhaps
Silverhillfruits - with hopefully
interesting hybrids after seeding  .

[Skandiberg]

That's nice!

Thank you for the news Tedburn and good luck for the crosses!

[BorisR]

Today's photos of the fruits of my Keraji.

[tedburn]

@ Skandiberg - thank you
@ Boris, looks nice your Keraji, how old is yours or how long in ground ?
Which deepest temperatures did she take ?

[BorisR]

This Keraji is grafted on a seedling of citrumelo Dunstan, which was sown in 2012, but grew only in a pot. I don't know exactly when Keraji was grafted . He came to me in the fall of 2021.  In April 2022, I planted it in the ground. Both winters, he was sheltered by a 50 mm styrofoam box (the lid is open all winter and closes only at the time of frost).  The potted tree was very cramped, but after transplanting into the ground it increased in volume by about three times. In 2023, there was the first harvest for me of 20 fruits. There will be about 30 fruits this year. This summer, I made several air layerings, which I plan to test without shelter.

[tedburn]

Interesting, you planted a year later and had fruit one year earlier  .
But mine had to struggle with Phytophora in the second year,
so I'm glad to got her cured and now she
seems very healthy  .

[tedburn]

Yesterday testet first Nippon Orangequat (grafted on Sanford inground)
and Clemyuz 22 ( graftet on Yuzu, Clemyuz 22 grafted on inground Poncirus flowered but
no fruits).
Nippon Orangequat had excellent mandarine taste and very juicy, only a little bit seedy.
Clemyuz 22, good mandarin taste but very slight bitter sharp
aftertaste.

Clemyuz 22 ( wrong measure unit )


Nippon Orangequat


Inner fruit

[tedburn]

The Nippon Orangequat and Keraji on Sanford Curafora  motherplant give nice colours.
Interesting is the behaviour of the fruits.
Sanford sheds its own fruits while not fully coloured and ripe,
only 1 of about 10 fruits is kept.
Nippon and Keraji fruits beeing kept by Sanford motherplant
and ongoing ripening.
Very surprisingly Nippon Orangequat is fully ripe by end of November,
Keraji still can collect sweetness.

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