Plant in ground now 8b?

[Desertcitrus]

I live in zone 8b. I bought 1 gallon trees from Madison’s this spring.i also have some 5 and 15 gallon older trees.  Can I plant them in ground now? Haven’t had space to plant them till now. My logic is I don’t want to bring 8 trees in and out all winter. And I want their root system to settle before spring. I will protect them with C9 lights and 2 layers of frost cloth. This has been the hottest fall I can remember so my guess is it will be a mild winter also. Any thoughts?

[Millet]

I wish you and your trees all the luck.  In zone 8b you have a good chance unless there is one of those terrible extra bad cold fronts

[dontfearthecarolina]

I put a couple citranges in the ground last year in September in 8a. They are still alive.

[Desertcitrus]

I wish you and your trees all the luck.  In zone 8b you have a good chance unless there is one of those terrible extra bad cold fronts

Millet do you think the concern is the age of the tree, planting in the fall or planting in 8b in general?

[Millet]

The larger the tree the better it is able to protect it self. However, the smaller the tree the easier it is to give the tree protection against an unusual harsh cold spell.   If it was me I would give it a try.  However, have protection ready.  See if you can still find the larger old fashion Christmas lights.  They put out a lot of heat.  This planting would make a excellent long term educational topic for this forum, as you print your growing challenges and successes.  The best to you and your trees.

[Desertcitrus]

The larger the tree the better it is able to protect it self. However, the smaller the tree the easier it is to give the tree protection against an unusual harsh cold spell.   If it was me I would give it a try.  However, have protection ready.  See if you can still find the larger old fashion Christmas lights.  They put out a lot of heat.  This planting would make a excellent long term educational topic for this forum, as you print your growing challenges and successes.  The best to you and your trees.

Thanks millet. I always appreciate your input. I will do follow up posts. I’m part of the US Citrus Lovers Facebook page that I believe Hershell started. There are some people in zone 8 a/b that have done the same and theirs have done well. Some use a couple layers of frost cloth and those hot c9 Christmas lights and others add barrels of water next to them along with the lights and frost cloth. One guy in zone 7 uses 4 layers of 1.5 oz frost cloth, the lights, a plastic tarp and reptile heat tape. He says he only uses the reptile heat tape when it gets below zero.  And the plastic tarp on really cold nights.  He says it usually stays above 40 underneath the cloth.

[Desertcitrus]

I forgot to add to the last post that is why I’m hoping it will work. 🤞

I will bring the really little lemons in the house.

[sheaper]

I’m who you need to talk to. Dm me if you want my cell # so we can comminuted more easily.

I live in SC zone 8 and our average low is around 16 here in town. I started my in ground “experiments” for the same reason as you…too big to move in and out and running out of groom space.

I have had a lot of success and learned a lot along the way.

Important things to consider:
-Variety and it’s particular cold hardiness
-Site Selection
-Irrigation/Fert

The site selection part is very important to me as I’ve found that if you can get large rolls of heavy duty frost blanket you can plant trees in a row which makes it MUCH more feasible to protect them on shorter notice(important)
-I used plastic on top of my 6oz frost blanket in Dec 2022 and that was overkill. With the frost blanket/4strands T9 lights/plastic It was a solid 40degrees in there at the morning of 16degrees outside..I measured

The low of 2023 was around 18 and all I did was the frost blanket and lights strands again without plastic. The temp inside dropped to 28 briefly but never below that.  The thermometer was low on the trees too..not near lights.

Results have been very fun and encouraging so far…although I am not remiss to the fact that this could all end tragically but hey you only live once right. Why not.

[eyeckr]

Nice set up Sheaper

[Desertcitrus]

Sheaper-
I love your setup. Thank you for sharing. I’m planning on something similar. Mine will be on the south east side of my house. Where did you get your frost cloth?so far I have kumquat, owar, naval, minneola, Kishu, Shiranui and Meyer lemon. What do you have planted?

[sheaper]

Sheaper-
I love your setup. Thank you for sharing. I’m planning on something similar. Mine will be on the south east side of my house. Where did you get your frost cloth?so far I have kumquat, owar, naval, minneola, Kishu, Shiranui and Meyer lemon. What do you have planted?

I got my frost blanket commercially from a company called PAK Global i believe... they were a little hesitant to sell a smaller amount but eventually agreed to sell us 2-300 foot rolls of 15ft wide blanket which i cut to size.

I have in ground from far end of picture on the wall working back towards camera
-Australian Finger lime
-Xie Shan Satsuma
-Bloomsweet
-Meyer Lemon
-Shiranui
-Kishu
-Arctic Frost
-MIHO Satsuma
-SETO Satsuma
-Brown Select Satsuma
-Shiranui

Off the wall working back towards camera I have
-Harvey Lemon
-Keraji Mandarin
-Pixie Mandarin
-Tango Mandarin
-Fukushu Kumquat
-Gold Nugget Mandarin
-Sugar Belle Mandarin

I just tried the first ripe fruit from my Daboshi Beni and Miyagawa satsumas though and they were outstanding so i may have to make room for those somewhere now

[Desertcitrus]

It looks like it will be easier for me to just buy a couple 1.5 oz frost clothes and layer them.
That’s a great collection. Which are your top 5 favorites?

[sheaper]

Top 5 as of now. New contenders next year will be Bingo and Orri hopefully

1. Shiranui
2. Cali Honey mandarin
3. Yosemite Gold
4. W. Murcott
5. Fukushu or New Zealand Lemonade

[poncirsguy]

My 6b In ground plantings of Meiwa kumquat trees, 2 seedling and 1 on PT/FD.

[Daintree]

poncirsguy, how long have those been in the ground?

[poncirsguy]

The trees against the house 5 years and 4 years.  The tree in the cube, 5 years.  The tree in the cube was on incompatible Kuharske citrange and I did a rootstock transplant to FD.  It is now growing finally.

[Gkight]

I don’t want to discourage you to plant them, the contrary. I was 8b until I was re-zoned into 9a this year. However I would wait until March or April to plant them. Even citrus roots don’t grow a ton in fall/winter so with a full growing season under their belt the shock will be far less. I have a bunch also in ground (arctic frost {no protection} Cara Cara, Glen, Owari, Okitsu Wase, Sunburst, Ponkan, Nagami, Marumi, Meiwa, Fukushu, Clementine, Kisha, Brown Select) the latters with some lights and frost cloth occasionally. They all seem to be thriving on 3rd year in ground with the lowest temp they’ve been exposed to being 14* briefly that Christmas freeze a few years back. Also Lila and Poncho avos doing well. It can easily be done with some protective measures but I’d encourage you to wait until spring to plant personally. However I’m sure you can succeed now, it will be easier to wait imo, good luck!

[Desertcitrus]

My 6b In ground plantings of Meiwa kumquat trees, 2 seedling and 1 on PT/FD.

My Miewa that is on x639 that I planted in ground during the spring looks so good. I keep 2 fruit on it. I’m soooo excited to try it. Thank you for sharing your pictures.

[Desertcitrus]

Top 5 as of now. New contenders next year will be Bingo and Orri hopefully

1. Shiranui
2. Cali Honey mandarin
3. Yosemite Gold
4. W. Murcott
5. Fukushu or New Zealand Lemonade

Shiranui is the best citrus I have ever tasted. I cant wait to get fruit off all my trees.