rate the cold hardiness of these fruit trees

[Vincent]

Below are some popular fruit trees I'm considering to plant. Based on your own experiences, rank them with 10 as most cold hardy and 1 for least, if you would. For example, a mango might be a 7 and a lychee a 9. If you want to, include the name of the hardiest of the type- for example mamey sapote 6 viejo (takes the most cold).

Sugar apple
Atemoya
Mango
Mamey Sapote
Sapodilla
Jackfruit
Lychee
Rollinia

[greenman62]

Below are some popular fruit trees I'm considering to plant. Based on your own experiences, rank them with 10 as most cold hardy and 1 for least, if you would. For example, a mango might be a 7 and a lychee a 9. If you want to, include the name of the hardiest of the type- for example mamey sapote 6 viejo (takes the most cold).

Sugar apple
Atemoya
Mango
Mamey Sapote
Sapodilla
Jackfruit
Lychee
Rollinia

i wont rate them with numbers, because i dont know all of them
but, i can tell you this winter we had 1 very cold night
coldest ive seen in 10yrs
i lost about 8 mango trees, 2 black sapote, 2 jackfruit (one was 8ft tall in ground)
and a Mamey in a 20gal pot. and a 6ft mango that had already fruited.

even though all of these were at least 3 yrs old (a couple of the mango were 1.5 or 2yrs)
and had received 28 or 29F temps in the past.
This year i think it hit 27F (when i woke up)
its possible it really was 26F.

My 10gal Lychee lost a couple of small twigs (new growth)
otherwise not affected.

i can say the difference in those 2 or 3 degrees was major.
its also possible that the rain had something to do with it.
it had rained for 2 days straight prior
and i think that is what killed the roots, at least on the potted plants.

I will say that Mango seems hardier than jackfruit
The Jackfruit had seen 29F before and froze almost to the roots
but this time it isnt coming back.

I read Green Sapote is hardier than Mamey by at least 2 degrees
so, i just bought one

[TonyinCC]

If you are pushing things on cold hardiness and are expecting a catastrophic freeze, temporarily mulching several feet deep around each tree can be a huge help. I have seen people get bananas to fruit in the Charleston, SC area with that trick. They built a cage with wire fencing several feet in diameter around the plant and mulched a foot above where the leaves come out of the trunk. That way only the top of plants gets frozen back. Lift the cage and spread the mulch after the immediate danger is past. Trees will die if buried for weeks, so cages have to be removed. It would be a fair amount of work doing this 10 times a Winter, once or twice is well worth it to save the plant. Foam pipe insulation around smaller scaffold limbs can help too if the trees are still small. Pruning back to main scaffolds just before the freeze might help too.
  If you had a rural property with a tractor and loader, you could bury trees to save grafts and main scaffolds and dig them out carefully after the freeze.
 Get a couple big bales of hay or a pile of wood chips to keep on hand during the winter months, it probably would have saved all the trees lost in New Orleans. A big enough pile of wood chips that has been sitting a while and kick started with some compost starter and water will actually generate its own heat from starting to decompose. If the warm pile is a few feet from the trees, that can help too... Carambola/Starfruit would seem a good candidate for zone pushing since the tree fruits heavily at a small size. Bell is my favorite variety. You might need to bury the whole tree with mulch during freezes for a winter crop of fruit though.
 These tips might make a difference of a few degrees to hopefully save some trees... Same basic principles people use to protect tea roses and small ornamentals in REALLY cold areas....

[Mike T]

Ok Ill have shot at the sequence of deaths due to cold with increasing exposure.Rollinia is first to go,then mamey sapote,sugar apple,jackfruit,mango,lychee,sapodilla and atemoya.

[greenman62]

Ok Ill have shot at the sequence of deaths due to cold with increasing exposure.Rollinia is first to go,then mamey sapote,sugar apple,jackfruit,mango,lychee,sapodilla and atemoya.

Mike
You are saying Sapodilla and Atemoya handle frost/freezing temps
better than Lychee ?

ive never had either, though i did have 2 small cherimoya which i lost

[greenman62]

If you are pushing things on cold hardiness and are expecting a catastrophic freeze, temporarily mulching several feet deep around each tree can be a huge help. I have seen people get bananas to fruit in the Charleston, SC area with that trick. They built a cage with wire fencing several feet in diameter around the plant and mulched a foot above where the leaves come out of the trunk. That way only the top of plants gets frozen back. Lift the cage and spread the mulch after the immediate danger is past. Trees will die if buried for weeks, so cages have to be removed. It would be a fair amount of work doing this 10 times a Winter, once or twice is well worth it to save the plant. Foam pipe insulation around smaller scaffold limbs can help too if the trees are still small. Pruning back to main scaffolds just before the freeze might help too.
  If you had a rural property with a tractor and loader, you could bury trees to save grafts and main scaffolds and dig them out carefully after the freeze.
 Get a couple big bales of hay or a pile of wood chips to keep on hand during the winter months, it probably would have saved all the trees lost in New Orleans. A big enough pile of wood chips that has been sitting a while and kick started with some compost starter and water will actually generate its own heat from starting to decompose. If the warm pile is a few feet from the trees, that can help too... Carambola/Starfruit would seem a good candidate for zone pushing since the tree fruits heavily at a small size. Bell is my favorite variety. You might need to bury the whole tree with mulch during freezes for a winter crop of fruit though.
 These tips might make a difference of a few degrees to hopefully save some trees... Same basic principles people use to protect tea roses and small ornamentals in REALLY cold areas....

actually, it was more a problem of me being distracted by family matters
being lazy, and bad weather reports.
they kept changing the low temp, and when it hit
it was 5 degrees lower then the weather report.

I am in the suburbs and bails of hay are not easy to find
 Foam pipe insulation sounds like a winner. i hope i remember that next year.

i knew there would be losses. i knew that going in...
its a learning process.
I found out i love Jujube and they are very hardy.
i have white sapote, Fiejoa, starfruit, acerola, Java plum, several guava,
and several others that did make it.
My starfruit lost leaves like usual, but its leafing out now, no worse for wear.
no complaints.
i have a reason to buy new fruit trees now

[snowjunky]

Ok Ill have shot at the sequence of deaths due to cold with increasing exposure.Rollinia is first to go,then mamey sapote,sugar apple,jackfruit,mango,lychee,sapodilla and atemoya.

Mike
You are saying Sapodilla and Atemoya handle frost/freezing temps
better than Lychee ?

ive never had either, though i did have 2 small cherimoya which i lost

Here in Phoenix AZ my Alano is about as hardy as my Kohala longan.
According to some people Alano is a bit more cold hardy than other sapodillas.  This is probably true. 
I had similar small sized Alano and Hasya airlayers planted next to each other. 
The Hasya died to the ground in a freeze, but the Alano grew back strong from a 6 inch stub off the ground.
According everyone and my own experience Kohala is hardier than other longans.
So I guess sapodillas and longans are similar in cold hardiness here in Phoenix.

[Mchris752]

what types of sapodilla are u growing in phx? Any types faster growing/better fruitset than others?

Ok Ill have shot at the sequence of deaths due to cold with increasing exposure.Rollinia is first to go,then mamey sapote,sugar apple,jackfruit,mango,lychee,sapodilla and atemoya.

Mike
You are saying Sapodilla and Atemoya handle frost/freezing temps
better than Lychee ?

ive never had either, though i did have 2 small cherimoya which i lost

Here in Phoenix AZ my Alano is about as hardy as my Kohala longan.
According to some people Alano is a bit more cold hardy than other sapodillas.  This is probably true. 
I had similar small sized Alano and Hasya airlayers planted next to each other. 
The Hasya died to the ground in a freeze, but the Alano grew back strong from a 6 inch stub off the ground.
According everyone and my own experience Kohala is hardier than other longans.
So I guess sapodillas and longans are similar in cold hardiness here in Phoenix.

[snowjunky]

I have Makok and Silas Woods.  Makok is less cold hardy, but it set a few fruits after 10ft.  It's a compact grower. 
Silas Woods is dwarf and grows slowly and has not fruited yet.  They both flower a lot if they don't get any frost damage in the winter.
I also grew Alano and Hasya.  Alano is the most cold hardy, but not as compact as Makok.  Hasya grows way too big for me.

[a_Vivaldi]

From a zone 8 perspective:

Sugar apple -- really not hardy
Atemoya -- not hardy
Mango -- not hardy
Mamey Sapote -- not hardy
Sapodilla -- really not hardy
Jackfruit -- really, really not hardy
Lychee -- really not hardy
Rollinia -- not hardy to really not hardy

I realize this isn't very helpful, but doubtless there will be people in colder zones than me reading this thread and thinking, hey, maybe if I try X particular variety of this zone 11 plant and give it some winter protection... The answer is no, no it won't survive.

If you're in the zone 9-10 parts of Flordia, about half of these are doable. But there are many great fruit that are fully hardy there that will be easier.

[Tortuga]

If you are pushing things on cold hardiness and are expecting a catastrophic freeze, temporarily mulching several feet deep around each tree can be a huge help. I have seen people get bananas to fruit in the Charleston, SC area with that trick. They built a cage with wire fencing several feet in diameter around the plant and mulched a foot above where the leaves come out of the trunk. That way only the top of plants gets frozen back. Lift the cage and spread the mulch after the immediate danger is past. Trees will die if buried for weeks, so cages have to be removed. It would be a fair amount of work doing this 10 times a Winter, once or twice is well worth it to save the plant. Foam pipe insulation around smaller scaffold limbs can help too if the trees are still small. Pruning back to main scaffolds just before the freeze might help too.
  If you had a rural property with a tractor and loader, you could bury trees to save grafts and main scaffolds and dig them out carefully after the freeze.
 Get a couple big bales of hay or a pile of wood chips to keep on hand during the winter months, it probably would have saved all the trees lost in New Orleans. A big enough pile of wood chips that has been sitting a while and kick started with some compost starter and water will actually generate its own heat from starting to decompose. If the warm pile is a few feet from the trees, that can help too... Carambola/Starfruit would seem a good candidate for zone pushing since the tree fruits heavily at a small size. Bell is my favorite variety. You might need to bury the whole tree with mulch during freezes for a winter crop of fruit though.
 These tips might make a difference of a few degrees to hopefully save some trees... Same basic principles people use to protect tea roses and small ornamentals in REALLY cold areas....

I’m in Myrtle Beach and I get bananas each and every year. I remove the corm just before first frost. Just did so 2 days ago. Then I store all the banana stalks in the garage and replant come April 1st. Last year I got bananas from a stalk that was literally bare root. I’ve seen people do the cages. Seems like a lot of hard work and waste of mulch with  guarantee

[Rob From Sydney]

Below are some popular fruit trees I'm considering to plant. Based on your own experiences, rank them with 10 as most cold hardy and 1 for least, if you would. For example, a mango might be a 7 and a lychee a 9. If you want to, include the name of the hardiest of the type- for example mamey sapote 6 viejo (takes the most cold).

Sugar apple
Atemoya
Mango
Mamey Sapote
Sapodilla
Jackfruit
Lychee
Rollinia

Assuming you get down to 23F, I reckon you can grow some of these. Here is my advice:

Sugar apple - I doubt it, but maybe in a protected position with a bit of help during heavy frosts. Mountain Soursop and Mexican Custard apple are in the same boat. But seedlings as a pose to grafted trees as they are more cold tolerant.
Atemoya - more could tolerant varieties could work. Cherimoya will grow, provided you have a hardy variety.
Rollinia won't work.
Mango - There is probably a cold tolerant variety that can survive in your climate, but if worst comes to worst, maybe you could try a fertilised seedling. That might be able to adapt.
Sapodilla - There are moderately frost hardy grafted varieties, but I think that seedlings of a good variety would do better. Mind you, the odd seedling can be male and not produce female flowers.
Jackfruit isn't cold tolerant enough. The Kwai Muk might survive.
Lychee - Maybe Kwai Mai Pink, otherwise a seedling of Kwai Mai would do better.
Mamey Sapote - Apparently pace can take cold down to 32F. You could try a pace seedling, but I have heard that Green Sapotes is more cold hardy than Mameys. There are some relatives of Mamey Sapote that will grow in cold climates, like Mataojo (Pouteria Salicifolia), Lucuma and Canistel. Here in Australia we have a variety of canistel called "Emma" that has is so hardy it comes back after 19F.

[Tropheus76]

In Central Florida in 10a, but what Nick from Nick's Edibles calls the arctic of 10a and having had most of these at one point or another:
 Sugar apple: Low- wont survive in the ground through any but the mildest of winters
Atemoya: Low- wont survive in the ground
Mango: Moderate- Protect when young, when bigger doesnt really care about short frosts aside from leaves burning off
Mamey Sapote: Havent had this one
Sapodilla: Low
Jackfruit: Very Low
Lychee: High- one of my more successful trees
Rollinia: Havent had this one.

Note that these are for in ground plantings. Potted you can keep almost anything alive with effort.

[CRiSP]

Here in Australia we have a variety of canistel called "Emma" that has is so hardy it comes back after 19F.



How do we get some seeds over here in the US of A? Particularly New Orleans.
[/quote]

[quinoah]

which of those fruit trees can handle cold weather best? I mean daily cold temps at night, rarely below freezing, nice warm temp. during the day, no hard frosts, maybe 27F as the lowest temp.

thanks

[Tropheus76]

which of those fruit trees can handle cold weather best? I mean daily cold temps at night, rarely below freezing, nice warm temp. during the day, no hard frosts, maybe 27F as the lowest temp.

thanks

Mango and Lychee would be my choice. Sweetheart from the lychee group, others seem more susceptible to the cold, sweetheart doesnt seem to care at least to the temps you describe. Mangos will get their leaves burnt from frost especially if you go for the open style instead of the big bushy style.

[Rob From Sydney]

Here in Australia we have a variety of canistel called "Emma" that has is so hardy it comes back after 19F.



How do we get some seeds over here in the US of A? Particularly New Orleans.

I don't have a tree myself, but I ought. They aren't a very widely grown variety, but they have great hardiness.
Here is a vides from the nursery that selected the Emma canistel, Daleys. They get bad frosts, so they grow tropical fruit trees of many kinds, mostly inside greenhouses, the Emma Canistel being an exception.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ8YZ0thbdM