Sweetest tasting cold hardy citrus

[Unicyclemike]

What do you think is the sweetest tasting cold hardy citrus?  Do you grow it outdoors?  Where did you purchase it. I am just getting started and have caught the "citrus bug"  I am in zone 7.

Mike Adams

[poncirsguy]

If you plan to grow outside and in ground you will need a citrus that ripen well before first hard frost.  Fruit is destroyed at 28F  Zone 7 is 0 degrees F.  There is no citrus that goes down to 0.0F that taste good.  There is also very few citrus that can go from first  fall frost to last spring frost without desiccating in zone 7  Too many non growing day to span.  If you are prepared to build a shelter for it to give it a 10F boost and shorten the non growing season by a month, there are a lot of sweet citrus you can grow.
  4 layers of glass walls and roof.

[Walt]

Or if you are willing to grow in a pot and bring iy inside winters, you have some options.

or if you are willing to wait an unknown number of years, there will be some other options for outside, in ground.  We are working on it.  But not today.

[Florian]

Have a look at the Prague: https://tropicalfruitforum.com/index.php?topic=23499.0

It is a chimera of Poncirus and Satsuma. The Poncirus parentage is not noticeable in the fruits. They are sweet with no off flavours whatsoever. Last time I had fruit they were like Satsumas. In my opinion it is the most coldhardy truly edible (i.e. eatable, palatable) citrus. Sources differ from -14 to -18 C or even beyond. Mine has not seen temps lower than -10 C which was no problem.

There are, however, two drawbacks: it is ugly and it can be a shy/random bearer for some people. I have to admit that mine has not fruited since planting it out in 2020.

[kumin]

Prague, being a chimera, is unlikely to offer any genetic contribution towards further improvements in the pursuit of edible cold hardy Citrus. That's not a great concern for the collector or the casual enthusiast.
In the case of a breeder,  however, it's not especially useful. The development of the first edible zone 6 Citrus will hopefully be a zygotic selection opening the path to additional improvements.

[Florian]

Prague, being a chimera, is unlikely to offer any genetic contribution towards further improvements in the pursuit of edible cold hardy Citrus. That's not a great concern for the collector or the casual enthusiast.
In the case of a breeder,  however, it's not especially useful. The development of the first edible zone 6 Citrus will hopefully be a zygotic selection opening the path to additional improvements.

You are certainly right, of course. I merely mentioned it because it is very coldhardy and sweet, which is what Mike is looking for if I understand him correctly.

[Unicyclemike]

Florian you are right. I am looking for something cold hardy and sweet.

[tedburn]

But if you ve got the citrus bug, you still could try also some others for outdoor, even if the fruits are not perfect edible,
I have since 2 years in zone 7 in ground, Morton citrange, Thomasville Citrangequat or Dunstan - or 5* Citrumelos, and even some others as Sanford Curafora F2,....
Nice very winterhardy citrus (survived 3,2  ° F) with passive protection.

[Till]

Here my harvest from this year (there are a few fruits still on the tree):


The dry fruits are probably due to growing conditions. Perhaps a bit too shadowy. Those fruits that were not dry were quite juicy. Fruits were sweet and not bitter. All seeds were underdeveloped.

[hardyvermont]

"The dry fruits are probably due to growing conditions. Perhaps a bit too shadowy. Those fruits that were not dry were quite juicy. Fruits were sweet and not bitter. All seeds were underdeveloped."


What are you growing?

[Till]

I have C35, Morton, Keraji, African Shadock x Poncirus, Citrangeremo, Batumi Citrumelo, several types of poncirus, a citrandarin (name dubious, probably a citrumelo), Yuzu, certain Sanford seedlings, Swingle Citrumelo and a few other plants in the glashouse. Poncirus fruits were properly developed. Morton was very good. Keraji never fully satisfying, Yuzu good, Batumi good last year but not fruits this year. Other varities have not yet fruited or I have not harvested the fruits. African Shadock x Poncirus, for instance, looks quite good but I cannot yet look into the fruits.

So these dry fruits of Sanford Curafora have probably something to do with growing conditions and / or the overwintering of many unripe fruits. But as Morton, Yuzu, and Poncirus bore good fruits the lack of juice will also have something to do with the genetics of Sanford Curafora. That is to say: It will have the tendency to produce dry fruits under condidtions were other varieties don't.