Many of us live in colder climates but would love to grow citrus. Mexico, Florida, and California are suffering from greening disease so citrus is becoming harder to get in the midwest as prices go up. Lets focus this category on citrus that can handle 0 degrees. Here are a couple of reportedly hardy trees.
Believe i posted this video recently for the zone pushers
If 0 degrees is not cold hard enough for your location try poncirus trifoliata oranges. The fruit quality is poor but it can be used as a source of citrus in zones as cold as mine.
My Yuzu have been in ground for a few years in zone 8a. They usually get at least a little winter damage each year. I canât imagine them surviving anywhere close to zero F. Iâve seen a Sudachi die in half a zone warmer (8b). My trifoliate hybrids all come through with less damage.
Their descriptions says âShould be hardy to at least 10° F.â Thatâs quite unrealistic. They might survive a brief encounter with severe cold, but not dying fully and being hardy are two different things. The âFlying Dragonâ of course is more hardy.
Do you grow the artic frost satsuma? It is reportedly hardy to 9F. Take a look at that video it says yuzu is hardy to 0F as well. The only citrus i can grow outside is trifoliata. If i can get better citrus trees hardy from 0-20F i think that is very possible in a greenhouse.
No, but Iâve got a âChangshaâ mandarin in a large pot thatâs doing very well. I havenât fully tested the 'Changshaâs hardiness yet, but itâs supposed to be one of the hardier ones.
Figs arenât hardy here on the border of zone 7-8. Citrus with decent fruit wonât be either. Planting them would be a total waste of money.
Zone 7-8 on the plains is harder on figs than zone 7-8 on the Eastern seaboard. Out east the temperature swings are much less and they have more cloud cover.
This is good i posted this before i bought them for a greenhouse or hot room. Many nurseries state zone 7 but really should be saying zone 7b or 8. I want to grow them with little or no extra heat.
It seems easy enough to find sellers willing to vouch for yuzuâs hardiness in climates colder than what they actually have experience growing it inâŚ
Think the crosses will get there eventually Oranges in Zone 5 . Here was one of my trifoliata when dormant . Grew it beside my pond in a semi protected location so i was zone stretching.
I agree. The hybridizing work needs to be done. I would be helping if I could only get more of my Citrus to actually start flowering! I believe people need to stop expecting to get sweet hybrids by crossing non-hardy varieties of nice sweet/sour balance with the hardy trifoliates and switch to crossing the trifoliates with bland low acid citrus. Thatâs why I got the âChangshaâ since it has a reputation for being sweet, but bland from low acid. Same with âBloomsweetâ grapefruit. Both the âChangshaâ and âBloomsweetâ are on the more hardy side for ânon-hardyâ Citrus and hopefully would produce some very hardy and nearly flavor balanced offspring if crossed with the trifoliates.
Iâm reminded of something I read about canary breeding years ago. Breeders donât get the best birds from crossing two that have traits they want the offspring to have. Instead they pick two parents with extreme traits on both sides of what they want to produce. You cross left and right to produce center so to speak. I have yet to hear of any trifoliate hybrids being made with this strategy.
Given how well my âChangshaâ has done with minor protection in zone 8a (unheated greenhouse with window open all winter), I think it might be fine outdoors in zone 8 most years. Iâve been contemplating putting it in ground.
