Good luck!
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No figs? There are so many great figs and they don’t require any winter protection.
There is also something called the Prague Citsuma, a type of citrus that’s a chimera of a satsuma and a flying dragon. The fruit it makes is grocery store quality mandarin, and is hardy to zone 7.
You might also look into US 942. While it is a trifoliate hybrid, the fruit is actually quite good with minimal off flavor. People say it tastes like a calamondin and is hardy to zone 7
There’s also the dimicelli and Ventura Lemandarin. These are grown commercially in Crimean area of southern Russia/Ukraine. The climate of Yalta is almost exactly the same as Portland, Oregon.
There is also a Russian Satsuma called Shirokolistvenniy that is fully hardy in Crimea.
I have all these citrus varieties, and will be making clones this summer.
For all the sensitive citrus you mentioned, I would build an enclosure that can fully protect them, like a greenhouse, between December and February. You could use PVC and plastic, allowing you to keep the plastic open during the 95% of days when the weather is perfectly fine for citrus. For supplemental heat use old style C9 Christmas lights. You’ll only have to run them a few nights each winter so it’s not expensive.
If you are willing to do the work of protecting citrus, you can also just as easily grow an avocado. Varieties like Lila, duke, Mexicola are super cold hardy and do all the blooming, fruit set and ripening in the months when it doesn’t freeze.
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Really good article on Soviet citrus production here for those interested:
“A survey of Soviet Russian agriculture” was also really enlightening (one of the sources above).
I may very well put in a trench system if my first draft doesn’t work, but it would have to be on a different acre, as there’s no space near the orchard. I’m still exploring some sort of fan technology that’s my size (a few acres not 20+), but I’m hoping bagging 2-3 weeks a year will do the trick.
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This is a fascinating article. I’ve actually come across similar articles before. They were definitely committed to getting citrus that could survive around the Crimean peninsula. The fact that the climate there is almost identical to that of the Pacific Northwest. That makes articles like these a great resource for identifying citrus varieties and growing methods suited for our region.
My newest Soviet satsuma is due to arrive in a few weeks. I’m very excited as this is a clone from trees that grow outside, fully unprotected in the Yalta region of Crimea.
I’ve found the Meyer lemons do every well here in the cold. Even during winter they are actively growing and developing blossoms. They only need to be covered when we drop below 25, which only happens a few days each winter.
Here is one of my outdoor Meyer lemons with all the winter growth and bloom. It’s been growing like this since the end of January, despite a few nights below freezing and average temps between 48 high and 36 low.
Here is one of the other hardy specimens during the winter. The yuzu and yuzu x satsuma hybrids can take a lot of cold and survive just fine.
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One criticism I have with this article is the author’s estimate for how much cold mandarins can endure. The author says mandarins can endure temps down to -2 C when in reality most of the hardiest mandarins can survive short exposure to temps as low as -10 C, some even lower. Most mandarins can survive many hours with a low temp of -2 C. There are a lot of variables that factor into how much cold any given citrus tree can endure, but for sure -2 C is not even cold enough to kill a Meyer lemon let alone a mandarin. As long as they are still semi dormant all of my outdoor citrus can survive 24 hours at -2 C. There are commercial mandarins gown in Ticino Canton of Switzerland, near the Italian border. The record low for that region is -8 C. There are also many outdoor citrus trees in London, England where the all time low is similar. London also has several massive Mexican avocado trees loaded with fruit every year.
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One last thing I should mention. All of the citrus I mentioned that is hardy in Crimea is grown fully above ground. They don’t need to use the trench methods in the coastal region near the Black Sea. That climate is nearly identical to western sections of the Pacific Northwest.
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Wow this article is really interesting. Never heard of a fruit trench before. Those creeping citruses are really interesting too.
Thanks for sharing
There’s a guy on here from Oklahoma who uses a method similar to this to grow mandarins and Meyer lemons in zone 7. He gets hundreds of pounds of fruit each year.
There’s also a guy in Nebraska who uses geothermal to grow many citrus in zone 6. He has some interesting YouTube videos.
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Hi I do not want to hijack the thread but I would like to try growing the Prague Citsuma do you know where I could order one from. Thanks.
You can try McKenzie Citrus in South Carolina.
He doesn’t have the Prague listed on the website, so you have to ask him about it. He sometimes takes a little while to answer emails, so calling him is often faster.
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Ok. Thanks.
I also know another guy, but I’m waiting to hear back that it’s okay to share his contact info. If he says it’s okay I’ll direct message you the email address. Is your name Dave?
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Thanks for the photos!
Its nice to see a meyer surviving outside 24/7 in the PNW. Gives me hope that this might actually work.
I’ll work on getting photos of my own up, so people can see some of my trees.
Yes it is. I appreciate the help.
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Hey, so he said it was fine to give you his contact info. He actually has a couple Pragues for sale now. I’ll DM you the email address. You can tell him you got the address from Jonathan.
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I want to make sure it’s clear that I do cover them when the temp drops below 25. Or if it is going to remain below freezing for the entire day at any temp below 30.
The specimens I don’t really cover except in very rare instances are the yuzu and the hardiest mandarins.
Also the trifoliate hybrids go fully without cover. Three have palatable fruit.
I have a lot of experience growing citrus successfully up here, so feel feee to DM if you have any questions or want tips on where to source the best specimens.
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