Thankyou. Now I Know. Not a very good method for zone setting. I always chose trees that whet 1 zone colder for all, but my citrus trees. The citrus come inside or are in heated greenhouses
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Iāll try anything once. Donāt work? Try something different. 50 years later, you finally got something you can work with. How about 75 or more container growing citrus and figs and what not.
. . .
Inground? Just throw a dice. Polar Vortex? Less trees to deal with! Why worry. Got other hobbies to deal with.
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I definitely prefer the Kƶppen climate classification system, but the USDA growing zone system has simplicity on its side:
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Solar minimum or operation solar shield?
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I love zone pushing. I have rock and gravel soil, every time one of them tree dies it means I already have a tree planting place in the bank. It honestly feel like cheating.
To me zone pushing means something else altogether. We get a meltdown in January, it can be an entire week in the 50ās followed next week by sub zero temperatures. Iām in zone 4, but that shit can kill a zone 2 tree if it gets fooled into walking up early.
Then there is the mega short season; I consider not seeing overnight freezing before the first week of October a looong season. Any tree that doesnāt ripen fruit before then may be hardy, but it may never ripen fruit on time. I have some apples, some grapes, and all my hops in that category.
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On the internet you can find anythingā¦you still have to sort and decide ā¦ since so many
contradict others. The majority isnāt right many times. You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince of ātruthā .
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Hey can we stick to zone pushing and stay out of politics here? Iām getting tired how fruit topics are turning into politics with the same people leading the way every time it seems.
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So far Iām finding that trees of avocado, white sapote, cherimoya, jaboticaba, and longan are very achievable in my yard. Iām hoping that their flowers and fruit are just as hardy.
Iām trying a few other annonas. Maybe āzone pullingā pawpaws to 9b. As well as pushing atemoya, cherilata, and custard apple. Pawpaws seem fine. The cherilata is going strong! The Geffner atemoya struggled in a heat wave and maybe wasnāt as fit as others coming in to the winter but it is doing fine but is showing some stress. The custard apples are tiny seedlings that wonāt survive if I donāt intervene. The last of them is beginning to succumb to ongoing cold.
I have some small Garcinias, theyāre all looking good but the Achacha has dropped leaves so I moved that to a slightly more sheltered location.
I also have some seedlings of Canistel and Abiu and am hoping to try some other Pouteria species.
Unfortunately, Iām currently in a mind space where even the failures suggest to me that with more care while young, an older tree might survive these conditionsā¦
And what if I could grow mangoes!
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Please donāt bring up Christy. He is a political shill and that is all.
Can we please not close another thread because people canāt keep their conspiracy theories and religion and political agendas to themselves? That is all.
This is why the government has to keep making more laws, because people canāt save themselves from themselves. Letās not make it the mods job to make more rules to do the sameā¦
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I believe people have tried and failed on the pawpaws in climates that are too warm all year long. I guess if you REALLY wanted them to thrive, you could find a walk in freezer to get chill unitsā¦ That seems very excessive when so many other wonderful things can be grown in California that canāt be easily in the colder areas!
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Plenty of cold here! Iāve already had fruit. Shouldnāt be any problem 
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I like zone pushing a bit but given my limited yard space, I devote 90% of it to proven winners. Still, I am growing Moringa, Michelia alba, Curry leaf, Cherimoya and some guavas. Passion fruit (P. Edulis) and White sapote are bullet-proof here, so I donāt consider them āzone-pushedā. Its too early to say this (as one hard freeze can wipe out all of them), but all of these are easier to grow than any kiwi so far 
There are so many people growing Pawpaws in and around Bay Area. I think @Marta is growing pawpaws even in Central Valley. Unless these trees are struggling after getting established (which would surprise me), I donāt think its a concern. Also, if you like custard apples a lot and they turn out to be cold sensitive to your winters, I think they are graft compatible with Cherimoyas. It might be worth trying them on Cherimoya/Atemoya roots, particularly an established one. Not to guide you down a wrong path, but its not too surprising anymore to see a mango tree in SCV. I am sure there must 100 failures for every success but its not just that one lone surviving tree in Santa Clara thats featured in many YouTube videos anymore!
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Yes, they seem to be doable here in the Sacramento Valley but they require shade when young.
Yay, we are off of the politics tangent. Some political posts got flagged and are hidden. If you want to read them go ahead, just click to view the ignored content.
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Something I learned the hard way over years.
Reliable cropping beats all, or almost all.
You can save the experimentation until after you are at a point where you get a couple of bushels of whatever almost every single year.
The reality is that almost any variety commonly circulated is going to be at least 8.5 out of 10.0 if well-grown and eaten promptly. So what if you can buy āGinger Goldā apples at Whole Foods? It still wonāt be as good as yours.
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My pawpaws are growing well. Several named varieties have next years flower buds forming, hopefully Iāll get a few of these to try. Iāve only had seedling pawpaw and a shipment of named varieties (for which Iām very grateful!) that arrived fairly bruised and browned. That was sent by a friend, not by someone on this forum.
Iāve never had a custard apple! I just get fired up and enthusiastic about these things. People tell me cherimoyas will be the best annonas I can grow and thatās probably true. But you never know. I donāt really want to have to fuss over stuff thatās not very hardy to my yard. But I had planned to graft it to a cherimoya to get a taste sooner. And Iām trying to grow ilama as well. Failures are not just current but looming as well.
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Oh! And Iām glad to hear further encouragement for mangos! So far Iām keeping it low pressure with polyembryonic seeds and seedlings. Limited investment but relatively unlimited hope
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Sorry for the trouble my post caused. I think leaving it so those that desire to read the censored items may do so is great. It should reduce some of the glee those on the āleftā of contentious issues get in trying to cancel those from the ārightā.
I can sense it causes extra trouble and Iāll try harder to be a-political.
But itās hard to be quiet if somebody says climate change is going to flood Florida ā
my response that thatās not true is considered politics and gets flagged.
It is noticed and appreciated that you try to be neutral in a time thatās rare.
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