I planted lemon tree..outside...in Central Texas

I'm not sure who started a thread about this. Either Ludens or Miller. It was about using stored water and the retained heat to keep citrus alive in a mild freeze.

I walked by my water tank and thought this might be a good setup. The garage wall faces west. The water tank is to the right. A LOT of reflection is coming off these 2 surfaces. Im actually worried about it surviving the summer.

I planted the myers improved lemon. Its had a ruff life. Ants moved into its container.  I put it in my greenhouse over winter and something small (mice, sqirrels, racoon?) ate every leaf off of it. It was crazy. In one night a half sized head of cabbage was gone.  No poop or tracks or anything to give me a clue.

I may add some rocks towards fall. I Don't want them there now.

Here's a pic. I'll keep this updated from time to time.

I live in North Texas and have several citrus bushes planted in the ground on a south-facing, brick wall. I keep buckets of water on either end of my plastic, lean-to covering for winter months. They are blooming like crazy and bees are currently enjoying the pollen.

Hooray for Lemons!  Yes, I started a Lemon thread: https://permies.com/t/53597/Lemon-scheme

Our first Lemon fruit is doing fine so far.  Not sure how long it will take to reach full size and ripen.

Wow ludens. I didnt realize you got past a concept. Looks great!

With the past 3 days of 20s for temps... i'm a little concerned, guess time will tell.

I think we got to 22 here. I didnt give it additional protection. Not sure yet how it did, but i should have waited to put it in ground. Newly transplanted is not as resistant as an established tree. I might have blown it.

I doubt you killed it, wayne.  Meyer is a very tough variety.  Likely it will lose most or all leaves and some small twigs, but I expect the tree itself will survive.  This will set it back some more, unfortunately, and take longer to fruit.

It was in bad shape when i planted it. But looks like the last few leaves are dead.I bought a new healthy one. Wil plant on other side of tank. Tree will have south open on this one, but open to frost coming down the hill.

I am curious if my thinking is backwards, but i feel that planting on the north side of the tank, but on the downhill slope, will give it more protection than planting on the south side. It contradicts logic, but i envision the frost running down the hill. It has to hit the tank and go around it. Hopefully opening a section that stays warmer. Both will get plenty of sun.

Meyers can generally survive temperatures down to the mid 20's though will suffer leaf loss, and perhaps some die back.  Though in the future I would suggest active freeze protection in your region, this includes covering and heat lamps. Given its current state give it time to leaf back out, citrus can be very slow to leaf out after a freeze, one of my mature citrus trees lost its cover in the 15 degree freeze here a couple of years ago and did not leaf back out until August, it also had over 50% die back.

Finally got around to showcasing my setup. It's janky but works.

I show ya what all I have and then discuss the process to protect during the winter

Nice video Sara . So the device links up to an ap to get the current temperature, then tiuns the lights on/off?

How many winters have your trees been thru?

My tree is coming back up from the root graft so unsure what tree it will be. Maybe i am thinking of the satsumi orange. Any ideas?. I thought meyers weren't grafted but there is a knee joint and the leaves are different. I did plant a second one and it has marble sized fruits on it. I'll protect the new one, but let the old one fend for itself.