Official start to my attempt at Citrus in zone 7B Chesapeake, VA

Well... this will have been several years in the making up to this point.... and I FINALLY just got my citrus into the ground here at the new place to start trialing.

Citrus types I am going with in-ground are...

1) Two "Meyer Lemon" clones: I did them my self and grew out in large containers for a couple of years. They are on their own roots. So long as I keep that part alive... they should grow back and produce the next year after growing back. I cloned them from their mother plant after she survived a Winter un-protected well into the teens multiple times. She was left for dead but came back LATE the following Spring from the base of her trunk where she had bark. Which led me to the realization that Meyer Lemons can indeed survive way below their rating of 25F. I just didn't get fruit that year... BUT the bush came back bigger and better than before. She has seen temps that low several times now. I just add light protection (plus a microclimate) and she does not die back anymore.

The next two were micro when I got them. So I potted them up and grew them out for a season before putting them into the ground. Which wound up being brilliant since we saw such a cold Winter this year.

2) One "Owari Satsuma Mandarin" grafted onto Trifoliate: Bought from Stan McKenzie. I chose this one because it will usually ripen all of its fruit BEFORE the cold weather arrives in my area. Which is important. Plus, it is a very high-quality citrus allegedly. Grafting it onto Trifoliate is supposed to add several more degrees of cold tolerance... bringing the tolerance down to 12F. Which is very rare for my area (but happened for a brief period this past Winter). Planting into a Micro-climate PLUS added protection should keep her going for those first 5 years until she can become strong enough to reach that 12F rating. After that, I plan to not add protection anymore and see what happens. I will be making air-layer backups of the tree just in case.

3) One "Satsuma Mandarin" grafted onto Trifoliate: Exact cultivar is unknown... but sold by Stan McKenzie as well... and is a large blanket of different cultivars of Mandarin oranges that are known to be cold tolerant.

If these 3 higher-end cold-tolerant citrus don't work out... I will then shift my focus to the more cold tolerant varieties that exist out there.

I do not plan to ever add protection until I see temps forecasted to start hitting 20F. I am lazy... and this is a survival of the fittest test.

McKenzie farms link...
http://mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm

Link to list of different types of cold tolerant citrus...
http://hardycitrus.blogspot.com/2014/01/cold-hardiness-table_13.html

And pic of the micro-climate I planted them into. Lots of concrete driveway and bricks and such to the North. All of it gets all-day sun during the Winter. Planted a evergreen Loquat to the East... which should drastically slow down and create a pocket of less wind once it turns into a small tree. Which will assist with the micro-climate. I want to add a hedgerow of pineapple guava to the west at some point as well along the fence. That being said... to the West... there is also already a large detached garage.

The trees themselves are surrounded by loose bricks at their base that is topped off with lava rock to keep them dang chickens from digging in there anymore. lol

If and extreme cold comes my way... better believe I will start stacking bricks up around the base and add those Christmas lights.

~Marty

Oooh, you have reignited my desire to experiment with cold hardy citrus again. I have been learning lots since my last attempt several years ago. Thanks for the links to the nursery. So many interesting varieties!

Ok looking forward to see how your experiment goes!

Jenny Wright wrote:Oooh, you have reignited my desire to experiment with cold hardy citrus again. I have been learning lots since my last attempt several years ago. Thanks for the links to the nursery. So many interesting varieties!

Ok looking forward to see how your experiment goes!

That is awesome! I wish you great luck on your experiments.

The secrets (from what I have learned) are

1) micro climate
2) leave in pots to bring to safety the first year before planting
3)cultivar
4)slow down on watering/feeding half way through the Summer to slow down growth and lignify the wood/and add bark
5) have the additional protection on hand and actually use it. I am going with HD plant jackets , additional bricks, and large Christmas lights. Only when temps are aiming below 20 for the lemons and 15 for the oranges since they are in the micro climate. After 5 years it is just the plant jackets on them on rare occasion… if ever.

These guys have a massive selection of citrus as well…

https://onegreenworld.com/product-category/citrus/

Edit: Forgot to add #6) to the list…
“Early Ripening”… or a type that ripens before deep freezes arrive every year. For me… that is mid Jan usually.

Marty Mitchell wrote:

The secrets (from what I have learned) are

1) micro climate
2) leave in pots to bring to safety the first year before planting
3)cultivar
4)slow down on watering/feeding half way through the Summer to slow down growth and lignify the wood/and add bark
5) have the additional protection on hand and actually use it. I am going with HD plant jackets , additional bricks, and large Christmas lights. Only when temps are aiming below 20 for the lemons and 15 for the oranges since they are in the micro climate. After 5 years it is just the plant jackets on them on rare occasion… if ever.

These guys have a massive selection of citrus as well…

https://onegreenworld.com/product-category/citrus/

#1 I have the micro climate against the SE wall of my house. I like the idea of stacking up bricks and rocks to hold on to more heat.

#2 I need to get better at keeping them alive in the pots when they are inside. I have grow lights set up now so hopefully that goes better.

I didn't not know anything about #4. Good to know 👍

#5 Did you buy the plant jackets or make them?

I get emails from OneGreenWorld. They are a few hours away from me. So. Many. Trees. 🤤  It's overwhelming looking at their selection.

Jenny Wright wrote:

Marty Mitchell wrote:

The secrets (from what I have learned) are

1) micro climate
2) leave in pots to bring to safety the first year before planting
3)cultivar
4)slow down on watering/feeding half way through the Summer to slow down growth and lignify the wood/and add bark
5) have the additional protection on hand and actually use it. I am going with HD plant jackets , additional bricks, and large Christmas lights. Only when temps are aiming below 20 for the lemons and 15 for the oranges since they are in the micro climate. After 5 years it is just the plant jackets on them on rare occasion… if ever.

These guys have a massive selection of citrus as well…

https://onegreenworld.com/product-category/citrus/

#1 I have the micro climate against the SE wall of my house. I like the idea of stacking up bricks and rocks to hold on to more heat.

#2 I need to get better at keeping them alive in the pots when they are inside. I have grow lights set up now so hopefully that goes better.

I didn't not know anything about #4. Good to know 👍

#5 Did you buy the plant jackets or make them?

I get emails from OneGreenWorld. They are a few hours away from me. So. Many. Trees. 🤤  It's overwhelming looking at their selection.

For the #1… long-term I want to add a 8’ x 12’ x 3’ deep pond just to the south of my citrus. That will add an insane amount of thermal mass to the equation… AND reflect sunlight off of the water during the Winter… which will add more thermal units to the bricks and such.

For #4… I know a guy that I bought fig cuttings from. He heavily fertilizes his figs and gets insane growth on them. He just finished cutting them back to the ground due to the cold damage he got this year. Mine are fine. I live a 6hr drive North of him and got a colder Winter. Mine grow way slower (but remain very healthy thought).


I bought the jackets off of Amazon. They come in different sizes and thicknesses. Still allow air, water, and sunlight through. They just slow down the Wind which is SUPER important. Also, they are incredibly easy to put on and remove. They stay on way better than tarps as well.

I will send a link tomorrow after wake up. At work tonight still. (On break!) lol

Jenny Wright wrote:

#5 Did you buy the plant jackets or make them?

Here is the plant jacket I bought and used this past Winter.

Just a single one of these ($22) was able to wrap around all 6 of my potted citrus this past Winter. I had them up on that deck in my micro climate... with some of those large Christmas lights. All plants survived with ZERO die-back this past Winter. Even with temps hitting 12F several times.

That being said... all of my young Meyer Lemon clones were almost fully defoliated. They are springing back out with flowers and new leaves at this very moment though. No branch damage.

The mother Meyer lemon tree managed to hold onto most of it's leaves somehow. It seems to have adapted in it's old age (about 8 years old or so). It is super profusely blooming now.

Both of the Orange trees look exactly as they did going into Winter. They are by far the youngest at 1 yr old too. Definitely gonna be tougher plants.

I expect my oranges to thrive there in their new home with care. The lemons... may need replacement with a Yuzu or something in a few years. Those are good down to 0F to 10F (once mature) depending on which website you look it up on.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZ6CI6A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

The HD 1.5oz frost jacket is supposed to add about "4°-10°F. of frost protection". Add in some lights and a good micro climate and BOOM... should be very good for my area. Even Meyer Lemons

Marty Mitchell wrote:

Jenny Wright wrote:

#5 Did you buy the plant jackets or make them?

Here is the plant jacket I bought and used this past Winter.

Just a single one of these ($22) was able to wrap around all 6 of my potted citrus this past Winter. I had them up on that deck in my micro climate... with some of those large Christmas lights. All plants survived with ZERO die-back this past Winter. Even with temps hitting 12F several times.

That being said... all of my young Meyer Lemon clones were almost fully defoliated. They are springing back out with flowers and new leaves at this very moment though. No branch damage.

The mother Meyer lemon tree managed to hold onto most of it's leaves somehow. It seems to have adapted in it's old age (about 8 years old or so). It is super profusely blooming now.

Both of the Orange trees look exactly as they did going into Winter. They are by far the youngest at 1 yr old too. Definitely gonna be tougher plants.

I expect my oranges to thrive there in their new home with care. The lemons... may need replacement with a Fuyu or something in a few years. Those are good down to 0F to 10F (once mature) depending on which website you look it up on.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HZ6CI6A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Thanks! It's in my Amazon "garden supplies" wishlist now.

https://youtu.be/0fSDdKuJYiw
Have you seen this video? It's quite impressive to see what a jacket and some lights can do against an ice storm!

Jenny Wright wrote:

https://youtu.be/0fSDdKuJYiw
Have you seen this video? It's quite impressive to see what a jacket and some lights can do against an ice storm!

Yes!!!

He is the guy I bought the fig cuttings from. Also, he is the very person who pointed me towards that plant jacket I just shared with you! lol

He is a good guy for sure. Even sold me a rooted Smith fig cutting a few years ago when I could not find one anywhere. I was just trying to buy sticks of wood online and they were going for over $100. He sold me an actual little tree for $40 shipped.

I watch all of his vids... and often hold long conversations with him in his comment section.

You know what!!! I am gonna post a link to this thread in that video. I bet he will enjoy it.

He lives about a 6hr drive South of me.

The way my house is angled, I have two walls I was considering for growing citrus. The southwest side they would go into the ground when they are big enough. I have a fig there that does beautifully. I was considering the southeast wall where I have raised beds on top of what used to be a gravel parking pad. The beds are designed as keyholes and things stay green and growing days to weeks longer than everything else once it gets frosty. Plus I thought it would be easier to build a frame work to the raised beds to then cover the trees easily. I wonder if having the beds raised would be harder on their roots in the winter. Do raised beds expose roots to more changes in temperature throughout the year? Something I have to figure out but I guess I can still get the trees in the meantime since I'll need to wait for them to get big enough to go in the ground.

@Jenny

From what I can tell… the temps in my raised beds are typically warm sooner and later in the growing season.

They may potentially capture heat a little better on those winter days and add protection on the short dips during cold nights AND add some wind protection to things planted next to them (ground level anyways).

I would say that getting things on trifoliate will have yet another advantage as well. That rootstock will go dormant waaay before most citrus normally will. Which can be the difference between life and death when pushing the grow zones.

Sounds like it is something that you will have to play with.

I plan to air layer copies of my orange trees to have in containers. So I can graft back into the rootstock if things go south.

Marty Mitchell wrote:@Jenny

From what I can tell… the temps in my raised beds are typically warm sooner and later in the growing season.

They may potentially capture heat a little better on those winter days and add protection on the short dips during cold nights AND add some wind protection to things planted next to them (ground level anyways).

I would say that getting things on trifoliate will have yet another advantage as well. That rootstock will go dormant waaay before most citrus normally will. Which can be the difference between life and death when pushing the grow zones.

Sounds like it is something that you will have to play with.

I plan to air layer copies of my orange trees to have in containers. So I can graft back into the rootstock if things go south.

Thanks! Yet again I learn how much I don't know and still need to learn! 😊

Jenny Wright wrote:
Thanks! Yet again I learn how much I don't know and still need to learn! 😊

No problem. I am still learning every day! It is part of living I suppose. Continuously growing as a human being.

In order for our gardens to grow. We must too…

3rd Season update on “TheMillinialGardener” in ground and potted Citrus on coastal NC (Zone 8A)

This dude just put out this video update.

He actually made a Really good point to why it is better to grow citrus out of zone than in Florida

His trees are not only surviving… but Thriving and producing heavily.

I messaged with him this winter a couple of times in his vids… and he was usually only 5F warmer

I bet will be fine if I do it right.

Marty Mitchell wrote:3rd Season update on “TheMillinialGardener” in ground and potted Citrus on coastal NC (Zone 8A)

This dude just put out this video update.

https://youtu.be/Rt_gwANqb-M

That was a good video... And very convincing for growing in colder climates.

Jenny Wright wrote:

Marty Mitchell wrote:3rd Season update on “TheMillinialGardener” in ground and potted Citrus on coastal NC (Zone 8A)

This dude just put out this video update.

https://youtu.be/Rt_gwANqb-M

That was a good video... And very convincing for growing in colder climates.

I am glad you liked it! I am about to watch it again... but stare at the background this time (blowing the video up large on my TV) to see if I can learn any new tricks. lol

Worse case... I will be able to see everything better than on my phone. I was out in the Sun the last time I watched it.

Also, it turns out that there is yet another local citrus grower I just found!!! He is up right on the water in "Lynnhaven Inlet" in Virginia Beach. Which is frost zone 8A (not 7B like me)

I knew he had bees... but when I found out he had figs and citrus... I asked what varieties he had. He had a massive list of in-ground citrus trees going!!!

Here is what he replied on that subject...

"As for the cold hardy citrus, I probably have a dozen varieties: Yuzu, Lemandarine, Bumper, Keraji, L A Early, and others. I also have an orange that was developed in CA called 119 , it did not make it to market because of the fruit splitting at times when nearing its picking time, it is delicious nevertheless. The above mentioned are grafted on Poncerus Trifoliata rootstock. I have other varieties that must be kept in pots so that I can protect them through the cold winter : these are the Myer lemon, Ponderosa lemon, Australian finger lime, a seedless orange and again a few others I may have grown them from seeds and still waiting to figure out what on earth they are! Somehow their labels must have disappeared and who knows , maybe they may have never had any! Last year a citrus grown from seed finally produced a most wonderful Satsuma mandarin, it looked like and tasted similar to what I’ve seen on the market as Sumu mandarin, big in size, barely any seeds and very tasty, thank you Lord, I lucked out. There are some mystery varieties in this citrus collection , I love sharing the fun with fellow interested gardeners and hopefully invite them to come visit and experience the great pleasures of growing citrus in ground here in Tidewater.
Finally , the citrus I gave Bradley Baker is a recognized hybrid from a kumquat and a Poncerus Trifoliata , you can Google it under Thomasville Citrangequat, it is very cold hardy, the fruit is a bit tart, the size of a small chicken egg , makes an excellent organic citrus drink when tap water and any sweetener are added to it ( a spoonful of honey in my case). The skin makes a superb marmalade. I still have some saplings I grew from seed waiting to be given away for free to those who are interested."

Yesterday, I got into contact with the local with bees/figs/citrus... and he invited me over to his home for an educational tour.

What an awesome guy! Now I see why he was not interested in any of my trades for his citrus saplings. His wife is a master gardener... and he should be considered one too! Their yard was amazingly landscaped... with not a blade of grass on most of it. It was BEAUTIFUL. The entire back yard should be considered a food forest. They focused on no-spray plants such as Loquats, Persimmons, Citrus (Lots of mega large ones), Pineapple Guava (I was told they only grow to 3 or 4ft tall and his were about 15ft), blueberries, brambles, mint, Kiwi vines, etc, etc.

He was literally trying to get me to dig up free Loquat seedlings if I desired since they were popping up everywhere from fallen fruit. Talk about a life of abundance!!! PLUS he was on the Lynnhaven.... which is a fisherman paradise.

Anyways, at the end of the tour (which focused mainly on how to get citrus to thrive here), he loaded my arms up with 4 of those "Thomasville Citrangequat" seedlings he mentioned. Which means... if I let them make fruit and the fruit is decent... I can name my own variety. I plan to up-pot them and let them grow for a season or two in a large container. Then I will likely graft Owari Satsuma and Meyer Lemon onto them.

He was saying that making the graft higher off of the ground will increase the cold tolerance even more. Due to the rootstock being able to drain the sap quicker on cold nights. I didn't know that!!!

That sounds awesome! Gardeners are such generous people.

Mid-Summer pic update.

The trees are doing the first year Creep thing. They have not put on much growth since the first flush. Did got a few more minimal flushes of growth but not much. Looking happy and healthy though. Hopefully this is helping them lignify their wood further which is a good thing.

Lots of Lemons set. One tree did a ton of lemons and the other put on more growth.

One orange only.

Very interested in this as I live in zone 7B as well though not Virginia. I started many Orange and Lemons from seed on a whim three years ago, though I lost the lemons to a weird rot in the bottom of the stems young. 9 Orange trees made it... but theyre still in pots. I can't seem to pull the trigger and put them in the ground. But they aren't producing oranges yet, could that be why? How did you finally decide where to put your citrus, did you save any "just in case", and are they still doing well? So many questions!

Anna Beth wrote: I can't seem to pull the trigger and put them in the ground. But they aren't producing oranges yet, could that be why? How did you finally decide where to put your citrus, did you save any "just in case", and are they still doing well? So many questions!

With Citrus it seems to be a very good thing to wait to put them into the ground when are you strong enough to. Since my Meyer lemons are only rated down to 25F... I let them get nice and large to have any sort of chance before putting them into the ground. The trunks are now over 1" in diameter on them. Some decent bark (cold protection) on the first 2' or so of the trunks now.

I am sure your plants are not producing yet because they are young. A grafted or cloned tree will be much older wood with different hormones... and thus will produce sooner. From-seed trees take much much longer usually. A way to cheat around that is to do a bud graft from them onto a mature tree.

I placed all of my citrus in the warmest micro-climate I have here at the house. Which for me is one the South Side of the house/to the east of the small side in-law house (protected from Winter winds from the North/NW during cold blasts), up next to a large Thermal Battery (the house, lower patio, and driveway are all brick and concrete... soaking up the sunlight all day and releasing it at night), AND the upper deck above the patio acts as a soft/open cover to slow down the rise of the warm air and creates a pocket of warm air (personal theory).

This past Winter I watched the small space that I wound up planting in Immediately turn frost-free just after Sunrise on the multiple 12F nights we had.

Also, all of my citrus was still in containers on that same lower concrete patio and survived. I had them all scrunched together with a large HD frost blanket placed on top... and a string of the X-large C9 Christmas lights (non LED!). I just left them naked until the first night came along that was headed towards 20F (which means the weather was predicting 25F in my area... as they need the numbers to show global warming I guess... or they always mean for the actual city up to the north of me). Then I left the blanket on for the rest of the Winter. Turning the lights on when the temps were headed South of 15F at night.

By the end of Winter the Meyer Lemons had been completely defoliated... NO wood damage. The cold hardy Satsumas that were much younger.... had not a single lick of damage on them or their leaves. Time to put them into the ground!!!

3 of the 4 Meyer Lemons I have are actually clones I made of the 4th "Mother" tree. Now that I know of "Yuzu" lemons that are good down to 0F to 5F... I decided it was time to stop babying my Meyers to see what they can handle. While the Meyers are totally probably better fruit due to not being packed with seed like the Yuzu... I would rather deal with seeds at harvest time than baby a mess of potted trees year-round.

Besides... Yuzu Lemons are extremely popular for cooking and condiments in Japan!!! AND I will be juicing my fruit anyways... not eating them like an orange. I will be putting a Yuzu lemon on order soon so I can grow it out in a pot and make copies to trial around the place in the coming years.

This Winter I am going to cover them during the deepest depths of Winter and do the lights thing... and that is IT. No more watering daily and feeding multiple times during the Summer. Lots of time and fertilizer saved. In fact, the chickens have taken to hanging out down there during the hottest days... which means that grass is now the greenest on the entire property! I shall have to add lime to the area at some point... but the trees will be very well fertilized. lol

I am indeed making copies of the Owari Satsuma at this very moment actually. That way I can have some plants on their own roots. I will likely put them up behind the barn on the edge of the old-growth woods I have. Large trees can warm the air on cold nights as well via their moving of fluids from deep within the soil. Since the trees would be on their own roots, I can put a ring of chicken fence around them each winter and fill with leaves. I won't even cover them!!! Just let them grow as big as they want. If the exposed parts die back to the trunk every few years that is fine.

Pic of the Owari Satsuma clones that are in-progress...

Swooping in with some new pics….

These are the in-ground Meyers and of the mother Meyer tree.

They did not have any/or much leaves going into Spring. A fertilizer bump and some warm weather changed that quickly.

Funny thing is that one of the in-ground Meyers focused on growth and just recently put on a couple of blossoms for fruit. The other focused on heavy flowers and is loaded with fruit… but with almost no new growth.

The one with minimal fruit now has a slightly thicker trunk and same thickness of bark though.

Marty Mitchell wrote:

Anna Beth wrote: I can't seem to pull the trigger and put them in the ground. But they aren't producing oranges yet, could that be why? How did you finally decide where to put your citrus, did you save any "just in case", and are they still doing well? So many questions!

With Citrus it seems to be a very good thing to wait to put them into the ground when are you strong enough to. Since my Meyer lemons are only rated down to 25F... I let them get nice and large to have any sort of chance before putting them into the ground. The trunks are now over 1" in diameter on them. Some decent bark (cold protection) on the first 2' or so of the trunks now.

I am sure your plants are not producing yet because they are young. A grafted or cloned tree will be much older wood with different hormones... and thus will produce sooner. From-seed trees take much much longer usually. A way to cheat around that is to do a bud graft from them onto a mature tree.

I placed all of my citrus in the warmest micro-climate I have here at the house. Which for me is one the South Side of the house/to the east of the small side in-law house (protected from Winter winds from the North/NW during cold blasts), up next to a large Thermal Battery (the house, lower patio, and driveway are all brick and concrete... soaking up the sunlight all day and releasing it at night), AND the upper deck above the patio acts as a soft/open cover to slow down the rise of the warm air and creates a pocket of warm air (personal theory).

This past Winter I watched the small space that I wound up planting in Immediately turn frost-free just after Sunrise on the multiple 12F nights we had.

Also, all of my citrus was still in containers on that same lower concrete patio and survived. I had them all scrunched together with a large HD frost blanket placed on top... and a string of the X-large C9 Christmas lights (non LED!). I just left them naked until the first night came along that was headed towards 20F (which means the weather was predicting 25F in my area... as they need the numbers to show global warming I guess... or they always mean for the actual city up to the north of me). Then I left the blanket on for the rest of the Winter. Turning the lights on when the temps were headed South of 15F at night.

By the end of Winter the Meyer Lemons had been completely defoliated... NO wood damage. The cold hardy Satsumas that were much younger.... had not a single lick of damage on them or their leaves. Time to put them into the ground!!!

3 of the 4 Meyer Lemons I have are actually clones I made of the 4th "Mother" tree. Now that I know of "Yuzu" lemons that are good down to 0F to 5F... I decided it was time to stop babying my Meyers to see what they can handle. While the Meyers are totally probably better fruit due to not being packed with seed like the Yuzu... I would rather deal with seeds at harvest time than baby a mess of potted trees year-round.

Besides... Yuzu Lemons are extremely popular for cooking and condiments in Japan!!! AND I will be juicing my fruit anyways... not eating them like an orange. I will be putting a Yuzu lemon on order soon so I can grow it out in a pot and make copies to trial around the place in the coming years.

This Winter I am going to cover them during the deepest depths of Winter and do the lights thing... and that is IT. No more watering daily and feeding multiple times during the Summer. Lots of time and fertilizer saved. In fact, the chickens have taken to hanging out down there during the hottest days... which means that grass is now the greenest on the entire property! I shall have to add lime to the area at some point... but the trees will be very well fertilized. lol

I am indeed making copies of the Owari Satsuma at this very moment actually. That way I can have some plants on their own roots. I will likely put them up behind the barn on the edge of the old-growth woods I have. Large trees can warm the air on cold nights as well via their moving of fluids from deep within the soil. Since the trees would be on their own roots, I can put a ring of chicken fence around them each winter and fill with leaves. I won't even cover them!!! Just let them grow as big as they want. If the exposed parts die back to the trunk every few years that is fine.

Pic of the Owari Satsuma clones that are in-progress...

That makes so much sense and makes me feel ALOT better about not putting them in the ground yet, thank you!
I actually have overwintered them outside(extremely sheltered, no watering when temps reached below 40°, and covered in sheets and they all did fine. But with so much time invested in these I definitely want to make sure they live!

Anna Beth wrote:
That makes so much sense and makes me feel ALOT better about not putting them in the ground yet, thank you!
I actually have overwintered them outside(extremely sheltered, no watering when temps reached below 40°, and covered in sheets and they all did fine. But with so much time invested in these I definitely want to make sure they live!

Your welcome.

I recently learned from a dude that was saving vegetable seed... that plants have the ability to fold and unfold their DNA from one generation to the next in order to adapt to changing climates. Say... pulling a broccoli from the Pacific NW and planting it in New Mexico. All of them will do horribly. However, according to him, if you go ahead and save that seed anyways... the next generation will do much better.

So... then I went on a brainstorm and thought about the Ice Age cycles that we are still currently in. Milankovitch Cycles wind up causing 100k years of cold/snow accumulation... followed by 10k years of warming/ice-melt like we are in now. (We are actually in the coolest of the last 5 interglacial warming periods. Normally Florida is mostly under water by now).

Combine that extreme change along with normal rapid changes for hot/cold and humid/dry swings like we see with the Grand Solar Minimum/Maximum... and it makes sense that plants have evolved to adapt.

So today... I now had another brainstorm about citrus this time. I wonder if Citrus is able to adapt to cold over a few generations. Perhaps taking an extremely cold-hardy variant (with edible fruit though) like the Yuzu... cross-pollinate with another cold hard variant... and see what happens. You would have to keep exposing them to hard colds before breeding though.

One more thing... those "Thomasville Citrangequats" I have are supposed to be a set it and forget it tree for my area. I have them growing out in pots this year... and may leave them in there next year as well since they are slow growers. They shall be in the ground at some point as well.

Here is a list of cold-hardy citrus types I found online... You can read his findings after deep cold Winters with these fruits!!!
http://hardycitrus.blogspot.com/2014/01/cold-hardiness-table_13.html

Here is his blog on the "Thomasville Citrangequat"... good down to 5F
http://hardycitrus.blogspot.com/2013/07/thomasville-citrangequat.html

And "Yuzu".... Said he had some stem dieback after 8F but the trees were fine.
http://hardycitrus.blogspot.com/2013/12/yuzu.html

A video of a guy a few hours South of me in Wilmington, NC zone 8A (I am on 7B/8A border)

He is literally doing the same thing as me but is a year ahead.

 https://youtube.com/shorts/ucfcWQ45s44?feature=share