I've heard that the citrus fruit yuzu can be grown outdoors in the pacific Northwest. Does anyone have any experience with growing it in western Washington? Do you have any advice, or a local source for it? It's no longer possible to have seedlings shipped in from other places due to a japanese beetle quarantine, but from what I understand it's perfectly fine to buy it locally. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

One Green World is close to local and I don't see any restrictions to Washington State on their site [although their restricted listings may not be up to date]

Thanks Kyrt. They're out for the year, but I'm on their waitlist now

I didn't know we could grow citrus here, outside, or that there are citrus plants hardy to 0 degrees F. Amazing!

How much summer heat do they need to ripen? I can see that as being a problem in many areas of Western Washington, especially in our more mild summers.

Nicole Alderman wrote:I didn't know we could grow citrus here, outside, or that there are citrus plants hardy to 0 degrees F. Amazing!

How much summer heat do they need to ripen? I can see that as being a problem in many areas of Western Washington, especially in our more mild summers.

Yuzu are primarily used as a flavoring agent in the green stage like Limes, so our ability to ripen them is far less important than...say... A Mandarin (some of which we can also grow, but is more challenging to ripen)

Edit: Arctic Frost Satsuma for example, should rarely experience dieback from sub 10 degree nights and grow back the next year... But to get it to ripen outdoors would require serious microclimate hacking. I'm talking deep rock mulch and maybe a rock wall to the north (or maybe a serpentine rock wall that curves around the west north and east)

Hi Nicole,
I know, it's crazy, but I know people who've seen them grown outside! They can ripen here I've heard, though you can also use them unripened, as mentioned. Yuzu is primarily used for juice and for its rind, as Kyrt also mentioned. If anyone has anymore information/experience about growing yuzu or other citrus outside in the Northwest, please feel free to share it here. I'm going to try starting some seeds

James Landreth wrote:If anyone has anymore information/experience about growing yuzu or other citrus outside in the Northwest, please feel free to share it here. I'm going to try starting some seeds

I've wanted to try a breeding program with the aforementioned Arctic Frost Satsuma, Early St Ann and      LA Early to try to produce a 10 degree F early ripener.

Easier said than done with these 'seedless' varieties

I heard recently that Dave Boehnlein got a Yuzu harvest from a tree he planted in a parking strip in Seattle, no special earth/stone works, but lots of feeding and watering. I haven't seen many posts from him on this forum lately but I know he's pretty approchable. From what I've seen, yuzu and other (semi)hardy citrus can grow leaves just fine, which can be wonderful for cooking, but getting the fruit to ripen can be tricky. You may have already seen this thread but it's got some good info & ideas https://permies.com/t/1081/Citrus-Pacific-Northwest  

My best friend from childhood's parents have a lemon tree in their yard in NE Seattle. It's at least 15yrs old and seems quite productive and healthy. He is a lifelong orchardist and vintner though and may have used old farmer magic.

Please let me know if you ever learn any of his secrets, Ben.

A friend of mine tells me that if you surround a tree with a circle of rocks, it will heat the area and help you to ripen things you might not otherwise be able to ripen. Maybe this would be helpful here

I have been trying to learn from Fish (my best friend Forrest's dad) for over 15yrs now, working on the vineyard a couple times a year even though I live 6hrs away.  He had the foresight to plant Pinot and 12 other varietals in the Willamette Valley within five yrs of the first in the area, almost 40yrs ago at this point. I helped Forrest plant a couple more acres starting about ten years ago. Now we are transitioning an overgrown orchard into suntraps that also function as arbor/trellises. Harvest is a true joy, and I think the grapes reflect the flavors of the compost tea made naturally in the fallen stonefruit and tree detritus above the vineyard.

l digress...in terms of the happy lemon in Seattle, beyond good ol farmer magic I would attribute its success to being about 2/3 of the way up a SE facing hill with a house above it to the NW. The bottom of the hill has a grocery store parking lot and large arterial covered in black top, and this undoubtedly radiates heat. It also probably likes the boner view of Mt. Rainier.

Yes, I have four Yuzu trees that are about 10 feet tall and about as wide. I grew them from seed and planted them out in 2005 when they were about 20 inches.  It took about 10 years for them to start producing. Now I'm getting a regular and increasing harvest.
The fruit is very seedy, but it has the most fragrant juice and rind.  It has become a Christmas tradition for me to made Yuzu butter cake.

Thanks for sharing, Gene! This just reminded to update everyone: I saw a relatively mature yuzu tree in Portland (at One Green World) covered with ripe fruit a few weeks ago. It was in a pot but was not inside of a greenhouse. Gene, where are you located?

My yuzu overwintered successfully in the field and in a 20 gallon pot, as did my trifoliate orange. There was dieback but it survived. This year I hope to add rocks and waterbarrels to create a better microclimate. A southern wall would be good if I had one available.