Posted by Trichocereus-7b-OK
on 9/24/2009, 11:52 am
76.225.47.131
I've been watching my "hardy orange"(poncirus trifoliata} fruits ripening the last few weeks,and I was curious what types of hardy citrus trees other Mid-south forum readers may be growing or may have seen growing in the area? My poncirus fruits are ripening a bit early this year,which seems odd since we haven't had as much heat as usual this year. (I think it only got to 100 degrees or warmer only 3 or 4 times this year.)Also I've noticed that there is immature fruit and ripe fruit on the tree at the same time. I know standard citrus trees often do this.Is this normal for poncirus too?I wondered if any forum readers(and you Austin) Might have any suggestions or experience with different hardy citrus hybrids? I have several Poncirus trees, a "Citradia"(poncirus/citrus aurantium(=Seville orange)Hybrid about 8 feet tall that hasn't fruited yet.It seems pretty hardy and hasn't been damaged at 2 degrees F., also a Poncirus/Changsha tangerine hybrid about the same size,...also not damaged at 2 degrees F., A Thomasville citrangequat about 7 feet tall that shows leaf damage and sometimes minor twig damage below 10 degrees F.A"hardy grapefruit" hybrid Citrumelo". Its semi-deciduous,but Its only 2 or 3 years old so it hasn't experienced Temperatures below 10 degrees F. yet.I've also been surprised that a young "Ichang lemon" tree has remained fully evergreen the last 2 winters. A "Troyer" citrange I planted a few years ago was totally killed...roots and all, at 10 degrees F.I was surprised it didn't re-sprout from the base,since I know the ground didn't freeze at all. The Temperatures were in the 40s and low 50s the day before and after the freeze,...so I guess I would rate that plant as NOT hardy here. I've heard "Benton" citrange is fairly hardy but I haven't heard of anyone experimenting with it in this area.I had a Kumquat that I started from seed from a kumquat fruit I bought at walmart.It lived for 2 winters in the ground and flowered,but was killed at 9 degrees F. All of the citrus hybrids mentioned above are basically semi-deciduous most winters(except the Ichang lemon)...which I suppose could be expected because of their poncirus parentage. If anyone has any experiences or suggestions concerning citrus hybrids that might be suitable for this area ,that would be great!Austin-I agree with you about preferring "No-Dig" bananas like Musa Basjoo. I'm not a big fan of protecting or digging up plants for the winter.I'd say M. basjoo is probably the best hardy banana for this area.As I mentioned in a previous post, I've planted the Musa sikkimensis seeds and the Musa(Ensete)Glaucum seeds.I did treat a few of the seeds with gibberillic acid=ga3 To see if that helps with germination. I've had good luck using it on certain cacti seeds and other hard to germinate seeds....but I'm not holding my breath with the musa seeds. I'm not sure if the ga3 will have much effect on them But we'll see. My track record germinating Musa seeds hasn't exactly been "stellar". But you never know. Even if one seed sprouts,the plants will multiply from off-shoots.Now if we can just get a few more weeks of warmth to help the seeds germinate!
Message Thread:
« Back to thread