I went to Northaven Gardens today and was surprised at the number of different citrus trees they had for sale. I would never have thought of growing Satsuma oranges, limes, lemons, grapefruit and a couple I can’t remember, in this part of Texas. They told me to keep it in a container and bring it in during the winter. I bought a 4 ½ foot Meyer lemon tree that had about 6 or 7 lemons on it. If they all ripen, it will be nice to squeeze fresh lemon juice into my iced tea this summer.
Has anyone had success growing citrus trees in North Texas?
The Meyer lemon is not as cold hardy as some other citrus are.
Some cultivars of Satsuma are hardy to be planted in ground. If you do so, I would provide protection for a couple of years till the satsuma gets established. I have a Miho which I intend to put in a large pot and leave outdoors.
I also have a less hardy lime and lemon. They all get moved in for the winter.
You can do it but it will be hard for your area.
Miho and Seto Satsumas are hardy to 14F.
If you plant them against a south wall and protect the first few years, you could do it.
There are seedy varieties of Satsumas that can go below 10F. I had quite a few young seedlings that took 13F in a field this winter and only lost a few leaves. I believe they are growing Changsha Satsumas at one of the gardens in Dallas. Very seedy but delicious.
There are some other varieties that are hardy down to single digits but they are hard to find and you cant order them from out of state since it is illegal to import citrus to Texas. It has to be grown here.
Here is a webpage that lists the citrus and their temps.
http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/Citrus.htm
I've had a Meiwa Kumquat bush in the ground for 3 years now. I cover it when it goes below freezing, and it will lose leaves when it gets too cold (under 20). Research says it's cold-hardy down to 15. The fruit is sweet and delicious.
Carla
Kumquats are an excellent citrus to try. The peel is edible and often sweeter than the fruit on certain varieties like Nagami. I would definitely recommend Meiwa as a starter Kumquat as it is more cold tolerant than Nagami (sour). They should be grafted on Poncirus Trifoliata which keeps them slightly dwarfed which is what you want in a colder environment. Any Kumquat that you see that is very tall and lanky is grafted on Volkamer Lemon which is less cold hardy than the Kumquat and would probably die up there if not heavily mulched. I believe that Saxon and Sons sells to Home Depot and Lowes and they graft their Kumquats on Volkamer. Their Satsumas are grafted on Sour Orange which is hardy down to 15F but likes a sandy soil.
I have three varieties that I have potted and bring in each year. They were young when I got them and even with the pot are only 4 1/2 foot now. But the Improved Meyer Lemon really produced for me last year, 7 fruits; although that is not why I have them.
I garden for butterflies, planting their host plants and bring in the caterpillars to protect them from the preditor flies and wasps. Then release them as adults.
The beautiful Giant Swallowtail Butterfly uses the citrus as a host plant. This is a shot of the first instar caterpillars. They eat the leaves not the fruits!
This is the resulting butterfly and why I grow the citrus.
The cats use mainly the new leaves and the fruit the older branches. This was my Meyer Lemon, but I also have Kiwi and Satsuma Orange....but they are all for the butterflies!
Here is my Washington Seedless Navel. It is covered in fruit and flowers right now. I protected it during the 14F weather the year before last and multiple middle teens this year. It is about 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. I would let that critter eat a few leaves.
Here is my Pomelo Citrus. The leaves are enormous as are the flowers.
The fruit is about 3x the size of a Grapefruit. The taste is like a lemon and grapefruit mixed but not as sour. I bet your Butters would like this big boy. Not even close to being cold hardy up there.
If you don't use pesticides, I bet there are eggs on it now Lee, since you are futher south. Beautiful healty trees! You said you "protect" it, is it in the ground or do you bring it in. If in the ground how did you protect it?
I usually will just stick a gardening fork in the ground for support and throw a painters cloth blanket over it. It is right next to my Improved Meyers Lemon and they have both been in the ground for 4-5 years. If it gets really cold I might run an extension cord with a 100 watt light bulb. This was the first year I used a light since I lost my crop the year before.
I will check for eggs on the leaves today.
Oh, I remember you saying you did on another forum about the freezes we had. I guess down there I might set them out, but up here is too risky.
I noticed that the big lemon was available in south Texas a week ago, Ponderosa? arent they? I wish those were more cold hardy..