News
This post refers to the previous one, “Inground citrus after winter 2024/25“. It’s an update and a report on the current state of citrus plants after the winter with a low of approx. -13°C and long period without soil defrost.
Poncirus
Practically no winter damage occured in this group of plants. Some damage to new growth was caused by the hailstorm that occured in the second half of April.
Both Flying dragon and the standard poncirus have set fruitlets already. There also appeared flower buds on this year’s growth – I find this unexpected for pure Poncirus. On Flying dragon I found two twigs with terminal flower buds, and having buds in leaf axils. I thought such mode of flowering was a domain of hybrids.
HRS899 O/Q seedlings (Poncirus-like)
No serious winter damage is observed in this group, but some bark cracks and damaged small twigs can be found. From among the five plants growing in ground, two: ‘C3’ and ‘D3’ seem to be hardier than the rest.
More damage was caused by the April hail, which broke off part of the new growing twigs.
HRS899 O/Q seedlings (hybrids)
As I wrote earlier, those are hybrids of O/Q and other citrus, perhaps New Zealand Lemonade, and obviously are less hardy. However, after surviving (with protection) previous winter’s lows of approx. -19/-20°C, this year’s results are somewhat disappointing. Probably the long time without soil defrost didn’t help.
Out of the five seedlings, only two show signs of life – ‘Sorfo’ and a smaller unnamed one ‘I4’. ‘Lotka’, ‘Korela’ and ‘Mazurek’ probably didn’t survive.
Poncirus Flying dragon hybrids
Those are hybrid seedlings of Flying dragon with yuzu/citrangequat ‘4 seasons’/citrange Morton. The most probable pollen parent is yuzu. Both survived, although the twisted one (Orla) is in better form than the non-twisted ‘Yolar’. I’m not sure whether it’s really less hardy, or it suffered more because I cut it during winter. It should become known after the next winter.
Maroon, IVIA F2, Ichangstar60, Yuzu N4
Ichang papeda ‘IVIA F2’ (grafted) and Nagami × Poncirus hybrid ‘Maroon’ (on own roots) were dug out from the ground after the winter, and are now in pots. Both were damaged, but now are regrowing well in the greenhouse. Ichangstar60 proabably won’t survive, only rootstock is regrowing. I guess being grafted higher made it more prone to damage.
Yuzu ‘N4’ (grafted, in ground) is more damaged than it was after two previous winters. But it survived and is starting to regrow.
Multivariety plant
It seems this plant was in a more favorable location, or protected better. Yuzu ‘N4’ was damaged less here, than the same variety in different place in the garden. Still, Schleipfer hybrid made the best result – it survived even above the protection level.
Limequat × procimequat – suprise
This limequat × procimequat seedling (Prores4) was planted last year in the greenhouse. I didn’t care much for this particular plant, it seemed slow growing and didn’t flower previously. After being planted in ground, it finally flowered but the fruitlet was later frozen – so the quality remains unknown. During the winter the plant wasn’t protected in any other way, I didn’t form a mound, it just stayed there as it is. I didn’t have high hopes for it. And suprise – it survived and is starting to grow.
Better test in ground than in pots
A conclusion could be: test everything, you never know what will prove hardy. Another observation – plants are much hardier when they’re in ground than in pots. In the same greenhouse, there were some potted Kinga seedlings, all died. Of two potted figs one died for sure, and a second one, reputed to be hardy, also doesn’t show signs of life. Potted pomegranate seems dead too. I’m curious how they would survive if I planted them in ground and treated the same as this limequat × procimequat seedling.