Ok y'all. I've had 0 degrees and 2 degrees for lows and barely ever getting above freezing for the past several weeks and I've had space heaters and heat lamps going almost non stop for a month. Last night, at 3:00 in the morning, I'm outside on hands and knees replacing busted heat lamp with space heater, 25degrees, and removing fallen tree from electric fence. Citrus in Appalachia? Hmmm.

In central Alabama we are predicted to have below freezing temps for 55 hours by the break on Thursday. Tonight , the last night, the low is predicted to be 19* but 22* or lower for 6 hours. My trees are covered and ok I think because of the cover and Christmas lights. I have some Satsumas in " public " places that I covered with lights when weeks ago temps were as low as
11 1/2 * F for just a little while but we were below freezing for about 60 hours. High temps in the mean time have not been too high to cause a problem.

For the duration this time I have not been able to cover the public Satsumas. Millet and friends, what are the chances the Satsumas will be ok with the conditions described above ? Say 55 hours below freezing with temps bouncing around between 31* F and lows for a few hours of about 20* F. Thanks. Tom

[quote="Tom"

For the duration this time I have not been able to cover the public Satsumas. Millet and friends, what are the chances the Satsumas will be ok with the conditions described above ? Say 55 hours below freezing with temps bouncing around between 31* F and lows for a few hours of about 20* F. Thanks. Tom[/quote]

I've had about the same type of weather here the last few weeks. My two Satsumas are in my greenhouse and heated by two 60 watt lamps when the temps fall below 35F.

These two Satsumas have seen down to 16F inside nevertheless and are still looking great.
I have a citrangequat out in the open though and it's looking pretty crispy.

A healthy satsuma should have a petty good chance of survival when temperatures are around 31F and lows of 20 for a few hours. -Good Luck. - Millet

What I've come to realize this winter, all illusions of hardiness aside, is that if you live far from the coast and have citrus outdoors, it must be covered and have space heater ready to go. I've had many heat lamp bulbs go out on me this winter, and with this last trip down to 3 degrees, I'm pretty sure my Bloomsweet is toast due to bulb failure. The little "my heat" personal space heaters with a thermo cube are working reliably well under my 4mil plastic domes.