Citrus lovers,

At 600m in the hills of Sicily, my property is covered with olive, almond and carob trees. The fruits that grow the best are cherries, figs, pomegranate, plums, pears, and apricots. Citrus do not work well.

The summers are dry and scalding hot, 85-115 from June to October. But the evenings are cool at my 600m altitude. The winters are wet and cold (25-65) So there is a good dose of cold, wind and frost that murder citrus, even my Sour oranges (citrus aurantium.) I tried planting oranges and they were stunted from cold and wind burn. And they were placed in areas with plentiful wind break, near the house.

There are no successful citrus trees in my area at all. My neighbors who have tried it all say the only hope is “mountain” oranges, but that they have lots of seeds and no taste. Hardly seems worthwhile. I probably am answering my own question, but are there really “hardy” citrus that are worth the effort?

If not, I prefer to play to my area’s strength and diversify the plantings of species that work well. I can always buy magnificent lemons from Avola and oranges from Lentini and they are among the best in the world.

Thanks for your advice

M

In my opinion, the varieties labeled cold hardy, are all not worth growing for the purpose of eating as fresh fruit. Many of the common hardy citrus varieties would indeed survive in you climate. The "hardy citrus" varieties like Satsuma, Kumquat, and some of the Mandarins, are the ones for taste. However, they might not be all that productive in your area. - Millet (1,331-)

The summer heat should not be a issue. With winter lows only dropping to 25 F you should be able to grow most citrus. I would try Owari satsuma which is the most common.

My winter temps drop down to 22- 23 F and I grow 9 different varieties of satsuma as well as Cara car navel orange, Washington navel, Ponkan mandarin, Juanita mandarin, Meyer lemon, Sanbokan lemon, Clementine mandarin, Orlando tangleo, Pong koa mandarin, Sudachi, Yuzu, variegated owari satsuma, Ruby red grapefruit and a bunch of other citrus without a problem.

Hi Laaz

Temperature is only one part of the cold quotient. We have lots of wind and its very humid, so the chill factor is more than what the temp suggests. I think its the cold winds that do a lot of damage.

I will research the varieties you have mentioned.

Thanks

malden our area probably has the highest humidity out of the entire country. We are almost always near 90 % or higher. Wind can be a big factor but I think you will succeed with the satsumas.

Hi Laaz

Is there any list of Satsumas that stand out from the others. Do you think I can source them in Europe/ Italy?

Are you growing other fruits as well? Apples etc.

On another subject, I am keen to find a nice Malus Dolgo or other crabapple to bring into the area. We have spontaneous wild Hawthorns but not Malus.

Carobs and Olives



Thanks

M

No apples as they do not do well here in the south. I do have Kiwi, pomegranates, palms, agave and a bunch of other stuff.

The best satsumas are probably the Miyagawa, Kimbrough, BC1 and Owari with the Silverhill not far behind.

Citrus can survive quite low temperatures, for a couple hours. The real problem for citrus is not that the temperature might fall below the freezing mark, but how long the temperatures stays at such temperatures. For most people it is not whether a plant can possibly be made to survive, but whether it can produce well enough to make it worth while growing. One can usually look around an area for a tree they might like to grow, but if it cannot be seen any where, then that usually should tell them something. I agree with Lazz, that Owari would be a good satsuma to try in your area. However, there are good and not as good satsuma/mandarins, but all in all they all have much the same taste. At least that is one man's opinion. The most worthless citrus tree out of my entire collection of citrus trees, is a Fina Sodea Clementine. - Millet (1,331-)

I wonder what a Mountain Orange is - botanically speaking.
As it happens I'm visiting Sicily next month, partly to see the historic citrus collection said to be at the Palermo Botanic garden. But I can't find out much about the collection - no list of varieties and no reply to my e-mails.
As a local, I don't suppose you've any info?? Ever been to the Orto Botanico??
Mike.

Lazz, I have many types of Clementine's. Some in the ground and some in containers. The Fina Sodea is a MAGNET for ever possible insect imaginable. The aphids, absolutely love it. I was about to toss it out, when Joe Real came out with AZ41. Next spring during bug season, I am going to give the tree the AZ41 program. BTW, I have a Marisol Clementine growing in the ground. The tree was showing a real zinc deficiency (small leaves with very pointed tips, typical chlorotic markings). I have not been able to go into Denver to purchase some chelated zinc, but have been spraying the tree every two weeks with AZ41, and now I notice a lot of new flushes of full sized very healthy green leaves. In my opinion, form the many different responses that I have noticed, AZ41 is an amazing product. - Millet (1,331-)

I have found one thing I don't like with the AZ41, it damages new growth on some citrus. I sprayed a variegated lisbon and variegated sour orange last weekend just before dark. The next morning both which had new growth flushes were badly damaged. The other trees I sprayed were fine, but did not have new growth. Product was mixed as per label.

Bob I'm going to have to get some different varieties of clementine budwood from you.

Mike I did a search on Mountain orange and Sicilian mountain orange and found nothing as well.

I have sprayed an unknown variegated citrus variety that I received from Donnie in Florida, through Citrus Joe (not in flush) with no damage. However, I have sprayed regular citrus both with new foliage and without new foliage, with no damage. In fact, I have not seen any damage to anything I have ever sprayed. I have even sprayed my "World's Hottest Pepper" plant, which have VERY delicate leaf structure without any problems. I normally spray at twice the recommended use rate (1 tablespoon per 1/2 gallon). Thanks for the info concerning your variegated plant, I'll watch for it. - Millet (1,331-)