I'm right on the border of zones 5b and 6a, I want to grow some sort of citrus. I had a grapefruit tree that remained a potted plant, it lived for 19 years then some type of pest decided to infest and kill it. But, I do want something whether it remains potted or something I can put in the ground that will actually produce fruit. I love grapefruit and lemon/lime. Are there any strains that could live up here in New England that can bear fruit?

Of all the varieties of citrus to grow from seed in a container, and expect fruit, grapefruit is among the worst choice. There are many other varieties that have a much better chance of success.

From seed to fruit:
Key Lime = 2/3 years.
Mandarin = 5 years
Orange = 10 years
Lemon = 7/10 years
Grapefruit = Possible but probably never.

It is possible to cut the above times in half if the tree is grown in a year around warm (75+F) greenhouse, so that the tree grows for the full 12 months of the year. Please add your location to your profile. - Millet (1,127-)

I have a bunch in the ground in new England, zone 5/6.......so far so good....course they are covered and well loved

Frank

SW Finland might be USDA zone 4 or 5 (though the usda zones are not very good way of measuring plant hardiness because they are only based on minimum temperatures) and I wouldn't dream of planting any citrus in the ground here (well, I DO dream, but we need a hell of a lot more global warming before that dream comes true, and I don't like the other consequences). I actually planted one trifoliate seedling to the ground in last fall, just out of curiosity, and even though last winter was extremely mild, minimum maybe -15C or so, instead of the regular -30C, the plant was dead in the spring.

But the above table of how fast different citruses grow from seed to flowering is very interesting. Too bad that my oldest plants are grapefruits... but this makes me think of trying that Key lime, if I ever get the seeds from somewhere. Does anybody know if the Clementine belongs to the same group with Mandarin or does it take longer?

Hi,
I have a grapefruit-seedling that flowers. The problem is the plant always suffers from root rotting. I had to cut it down two years ago and now problems start again...

JartsaP, Clementine mandarin will "probably" flower in 5+ or - years like other mandarins. However, the problem with Clementine, is that it does not come true from seed, therefore it will not produce the same fruit as the fruit that you extracted the seed from. The actual time frame until bloom, could be affected by the pollen parent. - Millet (1,124-)

Thanks Millet, I actually investigated this myself yesterday and came to the same conclusion. On the other hand, it's always interesting to see what comes of these OP plants, if anything.

JartsaP, I agree with you. I have grown and flowered 4 or 5 "Clementine" seedlings. I don't do much with citrus seedlings, due to their long juvenile period. Many of the popular commercial citrus varieties sold in the market were chance seedlings. A famous chance seedling example is the Eureka Lemon. When planting seed from a variety hat does not come true, normally the new tree produces inferior fruit, but there is always the chance for the production of a bigger, better, outstanding, one of a kind new variety never seen before. - Millet (1,123-)