Yuzu citrus - overwintering?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Nut Trees' started by Megami, Aug 19, 2012.

  1. Megami

    Megami Active Member 10 Years

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    I have a small yuzu citrus tree which I bought this spring. It's planted in a container and seems quite healthy, but I'm starting to wonder how I should overwinter it. I know they are semi-hardy and can stand some freezing temperatures, but I'm not sure how well they do during winter in a container. Should I wrap the container? Use lights to keep it warm? Bury the container? Or just bring it inside.. any advice would be appreciated.
     

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  2. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    I would move it indoors but it could also be placed into a suitably sized plastic covered greenhouse outside along with a heat source like an incandescent bulb, something like that seen [post=68432]here[/post].
     
  3. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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  4. Megami

    Megami Active Member 10 Years

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    Thanks for the info - I think I might try to keep it outside with lights.. I don't really have a good place for it indoors :/
     
  5. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    Can't you plant it in the ground? Mine did fine last winter in-ground.
     
  6. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    That might work. From what's I've read yuzu is comparable to trifoliate orange in terms of cold hardiness. Still I would be cautious of exposure to an extended period of cold which is possible in Vancouver. I believe containerized trees would be more susceptible. A young tree that has not had a full season to put down roots may also encounter problems. I would be interested in knowing how your tree does over the long term. Yours is the only one I know of that is being grown outdoors in our area.
     
  7. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    I will certainly keep you posted. Yuzu definitely needs to be kept in a sheltered, well-drained place - I planted mine against the house under the gutters. The only problem with this location is that it gets too dry in the summer and I have to water daily. Yuzu will also drop its leaves when it gets extremely cold (-8 or -9) but will pick up where it left off the following spring. It's never happened to mine as it has only been in the ground for two years and the house provided enough shelter for it, but I've heard of others in Surrey whose Yuzus dropped their leaves during the winter and grew like weeds in the spring; I guess the term would be "semi-deciduous". They do have Poncirus rootstocks too which help.
     
  8. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    The shrub should be heavily protected if you plant it now, though - Junglekeeper is right about the unestablished roots. It should be planted in a western or southern exposure sheltered from north winds and close to an electrical outlet to facilitate a string of X-mas lights. Here's a good site with some good advice for protecting citrus: http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/cit...-with-yuzu-oranges-t769.html?hilit=Yuzu#p5046
     
  9. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Are there many people in Surrey growing yuzu? Is there a story behind this? Have they had success in getting their trees to grow and bear fruit? Any pictures?
     
  10. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    I know of one other person in Surrey growing them but there are several others throughout the PNW who have succesfully grown them. If you look at that website, The Cloudforest Cafe - Discussions - Northwest Palms and type in "Yuzu" in the search box you'll see all kinds of anecdotes, advice and photos of Yuzu shrubs. I'll try to post a pic of mine later on this website.
     
  11. Junglekeeper

    Junglekeeper Esteemed Contributor 10 Years

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    Thanks. I may start to monitor that forum for citrus threads.
     
  12. Patibbishwa

    Patibbishwa Member

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    Where did you buy your Yuzu from
     
  13. Megami

    Megami Active Member 10 Years

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  14. Patibbishwa

    Patibbishwa Member

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  15. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Quick look at the internet brings up commercial sources talking about survival of brief episodes of 10-15 degrees F., which puts it about on the level of various common ornamental shrubs like Mexican orange, orchid rock rose, California lilac and 'Frades' escallonia which grow fine for sometimes many years - only to die back or die out entirely when it gets colder than that.

    As it inevitably does, unless you are right at the beach - and in an area where the winds coming down the Fraser don't still push your temperatures down into single digits.

    Any sites claiming to show proven hardy examples in this region should be viewed with knowledge of how long the specimens shown have been in place, what, if any special protective measures have been used to keep them going, and how cold it has gotten on those particular sites since the shrubs were planted.

    Keeping in mind that the latter point can be affected by people sometimes actually having inaccurate thermometers.
     
  16. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    RonB, four winters on and still going strong with no protection, despite -10C temperatures.
     
  17. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    And that doesn't mean it's not worth trying. If it gets smoked by a cold winter, I'd just buy another one and enjoy it for however long it lasts. It's the same story for my olive tree, my Camellia sinensis, my Acca sellowiana, and many other bushes that have been in the ground for the last four or five years.
     
  18. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Unlike with the others listed individual tea camellia bushes that have been present for decades are known in the region.
     
  19. elgordo

    elgordo Active Member

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    Absolutely. My point is that for some people it's worth it to put a little more effort into protecting certain species of plants just for the novelty of having them in their gardens. In Quebec many people protect their roses and even their cedar hedges which often requires much time and effort. Despite the hassle, it's worth it for them. Sometimes their rosebushes kick it during a particularly harsh winter but they'll start all over again because for them the beauty of the specimen far outweighs the hassle of replacing it every five years or so.
    That being said, I believe it's necessary for nurseries and gardening websites to be forthright about the tenderness of such plants. It should be explained to potential buyers that these are somewhat risky specimens to purchase and that there is a lot of work to maintain them. It's a real problem with some of these websites, for sure.
     
  20. Delvi83

    Delvi83 Active Member

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    Yuzu is very cold-hardy to be a Citrus (even if an Hybrid)...when adult it should survive -12°/-15° with few damage.....anyway your is very young and it's in pot....I advice you to wrap the pot with cartons, leaves or other...to maintain an higher root's temperature.
    You can put your pot in the south side of your home, near to a wall.....as Yuzu become bigger as you'll have less problems..
     
  21. PattiC

    PattiC New Member

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    I have been growing a yuzu in the house for about 4 years and it got so big that I decided to try growing it outside this past year (winter of 2020/2021), so I put it in a container and it sat on our back porch in the shade all winter and it's doing fine.
     
  22. SoCal2warm

    SoCal2warm Active Member

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    Olympia, WA, an hour south of Seattle, am growing several Yuzu outside unprotected, zone 8a. from my observations they can grow here but I don't think they'd survive a climate much colder than this. If you're in a northern climate and in zone 7, at the very least that Yuzu is going to need to be planted in a very optimal spot close to the house, and possibly covered a little bit.

    On Vancouver Island, definitely a south-facing exposure, due to the cool temperatures for so long in the year.

    Even where I am, Yuzu seem to do much better planted somewhere not completely exposed out in the open, near a wall and dense vegetation to help block the wind.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2021
  23. SoCal2warm

    SoCal2warm Active Member

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    From what I've seen (between the Seattle/Portland region) a Yuzu bush may start suffering some light damage below about 14 °F (-10 °C), but a mature bush should be able to survive down to 10 °F, but may suffer some leaf loss or severe outer leaf burn. I had a small plant that suffered some moderate to severe bark damage at 12 °F, and that was when it was buried in snow which must have served as an insulator.

    The trees can start growing back and recovering, Yuzu does have a remarkable ability to recover, but in this cool climate with a shorter citrus growing season it can take them one or two years to recover.

    That's definitely not true. Yuzu is a "cold hardy" citrus, but the term "cold hardy" is a very relative term. Yes, Yuzu is surprisingly hardy compared to regular citrus varieties, but it's definitely not anywhere near as cold tolerant as trifoliate orange.

    However, the peel of Yuzu has many delicious culinary uses, very soft and tender more so than lemon peel, infinitely better in comparison to trifoliate orange, which is especially terrible in its peel.
     
  24. PattiC

    PattiC New Member

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    My yuzu is approximately 6 years old now and is about 2-3 feet high. I'm growing it as an experiment but I wonder whether it will ever bear fruit in zone 8 and if so, in how many more years. Is there anything else I can do to encourage it?
     
  25. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    A banana belt as in near the beach garden site near Tacoma had one above the first floor roof and right next to the house a few years back. This is a location where 23 degrees F. is considered a killer winter by the party gardening there.
     

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