If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Why You Should Be Growing Citrus 1:24 My Owari Satsuma Citrus Tree 4:20 Tip #1: Rootstock Selection 7:55 Tip #2: Selecting A Proper Citrus Variety For Your Climate 10:12 Tip #3: Choosing A Micro-climate 12:23 Fertilizing Citrus Trees 13:32 Mulching Citrus Trees 14:51 How To Harvest Citrus 15:08 Owari Satsuma Taste Test
@Brian Cook how old is the tree? It could be for a few reasons: 1. The tree is very young and isn't holding onto its fruit yet. It's not unusual that very young trees will drop their fruits when they're 1-2 inches in diameter. 2. If the tree is in the house, the sunlight reaching the tree may not be intense enough or long enough in duration. To have a shot at maturing fruit, you'd want to place your tree in front of a very large, south-facing window since it gets the most sunlight duration. However, if you don't have a large, south-facing window, or if you're at a high latitude where the sun just isn't intense enough, the tree may fail to hold onto its fruit due to lack of energy. Remember: the glass in your windows also reduces UV intensity by about half, so the window itself cuts down on solar intensity a whole lot. 3. It needs more fertilizer.
I have a Kishu, Owari , and recently added a Gold Nugget. My owari just produced fruit this year and it was juicy, sweet with a hint of tang. I’m gonna leave the fruits on till end of December and see if the sugar content increases. I’ve heard the longer the citrus stays on the tree, the sweeter it will be able to get. Of course I’ll have to pick it before it’s too late..lol..I’m going to test this n see if it’s true. And can’t wait to try next seasons harvest, like you said the older the tree, the better the fruit. Now I’m debating if I should add California Honey to my garden, but I have no idea how it taste.
Brian Cook no problem, it probably just needs another year or two. My pink lemon rooted cutting hasn’t even sent a single bud and it is a year old. Maybe next season.
lemontea128 nice collection. Yes, that is true. The longer the fruit sits, the sweeter it gets...until it sits too long, or gets damaged in a very hard freeze. I imagine it’ll take practice to time it perfectly. A perfectly ripe Owari is hard to describe because it is so far above anything you have had in a store.
I start to fall in love with citrus trees when I just moved this year from NJ to Georgia outside Atlanta, their flowers smell great and fruits look nice.
They're easily one of the most beautiful trees. I get pretty bad depression during the winter from the lack of sun, and the citrus really get me by. They look tropical, they stay green all year long, they give you fruit over the winter...they are like an oasis of happiness in an otherwise gray desert.
Thanks for the informative video. I’m in zone 10a and citrus grow like weeds here. I’m growing various mandarins, lemon, lime, tangelos, naval oranges, pomelo and grapefruit. My favorite is honey mandarin. It ripens late but holds on the tree well so we can harvest January through May. Seedless, easy to peel and great flavor. Very cool you’re able to grow citrus in zone 8!
@@TheMillennialGardener You’re doing a fine job of growing things I would never have thought would grow in zone 8. There are a number of trees that won’t produce fruit here with only 200-300 chill hours. Can’t grow most stone fruits except for a few low chill hour varietals. Pears, cherries and most apples won’t produce any fruit whatsoever.
It’s a give and take, I guess. We want to grow things we can’t. Somewhere on a Caribbean island, someone is trying to grow a peach and apple tree to wow everyone 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener Well said! I’m experimenting growing cherries (trying). I located two relatively new cultivars, Minnie Royal and Royal Lee that need about 350 chill hours. We just hit 112 hours as of yesterday, most since 2011 so I have my fingers crossed. I grow pluots, plums (Satsuma varieties), pluerries, Anna and Golden Dorset apple all of which require about 300 chill hours. I guess we’re both pushing the envelope but hey that’s part of the fun of gardening!
Genoa Italian lemon tree, growing great in a large container 5 years old. Pruned to 6 feet tall with lots of fruit, move into the shed with a grow light when temperatures go below 40 degrees in the winter zone 7b.
Sounds great! I just ate my first dwarf ruby red grapefruit for this year I am growing in containers with drip. Yummy! Think I may try to find that one too! In Zone 9b.
Christine Owensby nice! I would like to grow a grapefruit, but my zone is probably too cold. I would give Bloomsweet a try, but it is very hard to find and I would need it on trifoliate roots to dwarf it. Definitely get a satsuma. They’re incredible.
I have watched quite a few videos on the Owari Satsuma mandarin, but this is the best by far! I live in the high desert, zone 8B in SoCal, so I have been considering purchasing one of these. Now I’m sure; as soon as FourWindsGrowers has them in stock again, I will purchase one-even if it’s fall and I need to keep it indoors for its first winter. Thanks for the review and for all your excellent growing tips!
The fruit on this tree is FANTASTIC. Truly top notch, and it's only on its second season. It's a wonderful variety and recommend the Owari Satsuma for everyone with a climate capable of growing it. Even if you're limited to container citrus, this is a contender. If I could only grow 3 citrus, it would probably be a Meyer Lemon and a hard fought battle between choosing 2 between this, a Cara Cara and a Moro Blood Orange.
I live in zone 9b Apopka Florida. I have had my citrus trees for 3 years now. Still awaiting a good harvest. Very difficult. Definitely great information for me. Please let Dale rest! He deserves it. He works sooo hard every day, and all he wants is to sleep tonight 😂 he’s absolutely adorable. Love him 🥰
Planted an Owari this fall, zone 8B, protecting it low 30s and colder with christmas lights and a frost blanket. Looking forward to some fruit next year!
I just got a young Cara Cara pink and two fig tree..in zone 10 ( wish me luck). Your videos are invaluable. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. We love Dale, he’s the best!! 💞. My girl doggy looks so much like Dale’s long lost sister… lol.
I put a Cara Cara in ground this summer in Zone 8a. Wish ME luck! 😅 I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Dale says hi! Dale's half American Foxhound, 1/3 Pit and 1/6 Staffordshire.
I'm near you, by ILM. I have a Brown's Satsuma and a Meyer Lemon. Both just bore first fruits. Satsuma gave me 15 oranges, small but delicious, and the Meyerhas about a dozenripe fruit and has blooms and new fruit also. I wanted to say thanks for your informative, well produced videos. Great job.
Thanks for watching, neighbor. My Owari produced oranges for the first time last year. I got 4 total. This year, I got 50. If you got 15 off your Brown Select this year, expect a nice harvest next year!
I live in Virginia Beach (zone 8a). I bought a Lila avocado and an Arctic Frost satsuma 3 weeks ago after watching your previous videos. I will try all your techniques and suggestions, I hope to grow them like yours. thank you
That's great! The avocado would be extremely challenging in-ground, but there is at least one UA-camr I know growing citrus in-ground in VA Beach. That Arctic Frost, I bet, can survive in ground in a protected micro-climate with some protection.
@@TheMillennialGardener I bet it will do well too. However, I would put it in a container the first year till it builds some bark. Then next Spring I would then put her into the ground in that perfect spot... having some protection at the ready for the first 5 yrs in-ground. Being ready to throw it on when those nor'easters blow through.
MySuburbanHomestead this is good advice. I put my Owari in a 5 gallon bucket the first season to get a 1 inch caliper on the trunk. Then, it went in ground. It helped, I believe.
Here in Phoenix, AZ zone 9B and we grow a ton of citrus. All during the winter coworkers will bring in excess fruit off the tree to work and place in the breakroom not to mention I always get free fruit off of my friends and family trees all throughout the holidays. With that being said I have 9 varieties in my yard. A Washington Navel (in ground on C35 rootstock), Cara Cara Navel (in ground on C35 rootstock), Improved Meyer Lemon (in ground on C35 rootstock), Bearss lime (in ground on C35 rootstock), a Meiwa Kumquat (in ground rootstock is unknown) a Nagami Kumquat (in a 30 gallon pot on C35 rootstock) , a Moro Blood Orange (also on C35 rootstock in a 30 gallon pot) and a Oro Blanco grapefruit (which is a pomelo grapefruit hybrid in ground on C22 rootstock ) I would highly suggest you try growing a Kumquat tree lots of fun and good conversation starter. They are naturally one of the most cold hardy citrus and are more of a dwarf tree and perfect for container growing. Most people in the US have no idea what they are. You eat the whole fruit skin and all. The skin of the fruit is actually sweet and the inside flesh is tart (opposite of most citrus) some people don't care for the tartness but you can always make tasty marmalade with it. One more thing they ripen super early so also a good fit for your climate. I would guess they would likely be ready Novemberish. Nagami is the go to variety you would find in stores good producer and and not as sweet (what most people use for marmalades) .The meiwa is the sweetest of the kumquats and best for eating fresh. Overall just a fun easy citrus to grow.
I plan on getting a Meiwa kumquat grafted onto trifoliate for an in-ground tree this spring. It will not survive here without protection. It will survive some winters, but eventually one will kill it. This is easily corrected with C9 incandescent lights and agricultural fabric. The Nagami is probably too tart for me. I eat citrus skin and I actually enjoy eating slices of lemon and lime, but I'm talking about a slice or two. A Nagami would produce hundreds of fruits that I wouldn't be able to eat or process into some kind of marmalade, but Meiwa I would probably be able to eat.
Excellent presentation on the Owari. Another great feature of the Satsuma is the early ripening. Usually before real cold weather arrives. Oh, I commented too soon. You did mention that!
I'm glad it was helpful! Satsuma's are one of the few large citrus we can reliably ripen in-ground here in Zone 8 because the fruits themselves only survive to about 26F, so we need varieties that ripen before the true cold comes in in late December. I just purchased a Brown Select because it ripens 2-3 weeks earlier than Owari, so I'm excited about that.
@@TheMillennialGardener , thanks for the reply! I am in northern VA and grow quite a few citrus in containers. I am growing Owari and Armstrong Satsumas. Armstrong seems to ripen before Owari. Also have Xie Shan, Shasta Gold, Key Lime, Keraji, Clem-Yuz, Kishu, Ponzarella orange, Cara Cara, Mandarinquat, Meyer lemon, Oro Blanco, Shirnanui, Murcott, and probably a few others I can't think of right now. I know, crazy, right? They all go in my garage over winter -- heated to no lower than 45 degrees. They don't seem to mind it in there. Anyway, the Satsumas usually ripen just around the time I need to bring them in, so that works out OK. Winter ripeners ripen slowly in the garage. Not ideal, but given time, they do ripen eventually.
Sounds like you need a sunroom 😆 That’s a great collection. I did something crazy and bought a grafted Cara Cara. I am going to try to grow it in ground here. I know my chances of success are slim, but they’re the best tasting citrus I’ve ever had. They’re just incredible. I have to try.
@@TheMillennialGardener , Well, I think you should go for it. I know a guy in Tulsa that grows at least 4 varieties in the ground under a PVC framework. Some varieties are rather tender. But he uses X-mas lights on a Thermocube and as the temps dip down, throws more and more layers over the framework. They even survived their horrible cold blast last month! So it's just a matter of keeping an eye on them and hope you don't lose power!
Im going to try and grow this in Asheville NC 7b. I forgot about an elephant ear alocasia in the ground against a south facing wall and after a brutal 2022/23 winter, it still came back
I in Zone 8b, near Augusta, Ga and have an “Arctic Frost” satsuma in the ground purchased at a local grower (first winter) and two Eustis limequats in pots. These were purchased from Stan MCKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. We have a citrus-growing legend in Augusta, named Joe LeVert. He has a veritable citrus forest growing as part of the horticulture program Aquinas High School in Augusta. If you are ever in the area, you should def look him up and visit. Make sure it’s in Nov/Dec though, as the trees are full of fruit. Here’s an article link with purchase sources: Enjoy and great vid! augustamagazine.com/2017/01/04/joe-le-vert-the-citrus-man/
Interesting. I know Stan McKenzie, the citrus man of South Carolina, and have met him on several occasions. I didn't know Georgia had a famous citrus man. It makes sense, since areas of Georgia are more hospitable to citrus than South Carolina.
I contacted Mr McKenzie and received the orange tree by UPS which was very reasonable. I thank you for sharing this resource. I guess I will need to pot mine since I’m in Concord NC. I face that SAD issue as well and can now look forward to harvesting an orange 🍊 one day. Love your videos!
Stan is AWESOME. You will love the tree! If it is an Owari satsuma, in-ground may be feasible, but you’d need my water barrel and/or incandescent lights and plant jacket protection during the winter. It would require diligence and aggressive pruning. If that doesn’t sound like something you’d want to be religiously diligent with, containers is a better option, because it won’t survive in Concord without protection.
Very informative video. Those fruit are massive! Thanks for converting imperial units to metric units in your videos. It makes it much easier to follow along 👍 We have two varieties of lemon trees in our front yard. The one started carrying fruit late summer earlier this year (southern hemisphere) and continues to produce flowers and fruit through our winter (zone 10b equivalent) and now that we're in summer again it seems to want to produce even more flowers and fruit, effectively providing us with lemons throughout the year. I would definitely consider investing in a sweet citrus after watching this video and our positive experience so far with our lemon trees.
Thank you. I learned awhile back that there are an absolutely massive number if international viewers on UA-cam, so I try to convert those pesky units so everyone can follow along. Are you in Australia? I wish I lived in a 9b or a 10a because you can grow so many incredible things. Sweet citrus is worth it because the trees are so affordable, readily available and easy to care for. They may be the easiest type of fruit tree to grow out there, except, maybe a feijoa or persimmon. Certainly 10 times easier than figs! Thanks for watching and I'm glad you're enjoying Dale.
I am in Australia yes. The downside of where I live is that I have to protect my fruit and vegetable plants from the heat during summer, which isn't too bad. I agree, for the amount of fruit citrus trees produce and the little effort required, they are definitely worth investing in. Figs are amazing, even though they require a bit more effort.
Outstanding. You're really close to Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC, then. He is the citrus guru in the southeast. I got my blood orange, orwari satsuma, red lime and pineapple guava all from him. He's the man.
Thank you. I usually wind up with more than double the footage that makes it, so I spend a lot of time cutting out dead space and unnecessary information and repeat info. Thanks for noticing!
@@maxrocks00 I have found two solutions to that: 1. If you are growing in-ground, make sure your citrus is grafted to trifoliate rootstock. Trifoliate rootstock is rot resistant and I've never had an issue with anything grafted on trifoliate. It's incredible stuff. It will tolerate even clay soil as long as it has adequate drainage and doesn't stay wet. You can build a berm to plant your citrus or build a raised bed that's 12-18 inches tall and plant your citrus in there if your soil doesn't naturally drain well. 2. In containers, just buy a self-watering container. They drain into a bottom reservoir, so the roots don't sit in water. For container-grown citrus, you should occasionally let them dry out completely, even to the point where the tree begins to wilt. Citrus can tolerate extreme drought stress, so you can even let them wilt a little in a container.
I live in Central Florida and have a Tangelo in a container. Growing some lemons too. Do you remember where you got your Owari Satsuma Mandarin? Love to watch your videos. I have learned a lot from them. Thank you for doing this.
Thank you. Yes, my satsuma is from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. I just paid him a visit last Saturday. I have an Owari satsuma, Brown Select satsuma, Meiwa kumquat, Cara Cara, Excalibur red lime and Moro blood orange from Stan.
I live in Charlotte but went to college in Wilmington. I hope to move back there soon and I’m so eager to grow citrus and avocado. Learning a lot from your videos. I might try a citrus in pot while I’m in Charlotte this year to bring inside if needed but probably can’t grow it in ground here. Do you sell any in pots? I’m in Wilmington all the time to go surfing.
I was just in Charlotte for 3 days for a work conference. I'll tell you, considering Charlotte is 7b and Wilmington is 8a, I was shocked by the temperature difference. I haven't been so cold in 4 years. It was 16 degrees warmer in Wilmington consistently while I was away : 68 at home, 52 there. At night, my house was only around 3-4 degrees warmer than the Charlotte urban heat island, but the daytime was dramatic. It definitely is a much milder climate out on the coast. I do not sell citrus. I *strongly* recommend you call Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. He has everything you need. He's a short drive for you, too. His place is awesome. All my grafted citrus is from him.
I have not really had to prune my citrus trees yet. If the day ever comes, I will make a video, but so far, they’ve been very low maintenance. Citrus is self-thinning and they will drop the fruits they cannot support, so there is no need to thin them unless you want larger fruit.
Thank you for the tips ,I think we don;t have those variety here in the Philippines,but we have a local orange we call DALANDAN.Im planing to get one,thanks again,keep safe and Godbless.
Thanks for watching from the Philippines! I'm sure citrus grows very well where you live. I would imagine satsumas are obtainable there. They're extremely popular in China, where they originated.
I know someone who has a red lime in ground, here in Wilmington, huge for many years unprotected. Just harvested massive amounts on it. I think the red lime taste more like a lemon. But I think it’s a cross between a type of orange mandarin and lime. Good for juicing. And no bitter notes to my taste. Massive trunk, just overall huge tree
I have one of those. It's been in a pot for 4 years, and it produces crazy amounts of fruit. Next year, I'm going to plant it. I'm trying to whittle away my container garden for less maintenance.
@@TheMillennialGardener I understand that! It’s easy to get a bunch of plants in pots. I’m trying to limit my pot use, unless I’m reproducing for other people. My dad when he sees thing’s in pots he wants to plant them, and I have to tell him that some are true tropical’s, so they have to stay in pots here. Also, I hope your red lime gets huge here! They do grow well without protection from my knowledge, at least from what that person told me. And I saw that thing this year. It was a good height and trunk thickness. I’m surprised no protection at all. And they get huge as in tall, but have a good shape.
Thanks for the informative video on these Citrus..Very do-able You're looking Handsome and Strong as usual..Dale eats Sweet Citrus too. Peace from Minnesota
My kishu mandrin just ripened all 3 of them this year. Same drooping style tree. I grow with cree LED lights on a timer inside to keep my 9 varieties of citrus alive in the winter. It helps with mood too,
Meyer Lemon takes it up to -10°C, it´s sold as frosthardy here in germany. But anyway. I keep mine in pots and in the greenhouse over wintertime. We can get frosts far below 10°C.
therevelation19 I don’t believe that’s correct. The lowest temperature I’ve ever seen a Meyer Lemon rated for is -6C/20F, and that’s on a mature tree. At those temps, all the fruit will be destroyed and the tree may take significant damage (young trees may be killed entirely). In a study in Savannah, GA, 100% of all Meyer lemons were killed by a 13.5F freeze, which is -10C. 100% dieback occurred at much warmer temps.
I grow owari, miho satsumas, NZ lemonade, Cara Cara & Valencia oranges. I am eager to plant and protect them in ground . Looking forward to spring . I am in DFW, Texas, same growing zone as you brother. Thank you and God Bless..
You're growing a New Zealand Lemonade in 8a? I thought they were a 9b tree. Is it in a container? If you have a NZ Lemonade in ground in Dallas, that's amazing.
@@TheMillennialGardener . They are in 20 gallon pots now. But your video inspired me to plant Owari & MIho in ground. Watch this - fellow gardener Steve Rodenberg in Ohio ( Zone 6?) growing NZ lemonade in ground. ua-cam.com/video/nZgbNzNUlyE/v-deo.html He is also a zone pusher just like you.
You definitely don't want to grow a citrus tree from seed. They take around 10 years to fruit. If you want a tree, definitely get a grafted tree. They fruit within a year.
Thanks for the informative videos. Growing Meyer lemon in ground and marsh grapefruit temporarily in a pot. Next purchase will definitely be a Owari satsuma orange. From Navarre Florida. Also, what is your opinion on growing citrus close to the coast, salt air mist, etc.
Thank you for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I'm 9 miles from the ocean as the crow flies, and the satsuma does GREAT here. However, I can't say how it'll do if you're practically on the beach and have a saltwater breeze. We are close enough to the ocean that we have seagulls wake us up some mornings (which I love), but we don't have a sea breeze. I think it's definitely worth a shot though, because grafted citrus usually fruit within 12 months or so, so you'll know quickly with minimal risk.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks for your response! Will definitely try one and see. Keeping our fingers crossed no direct hit from a hurricane this season. Sally striped my lemon tree, leaves and all, It has recovered though, just less fruit this year. Again, thanks!
Another way to increase sweetness is to cut back on watering when the fruit is forming / ripening if you can. Lots of water dilutes the sugar content. I’m in South Louisiana and grow 9 types of citrus (Just the ones I like, I could grow more) and still need to use the microclimate technique for my Clementine. Brown select is just as cold hardy, doesnt “weep” like the Owari but the Owari is the best tasting Satsuma IMO. I also have a trifoliate tree (Not counted in the 9) that I use cuttings for rootstock when grafting. That thing is NASTY and not just the taste, the thorns are 4-6” long and all over the plant. I’m about to attempt to graft all 9 onto one tree. Because I can haha
I don't water my in-ground satsuma. It simply doesn't need it. It rains here too much as it is, so I don't water any of my in-ground trees. My satsuma, my avocado, my figs, my persimmon, my pawpaw's...I assume it's the same for you in LA since you're similarly wet. The only time they get water is when I give them a drink of soluble fertilizer. I have a trifoliate in ground and regret it every day. I hate it. You can't go near it. I purchased a seed-grown Ichang Lemon over the winter and I intend to cut my trifoliate down and graft on a piece of the Ichang Lemon once the lemon gets large enough to be cut. It's only about 18 inches tall and spindly as a rubber band.
@@TheMillennialGardener you nailed it on the wet thing, my yard is soaked at the moment. I can’t imagine having a trifoliate in my yard, that’s dangerous. Mine is behind my back fence in a kinda wooded area along with my loquat and some stinky pawpaws ha. Never could understand how a flower that smells like rotten meat can result in a fruit that taste so sweet 🤷🏻♂️
What variety of orange is it? Citrus trees produce dramatically better fruit as they age. It's not uncommon for a young tree to produce really mediocre fruit, but 3-5 years in really hit its stride and produce incredible fruit as it ages.
Thank you for all the info in all your videos I have learn a lot on them , even if I can’t grow citrus because I live in zone 5 but I like to learn new things and in Some years I’m moving to a warmer zone so I will know more about growing different plants wend I’m there , thanks again , ps. You a beautiful dog and you are so handsome 👍🏼
Consuelo Payan you can grow citrus in Zone 5 in a container if you have a sunny south-facing window. They do very well indoors, surprisingly. Meyer Lemons are outstanding indoors and fruit like crazy, and I think a dwarf Owari or Brown Select satsuma would do find through the winter if you brought it outside in spring through early fall if you purchased a dwarf variety. Thanks for watching!
Any advice on Staking Loaded Orange Tree Branches SAFELY? To Stake or Not to Stake Orange Tree....? 2022, 30+ year old, Orange Tree, San Francisco Bay area Zone 10a/b - but with weird Bay-Effect Micro Climates 1 Mile off the North Bay amid rolling hills, is more loaded with large 4"+ fruit ( after dropping hundreds of early drop marble sized fruit buds last Spring which made Us concerned We might be left with no Ripe Seasonal Fruit, but We were very mistaken...! ... ) than it has produced in 8-10 years ( of poor attention / care ). We are now worried the Ripening Fruit, which is so abundant it has changed the overall shape of the dwarf tree in the last month, 7ft tall x 12ft+ wide, which now droops significantly ( no branches near or touching the ground yet ). We heavily wood chip mulched all orchard trees with 8"-12" which has done WONDERS for Apples Plums Cherries Apricots Lemons Limes; so far, so good.
Any kind of cover you use must be heated underneath for anything more than a frost. Otherwise, it will just freeze through. Covers are very ineffective unless you place incandescent lights, a large thermal mass or another heat source underneath.
@@TheMillennialGardener our local nursery just told me after I watched your video, that he has no Satsuma, only blood orange. So I'm going to try this.
This was really good information. I am growing a Miho satsuma in a container in zone 8A. It is my second year. Do you know anything about the Miho satsuma? I hope to get an Owari myself next year. And I plan to put the Miho in the ground on my south facing wall. I like the bricks you add around the trunk for cold weather. That is something I can incorporate along with Christmas lights. Your tree looks great! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I have not grown Miho, so I can't speak to it personally. I am growing Owari and Brown's Select, because they are the most cold hardy of the well-known satsumas, and appear to be superior to the newer supposedly "cold hardy" cultivars. While all satsumas are "cold tolerant" for citrus, the Owari and Brown's Select are the most cold hardy of the high quality, low-seed cultivars. From what I'm reading, Miho can tolerate temperatures down to the low 20's and briefly into the upper teens, but Owari and Brown's Select have shown the ability to briefly tolerate temperatures into Zone 8a range (10-15 degrees briefly). Here is a good comparison article. Miho appears to be very early, especially compared to Owari: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/satsuma.pdf
If I were a zone higher I would grow these. But you know Jersey weather. My dog doesn't care about oranges but if I have a nectarine in my hands she will follow me anywhere.
They'll still do well in containers. You can just carry them inside in November, stick them in front of a sunny, south-facing window and bring it back outside in March or April as weather allows. I put my container-grown citrus in a garden cart and simply pull the cart inside on nights that are going to freeze. The rest of the time, I just pull it and park it up against my house in a sunny spot. If you purchase one of those Gorilla Carts, you can do something like that and fit 2-4 good-sized plants in there with near zero effort. It's worth it to have fresh citrus all winter when fresh fruit is scarce.
My Owari Satsuma is from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. I highly recommend him. He doesn’t do online orders, but he will ship them to you if you call him.
I have a Satsuma ( not sure of the variety but it's a seedling from another seedling that I got from my brother. Seems like they should be doing better. I might dig them up and put them in containers and place them on the South side of the house.
Thank you for all the precise info!! My question is...when I buy a Satsuma tree, will it already be grafted onto dwarfing root stock? Where do you purchase these?
No, not necessarily. Some places can clone them with rooted cuttings, so those trees would be "on their own roots." Some grafted trees are on "standard" rootstock, which means the tree will grow to be very large. Others are on dwarfing rootstock. You have to check, and if it doesn't say, you must contact the seller and ask what the rootstock type and name is. My tree came from Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC, but they're extremely common. You can go to big growers like Briteleaf or Four Winds, or just google them because they're very common. Home Depot and Lowes also get tons of them in in the spring, but the rootstock will be unknown.
I would ONLY recommend growing grafted citrus trees, with few exceptions. My meyer lemon, pink lemon and key lime were purposefully cloned, rooted cuttings to keep them small as a bush because they're naturally small trees. I would never grow one from seed because citrus trees don't grow true to type, so planting a tree from seed means you'll sit around for 10 years until you get fruit and probably wind up with a thorny, seedy, unproven, low quality tree. Every seed of a fruit tree is genetically unique, so I only recommend purchasing grafted varieties of known good performers.
My satsuma is in a container and 3 years old, this is the first year I’ve allowed the tree to hold 2 doz fruit. I’m in New Orleans, so may be warmer than you, and just ate my last one. They were large, super easy to peel and very tasty! Love the variety! Most folks in my area have the brown select so I get plenty of those to eat since they share. Now waiting for my blood orange to be ready to eat! fruit and just
Debbie Fontenot I ripened mine for the first year last year, and it took until February, I believe. Probably because my climate is cooler and the tree is young. I would expect it to be late its first few years until the tree puts age on.
Love your trees and Dale! I'm in zone 7a and have managed to get a small pomegranate tree to grow outside in a South West facing ell shaped nook touching the house. Can you suggest a citrus that could work?
Thank you! I actually can suggest a citrus that you may be able to grow: Yuzu. Yuzu is hardy to about 0 degrees when fully mature. It is a delicacy in Asian cooking and highly prized. You'll still need to protect it some, particularly when it's young to get it established, but it's extremely cold hardy.
I'm trying this tree , I have growing all kinds of citrus. But they have never produced good, and the citrus tasted watery and somewhat sweet. Never tried a manderen tree. This year I am. I'm north west Georgia, it gets very cold here sometimes
Hello my friend I hope you and the family are keeping well I just like to say fantastic video thank you for sharing this with you with us and have a happy Christmas you and your family thank you ❤❤🎁🎁👍👍👍
I do not bring my citrus indoors. They stay outside 365 days a year. I only bring them inside my garage briefly if I see temps are going to fall into the 20's, which only happens around half a dozen nights a year on average. Then, they go right back outside after the sun rises, so I don't have an issue with aphids. If your citrus trees are not very heavy, you can combat aphids simply by carrying them outside on warmer days (40F or warmer). If that's not an option, you could purchase pyrethrin concentrate and mix your own spray. Pyrethrin is a broad-spectrum neurotoxin for insects made from the chrysanthemum plant, so it's natural. It is very potent, but it degrades rapidly so it doesn't hang around long. It'll wipe out good bugs and bad bugs, but since there are no "good bugs" on your indoor citrus, you can use it without fear.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you very much for the quick response! I'm trying the garage strategy this winter and bring them outside on warmer days like you suggest. Last two winters inside under growlights did not work out...all leaves dropped and aphid infestation. No matter what I used...insecticidal soap, neem oil, horticultural oil....yellow sticky traps...couldn't kill them all. The horticultural oil seemed to work best but I think did damage. I will try the other product you suggested....will provide an update in the next couple of months or so! Lemon has tons of blooms on it!
@@salvatorecaruso942 a little plant dolly makes the job easy. I put them in a garden cart and simply pull them in and out in 10 seconds. You can get one at Harbor Freight for about $80 that’ll hold 2 large trees.
I can grow one in Belgium,west-flemish!?!? The weather in winter here maximum -5,sometimes more but one or 2 times in january -6-7 for 1 or 2 nights but yes is always wet by raining!
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you very much! I don t live in Brugge but near,around 35 km to Brugge and here we have the same weather like in Brugge!!! Will look to find one but for the big pot if is possible! Will think good before to decide! Thank you again!
Citrus is very prone to root rot in containers. However, depending on the rootstock you graft them on, they can be tolerant of subpar conditions when planted in ground. I urge trifoliate rootstock because not only do they add a dwarfing effect and cold hardiness, but they're also very tolerant of clay soil that can hold water. They're a great all-around rootstock. That doesn't mean plant them in a low-lying area, of course, but they're not as bad as, say, an avocado with drainage issues.
Michelle Bennett that’s a great tradition to carry on. Did your family ever explain why? It is a throwback to the days where citrus was purely seasonal. Imagine going to the grocery store and you can’t buy lemons or limes. The things we take for granted!
@@michellezevenaar probably something to do with harvest time, too. I don't really know much about growing nuts because you need enormous amounts of land for farming nuts. We take for granted that we can walk into any store now and get lemons, limes, walnuts, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers and apples, all fresh. Historically, this is the first time in human history! A lot of these traditions were born out of scarcity.
Just some FYI... My "Improved Meyer Lemon" survived an ice storm in the upper teens a few years back... in container and on own roots too! All of the wood without bark died (most of the tree). She was assumed to be a goner. Suddenly in LATE Spring the following year she began pushing new sprouts from the base of the trunk that actually had bark on it. By the end of the Summer she was bigger and better than ever and had fruit on her. I am considering putting her into the ground. I made 4 clones in my aquaponics system and put them into containers. I have a wonderful South facing wall that is just begging for a citrus tree or two or three. lol
MySuburbanHomestead wow! That’s great to hear. I put a Meyer Lemon in ground over the summer, because I like to live dangerously! It took the 25F low last week like a champ, but it was covered in a frost jacket with 2 strands of Christmas lights on it. We will see how it handles lows in the teens. We are due for one or two this year.
@@TheMillennialGardener As long as there is bark on the trunk there is a chance! All of my potted Meyer lemons handled those same temps last week like a champ as well. I am just a few hours North of you. My Meyers were completely left out in the open. No lights or anything. I think the temps only got down to 27F though (what my truck said in the morning when I left for work). The are of course on the South side of the house sitting near a decent amount of brick foundation/stairs. Protected from the wind (Makes a huge difference). Even my fruit made it through without damage.
@@great0789 that is BRAVE for a Meyer. I'm not that brave. I specifically did not get a grafted Meyer. I got a rooted cutting so I can keep it as a small bush pressed against the ground. I'll be growing it as a fruiting hedge against my house. Unlucky me, though, I got one that's thorny. The one my mother got was thornless so far. It's funny how that depends on the cutting you get.
@@TheMillennialGardener I almost think it depends on the growing conditions actually! All of my cuttings I started in the Aquaponics system had thorns. The mother tree does not. All of the new growth on the cuttings no longer have thorns (except original branches). They do have fruit now though. lol
Yes. They were all shipped yesterday via USPS first class mail. They will arrive in a standard white envelope. I am in southeastern North Carolina, so shipment times will be commensurate with distance. If you've been ordering packages lately, it's pretty clear USPS is running a little late these days, but they will be arriving as quickly as USPS can handle.
Hi ! great video! What is a good size forever home/ pot for DwarfOwari ? I dont have a yard, its in an apartment patio in a pot LOL ALSO, what is your current favorite brand organic fertilizer you are using for your Owari during fall ?? Thanks!
If you're talking specifically about citrus trees, all my grafted citrus are from McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. Stan McKenzie is probably the largest collector of cold hardy citrus in the entire United States. He's THE go-to for grafted citrus for the South.
You said your Owari ripens in november? Mine didn't show a hint of orange color until mid-december. I picked the fruit on jan 3 and it tasted okay but the flavor was kinda "watered down". I probably should have waited another week to pick it. Im in north Texas BTW.
I'm in zone 8A Faetteville NC. I brought my first persian lime citrus indoors because I didnt want to risk loosing it to the cold. I have lots of little limes coming out on them. I would really like to grow it outdoors inground, but ill have to get more information on hardy varieties. Where did you get this variety from & do you prune it? Thanks for the great information. I'm reading up on grafting now & the right selections. I'm the same, I don't like the winter either, I grew up in the north where we got 10ft of snow & still had to go to school.😝😕
You're about 90 mins northwest of me. I'm down in the Wilmington area. A Persian Lime will not grow anywhere in North Carolina. Limes are among the least cold hardy citrus and shouldn't be exposed to any freezing temps at all. There is only one lime that can survive here: The Hardy Red Lime. It is a lime-tasting cross between, I believe, a Rangpur lime and either a kumquat or a calamondin. It turns orange, and the skin gets sugary sweet, but the inside is a very seedy lime flavor. I like my tree a lot, and I got it from Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC. My satsuma in this video and blood orange also came from Stan. It's a really nice country roads drive to his farm from where we live. It was about 2.5 hours for me each way.
@@TheMillennialGardener But I can grow it here if I bring it indoors, right. It appears to be thriving. I havent lost any leaves & I have lots of flowers, buds & fruit coming out. But thanks for the info!
Simple. Consult a USDA hardiness zone map: planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/view-maps This will show you your average minimum temperature each winter, which is one of the better determining factors of what plants can survive in your area.
My blood orange has taken temperatures as low as 26F with no damage. The leaves froze through but were just fine. I don't think they can take much lower than that. Blood Oranges are Zone 9a trees, so temps in the low 20's may cause some damage, and teens could kill the tree. If you're in the Canary Islands like you said in your other comment, they'll have no problem. Mildly acidic soil is best.
I have a Meyer lemon tree in a large container, I have been babying it bringing it in the shed in the winter time last year I got really large lemons off of it and really a good harvest this year I got eggs size lemons so I don’t know what I have done or didn’t do I fertilize three times a year and I was debating on whether I should put it in the ground or not. It is about five years old maybe six and about 5 feet tall can you give me some advice thank you. Forgot to mention I’m in South Mississippi
If your tree is fruiting very heavily, fruit size may suffer. Meyer Lemons have a habit of fruiting very aggressively and at all times. Your tree may be fruiting more than the roots can handle since they’re confined to a pot, and all the fertilizer and sun in the world won’t help if the roots are the bottleneck. What you can do is thin your fruits - remove some so the fruit load is more bearable for the tree. Reducing the total number of fruits will increase overall size.
I've never grown rhubarb before. A Google search estimates it grows in Zones 3-8, so I would assume so. Look for more heat resistant varieties if you're in the South. If you're in the PNW, any variety will probably grow.
Just received my owari satsuma and cara cara orange trees based on your suggestion from Mr. Mckenzie. When you say fertilize three times, is it the liquid fertilizer or granular fertilizer?
Awesome! Are you going to grow them in ground or in containers? If you're growing in-ground, you can fertilize them once each season. You'll want to dump around 1-2 cups of an organic 5-5-5 around the base of the tree and add some fresh compost/mulch. You can also add a watering can full of water and fish emulsion. For in-ground trees, I only use liquid fertilizer when the trees are young. After a couple years, the roots are strong enough that they just need healthy soil culture, which is compost, mulch and some 5-5-5 organic granulated fertilizer. In containers, it's totally different. They *need* liquid fertilizer, because there isn't enough of a stable soil microbiome. You don't have worms and such coming into your containers. You need to add soluble liquid feed. I recommend you watch this if you want to grow in containers: ua-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/v-deo.html
It depends on the 7b. Technically, even 8a is too cold many years to be completely unprotected. If you live in 7b Charlotte, NC, or 7b Birmingham, AL, you could likely grow it in-ground with protection on those rough 5-10 nights a year. However, if you're 7b Philadelphia or 7b New York City, there is no way. While satsumas can briefly withstand very cold temps, it needs to rebound immediately. The reason why my satsuma can survive cold plunges is because by 10AM, it's 55 degrees, here. They need to warm up quickly. So, there's a big difference between a Deep South 7b where it's 55-60 degrees most days in January, and a northern 7b where you spend several days a year where temps never break above freezing. I would say, if you wanted to give a 7b a shot, you'd need to be south of Raleigh, NC, at the very least.
@@TheMillennialGardenerdo you have a video on the kind of protection? Does the brick surround you have around the one in the video help? We are in 7b, Northwest Georgia.
I don't know too much about it. I know it's one of the hardiest nearly seedless lemons out there. It was one of the few survivors of the record freezes that Florida endured during the 1970's, and it's known to be capable of surviving the mid-teens very briefly. I am not growing it, but it's supposed to have a standard "lemon" flavor, so it may be feasible to grow in 8b. Here is a good article: www.dailyridge.com/en/2018/06/29/all-about-harvey-lemons/
I’ve got a 1 yr old improved Meyer lemon tree growing in a pot. I’m losing leaves to yellowing on the inside of the limbs, but not on the ends of the limbs. Is this normal? I’m not overwatering and the plant is flowering like crazy. I live in zone 9b in California, thanks so much! Love your videos.
My Meyer is in ground as a bush. The leaves far inside up against the trunk are yellowing and I expect them to eventually fall as the tree lignifies. As long as the yellowing leaves are right up against the trunk, I think that may be a normal thing. If you look at how shrubs grow, they tend to lose their leaves up against the trunk as they age to create airflow inside the center. If you're only seeing a couple yellowing leaves up against the trunk, I'd think you're okay. However, if it's persisting up and down the limbs or you see any drooping, you could be seeing root rot from overwatering. Citrus are VERY susceptible to root rot in containers, so I grow them all in self-watering containers to avoid that problem. If you're in 9b and you have some room in your yard, that tree will go bonkers in your climate. 9b is the premier citrus growing zone.
The tree is grafted onto trifoliate orange. The trees barely get 6-7 feet tall. They can't do any kind of damage to a 24" concrete footer. You have to be selective with what you plant.
Are you sure it is a Meyer? That is what you get from a trifoliate cross. You may have two problems: 1. You got the wrong plant. 2. You have a Meyer Lemon grafted onto Trifoliate Orange rootstock and the rootstock has sent shoots out and has overtaken the plant, and you're eating trifoliate oranges. Is the fruit slightly orange, small and extremely seedy? Meyer Lemons should be very large, bright yellow and extremely juicy and almost "sweet" for a lemon.
Where do we buy the the grafted version of this tree, as you have? I have seen the tree for sale on a standard root stock but not in combination with a dwarf root stock.
Rizzo 919 I got mine from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. You want to look for one on trifoliate rootstock. They may or may not list trifoliate as a dwarf. It is not probably a true “dwarf” rootstock, but it has a dwarfing effect. I would recommend calling or emailing and asking what type of rootstock it is grafted to. I got it from Stan because he told me in person it was on trifoliate.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for such a fast reply ; ) I will follow your suggestion. We have a place at Sunset/Calabash beach and I think this would be great to plant close to the house there. As it is in a very similar climate to you. Cheers!
Rizzo 919 I am more inland, so it will be even more doable there. My parents live in Calabash, which is about 50 mins southeast of me down 17. I’m in north Brunswick County.
If you found this video helpful, please "Like" and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 Why You Should Be Growing Citrus
1:24 My Owari Satsuma Citrus Tree
4:20 Tip #1: Rootstock Selection
7:55 Tip #2: Selecting A Proper Citrus Variety For Your Climate
10:12 Tip #3: Choosing A Micro-climate
12:23 Fertilizing Citrus Trees
13:32 Mulching Citrus Trees
14:51 How To Harvest Citrus
15:08 Owari Satsuma Taste Test
@Brian Cook how old is the tree? It could be for a few reasons:
1. The tree is very young and isn't holding onto its fruit yet. It's not unusual that very young trees will drop their fruits when they're 1-2 inches in diameter.
2. If the tree is in the house, the sunlight reaching the tree may not be intense enough or long enough in duration. To have a shot at maturing fruit, you'd want to place your tree in front of a very large, south-facing window since it gets the most sunlight duration. However, if you don't have a large, south-facing window, or if you're at a high latitude where the sun just isn't intense enough, the tree may fail to hold onto its fruit due to lack of energy. Remember: the glass in your windows also reduces UV intensity by about half, so the window itself cuts down on solar intensity a whole lot.
3. It needs more fertilizer.
I have a Kishu, Owari , and recently added a Gold Nugget. My owari just produced fruit this year and it was juicy, sweet with a hint of tang. I’m gonna leave the fruits on till end of December and see if the sugar content increases. I’ve heard the longer the citrus stays on the tree, the sweeter it will be able to get. Of course I’ll have to pick it before it’s too late..lol..I’m going to test this n see if it’s true. And can’t wait to try next seasons harvest, like you said the older the tree, the better the fruit. Now I’m debating if I should add California Honey to my garden, but I have no idea how it taste.
Brian Cook no problem, it probably just needs another year or two. My pink lemon rooted cutting hasn’t even sent a single bud and it is a year old. Maybe next season.
lemontea128 nice collection. Yes, that is true. The longer the fruit sits, the sweeter it gets...until it sits too long, or gets damaged in a very hard freeze. I imagine it’ll take practice to time it perfectly. A perfectly ripe Owari is hard to describe because it is so far above anything you have had in a store.
Mine are all in pots and have a garden shed for winter. Key and Parisian lime. Meyer lemon and some orange varieties in testing.
I start to fall in love with citrus trees when I just moved this year from NJ to Georgia outside Atlanta, their flowers smell great and fruits look nice.
They're easily one of the most beautiful trees. I get pretty bad depression during the winter from the lack of sun, and the citrus really get me by. They look tropical, they stay green all year long, they give you fruit over the winter...they are like an oasis of happiness in an otherwise gray desert.
Thanks for the informative video. I’m in zone 10a and citrus grow like weeds here. I’m growing various mandarins, lemon, lime, tangelos, naval oranges, pomelo and grapefruit. My favorite is honey mandarin. It ripens late but holds on the tree well so we can harvest January through May. Seedless, easy to peel and great flavor. Very cool you’re able to grow citrus in zone 8!
You're making me very jealous. How I wish I were in a 9b. I would have a citrus forest. I am trying my best to find ways to cheat and stretch my zone!
@@TheMillennialGardener You’re doing a fine job of growing things I would never have thought would grow in zone 8. There are a number of trees that won’t produce fruit here with only 200-300 chill hours. Can’t grow most stone fruits except for a few low chill hour varietals. Pears, cherries and most apples won’t produce any fruit whatsoever.
It’s a give and take, I guess. We want to grow things we can’t. Somewhere on a Caribbean island, someone is trying to grow a peach and apple tree to wow everyone 😂
@@TheMillennialGardener Well said! I’m experimenting growing cherries (trying). I located two relatively new cultivars, Minnie Royal and Royal Lee that need about 350 chill hours. We just hit 112 hours as of yesterday, most since 2011 so I have my fingers crossed. I grow pluots, plums (Satsuma varieties), pluerries, Anna and Golden Dorset apple all of which require about 300 chill hours. I guess we’re both pushing the envelope but hey that’s part of the fun of gardening!
Genoa Italian lemon tree, growing great in a large container 5 years old. Pruned to 6 feet tall with lots of fruit, move into the shed with a grow light when temperatures go below 40 degrees in the winter zone 7b.
Sounds great! Hopefully you're enjoying the fruit! Citrus is so easy to grow.
Sounds great! I just ate my first dwarf ruby red grapefruit for this year
I am growing in containers with drip. Yummy!
Think I may try to find that one too!
In Zone 9b.
Christine Owensby nice! I would like to grow a grapefruit, but my zone is probably too cold. I would give Bloomsweet a try, but it is very hard to find and I would need it on trifoliate roots to dwarf it. Definitely get a satsuma. They’re incredible.
I have watched quite a few videos on the Owari Satsuma mandarin, but this is the best by far! I live in the high desert, zone 8B in SoCal, so I have been considering purchasing one of these. Now I’m sure; as soon as FourWindsGrowers has them in stock again, I will purchase one-even if it’s fall and I need to keep it indoors for its first winter. Thanks for the review and for all your excellent growing tips!
I'm glad you found the video helpful! This is one of the best citrus plants out there, for sure. You'll love it.
I live in high desert in So Cal zone 9. Just wondering how your treed are doing.
Interesting . I am learning beautiful things. I have an idea how to grow fruits.continue to send more videos please. thanks.
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying them! Plenty more videos to come!
What a beautiful tree. And the fruit looked so delicious....and was approved by Dale!!
The fruit on this tree is FANTASTIC. Truly top notch, and it's only on its second season. It's a wonderful variety and recommend the Owari Satsuma for everyone with a climate capable of growing it. Even if you're limited to container citrus, this is a contender. If I could only grow 3 citrus, it would probably be a Meyer Lemon and a hard fought battle between choosing 2 between this, a Cara Cara and a Moro Blood Orange.
I live in zone 9b Apopka Florida. I have had my citrus trees for 3 years now. Still awaiting a good harvest. Very difficult. Definitely great information for me. Please let Dale rest! He deserves it. He works sooo hard every day, and all he wants is to sleep tonight 😂 he’s absolutely adorable. Love him 🥰
Planted an Owari this fall, zone 8B, protecting it low 30s and colder with christmas lights and a frost blanket. Looking forward to some fruit next year!
In 8B with those measures, you'll almost certainly see amazing success! Nice work!
I just got a young Cara Cara pink and two fig tree..in zone 10 ( wish me luck). Your videos are invaluable. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience. We love Dale, he’s the best!! 💞. My girl doggy looks so much like Dale’s long lost sister… lol.
I put a Cara Cara in ground this summer in Zone 8a. Wish ME luck! 😅 I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Dale says hi! Dale's half American Foxhound, 1/3 Pit and 1/6 Staffordshire.
Man.... You did a great job explaining and also awesome looking mandarin babies you got!!
Thank you. Thanks for watching!
I am all excited as 2021 will be 2nd year for my Owari satsuma and I am looking forward to all the fruit the tree can bear. Thanks.
My first fruiting year, I “only” had 4 fruits, but this second year, I have over 50. Good luck!
@@TheMillennialGardener I planted on May 20th in ground and had 4 blooms late July which fell off.
I'm near you, by ILM. I have a Brown's Satsuma and a Meyer Lemon. Both just bore first fruits. Satsuma gave me 15 oranges, small but delicious, and the Meyerhas about a dozenripe fruit and has blooms and new fruit also. I wanted to say thanks for your informative, well produced videos. Great job.
Thanks for watching, neighbor. My Owari produced oranges for the first time last year. I got 4 total. This year, I got 50. If you got 15 off your Brown Select this year, expect a nice harvest next year!
I live in Virginia Beach (zone 8a). I bought a Lila avocado and an Arctic Frost satsuma 3 weeks ago after watching your previous videos. I will try all your techniques and suggestions, I hope to grow them like yours. thank you
That's great! The avocado would be extremely challenging in-ground, but there is at least one UA-camr I know growing citrus in-ground in VA Beach. That Arctic Frost, I bet, can survive in ground in a protected micro-climate with some protection.
@@TheMillennialGardener
I bet it will do well too. However, I would put it in a container the first year till it builds some bark. Then next Spring I would then put her into the ground in that perfect spot... having some protection at the ready for the first 5 yrs in-ground. Being ready to throw it on when those nor'easters blow through.
MySuburbanHomestead this is good advice. I put my Owari in a 5 gallon bucket the first season to get a 1 inch caliper on the trunk. Then, it went in ground. It helped, I believe.
@@TheMillennialGardener
Where did you get your tree again? Thanks!
@@great0789 Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, South Carolina.
Thanks for the citrus video. I love seeing other people in my zone grow citrus
Aerial Productions Charlotte thanks for watching!
Thanks for the videos you put out very informative. Watching from linden California.
Thanks for watching! Glad you enjoy the videos.
Here in Phoenix, AZ zone 9B and we grow a ton of citrus. All during the winter coworkers will bring in excess fruit off the tree to work and place in the breakroom not to mention I always get free fruit off of my friends and family trees all throughout the holidays. With that being said I have 9 varieties in my yard. A Washington Navel (in ground on C35 rootstock), Cara Cara Navel (in ground on C35 rootstock), Improved Meyer Lemon (in ground on C35 rootstock), Bearss lime (in ground on C35 rootstock), a Meiwa Kumquat (in ground rootstock is unknown) a Nagami Kumquat (in a 30 gallon pot on C35 rootstock) , a Moro Blood Orange (also on C35 rootstock in a 30 gallon pot) and a Oro Blanco grapefruit (which is a pomelo grapefruit hybrid in ground on C22 rootstock ) I would highly suggest you try growing a Kumquat tree lots of fun and good conversation starter. They are naturally one of the most cold hardy citrus and are more of a dwarf tree and perfect for container growing. Most people in the US have no idea what they are. You eat the whole fruit skin and all. The skin of the fruit is actually sweet and the inside flesh is tart (opposite of most citrus) some people don't care for the tartness but you can always make tasty marmalade with it. One more thing they ripen super early so also a good fit for your climate. I would guess they would likely be ready Novemberish. Nagami is the go to variety you would find in stores good producer and and not as sweet (what most people use for marmalades) .The meiwa is the sweetest of the kumquats and best for eating fresh. Overall just a fun easy citrus to grow.
I plan on getting a Meiwa kumquat grafted onto trifoliate for an in-ground tree this spring. It will not survive here without protection. It will survive some winters, but eventually one will kill it. This is easily corrected with C9 incandescent lights and agricultural fabric. The Nagami is probably too tart for me. I eat citrus skin and I actually enjoy eating slices of lemon and lime, but I'm talking about a slice or two. A Nagami would produce hundreds of fruits that I wouldn't be able to eat or process into some kind of marmalade, but Meiwa I would probably be able to eat.
Excellent presentation on the Owari. Another great feature of the Satsuma is the early ripening. Usually before real cold weather arrives. Oh, I commented too soon. You did mention that!
I'm glad it was helpful! Satsuma's are one of the few large citrus we can reliably ripen in-ground here in Zone 8 because the fruits themselves only survive to about 26F, so we need varieties that ripen before the true cold comes in in late December. I just purchased a Brown Select because it ripens 2-3 weeks earlier than Owari, so I'm excited about that.
@@TheMillennialGardener , thanks for the reply! I am in northern VA and grow quite a few citrus in containers. I am growing Owari and Armstrong Satsumas. Armstrong seems to ripen before Owari. Also have Xie Shan, Shasta Gold, Key Lime, Keraji, Clem-Yuz, Kishu, Ponzarella orange, Cara Cara, Mandarinquat, Meyer lemon, Oro Blanco, Shirnanui, Murcott, and probably a few others I can't think of right now. I know, crazy, right? They all go in my garage over winter -- heated to no lower than 45 degrees. They don't seem to mind it in there. Anyway, the Satsumas usually ripen just around the time I need to bring them in, so that works out OK. Winter ripeners ripen slowly in the garage. Not ideal, but given time, they do ripen eventually.
Sounds like you need a sunroom 😆 That’s a great collection. I did something crazy and bought a grafted Cara Cara. I am going to try to grow it in ground here. I know my chances of success are slim, but they’re the best tasting citrus I’ve ever had. They’re just incredible. I have to try.
@@TheMillennialGardener , Well, I think you should go for it. I know a guy in Tulsa that grows at least 4 varieties in the ground under a PVC framework. Some varieties are rather tender. But he uses X-mas lights on a Thermocube and as the temps dip down, throws more and more layers over the framework. They even survived their horrible cold blast last month! So it's just a matter of keeping an eye on them and hope you don't lose power!
Im going to try and grow this in Asheville NC 7b.
I forgot about an elephant ear alocasia in the ground against a south facing wall and after a brutal 2022/23 winter, it still came back
I in Zone 8b, near Augusta, Ga and have an “Arctic Frost” satsuma in the ground purchased at a local grower (first winter) and two Eustis limequats in pots. These were purchased from Stan MCKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. We have a citrus-growing legend in Augusta, named Joe LeVert. He has a veritable citrus forest growing as part of the horticulture program Aquinas High School in Augusta. If you are ever in the area, you should def look him up and visit. Make sure it’s in Nov/Dec though, as the trees are full of fruit. Here’s an article link with purchase sources: Enjoy and great vid! augustamagazine.com/2017/01/04/joe-le-vert-the-citrus-man/
Interesting. I know Stan McKenzie, the citrus man of South Carolina, and have met him on several occasions. I didn't know Georgia had a famous citrus man. It makes sense, since areas of Georgia are more hospitable to citrus than South Carolina.
Loving the video, bit especially Dale 🐾🐾🐾
I contacted Mr McKenzie and received the orange tree by UPS which was very reasonable. I thank you for sharing this resource. I guess I will need to pot mine since I’m in Concord NC. I face that SAD issue as well and can now look forward to harvesting an orange 🍊 one day. Love your videos!
Stan is AWESOME. You will love the tree! If it is an Owari satsuma, in-ground may be feasible, but you’d need my water barrel and/or incandescent lights and plant jacket protection during the winter. It would require diligence and aggressive pruning. If that doesn’t sound like something you’d want to be religiously diligent with, containers is a better option, because it won’t survive in Concord without protection.
Very informative video. Those fruit are massive! Thanks for converting imperial units to metric units in your videos. It makes it much easier to follow along 👍
We have two varieties of lemon trees in our front yard. The one started carrying fruit late summer earlier this year (southern hemisphere) and continues to produce flowers and fruit through our winter (zone 10b equivalent) and now that we're in summer again it seems to want to produce even more flowers and fruit, effectively providing us with lemons throughout the year. I would definitely consider investing in a sweet citrus after watching this video and our positive experience so far with our lemon trees.
Also, I love the "adventures with Dale" segments of your videos
Thank you. I learned awhile back that there are an absolutely massive number if international viewers on UA-cam, so I try to convert those pesky units so everyone can follow along. Are you in Australia? I wish I lived in a 9b or a 10a because you can grow so many incredible things. Sweet citrus is worth it because the trees are so affordable, readily available and easy to care for. They may be the easiest type of fruit tree to grow out there, except, maybe a feijoa or persimmon. Certainly 10 times easier than figs! Thanks for watching and I'm glad you're enjoying Dale.
I am in Australia yes. The downside of where I live is that I have to protect my fruit and vegetable plants from the heat during summer, which isn't too bad.
I agree, for the amount of fruit citrus trees produce and the little effort required, they are definitely worth investing in.
Figs are amazing, even though they require a bit more effort.
Dude those are awesome! I have a Meyer lemon, calamondin Orange, two Hardy oranges and two 8 ft tall pineapple guavas near Greenville, SC.
Outstanding. You're really close to Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC, then. He is the citrus guru in the southeast. I got my blood orange, orwari satsuma, red lime and pineapple guava all from him. He's the man.
@@TheMillennialGardener yeah man thanks to your videos I'm going to go check him out. I really want some satsumas
Stan is awesome. Highly recommended.
Perfect video. I may try container citrus again at my new house in Ashland Virginia. Your vids are so smooth and nonstop paced. Great job!
Thank you. I usually wind up with more than double the footage that makes it, so I spend a lot of time cutting out dead space and unnecessary information and repeat info. Thanks for noticing!
the soil is the deal breaker with citrus because it is so sensitive to extra water
@@maxrocks00 I have found two solutions to that:
1. If you are growing in-ground, make sure your citrus is grafted to trifoliate rootstock. Trifoliate rootstock is rot resistant and I've never had an issue with anything grafted on trifoliate. It's incredible stuff. It will tolerate even clay soil as long as it has adequate drainage and doesn't stay wet. You can build a berm to plant your citrus or build a raised bed that's 12-18 inches tall and plant your citrus in there if your soil doesn't naturally drain well.
2. In containers, just buy a self-watering container. They drain into a bottom reservoir, so the roots don't sit in water. For container-grown citrus, you should occasionally let them dry out completely, even to the point where the tree begins to wilt. Citrus can tolerate extreme drought stress, so you can even let them wilt a little in a container.
I live in Central Florida and have a Tangelo in a container. Growing some lemons too. Do you remember where you got your Owari Satsuma Mandarin? Love to watch your videos. I have learned a lot from them. Thank you for doing this.
Thank you. Yes, my satsuma is from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. I just paid him a visit last Saturday. I have an Owari satsuma, Brown Select satsuma, Meiwa kumquat, Cara Cara, Excalibur red lime and Moro blood orange from Stan.
I live in Charlotte but went to college in Wilmington. I hope to move back there soon and I’m so eager to grow citrus and avocado. Learning a lot from your videos. I might try a citrus in pot while I’m in Charlotte this year to bring inside if needed but probably can’t grow it in ground here. Do you sell any in pots? I’m in Wilmington all the time to go surfing.
I was just in Charlotte for 3 days for a work conference. I'll tell you, considering Charlotte is 7b and Wilmington is 8a, I was shocked by the temperature difference. I haven't been so cold in 4 years. It was 16 degrees warmer in Wilmington consistently while I was away : 68 at home, 52 there. At night, my house was only around 3-4 degrees warmer than the Charlotte urban heat island, but the daytime was dramatic. It definitely is a much milder climate out on the coast. I do not sell citrus. I *strongly* recommend you call Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. He has everything you need. He's a short drive for you, too. His place is awesome. All my grafted citrus is from him.
Thank you for your video.
I live in zone 7a and I have limes, lemons and kumquat.
I love my citrus😊
You're welcome! Thanks for watching.
Can you do a video on how you prune your citrus tree and give info on if/how you thin your fruit for better quality fruit?
I have not really had to prune my citrus trees yet. If the day ever comes, I will make a video, but so far, they’ve been very low maintenance. Citrus is self-thinning and they will drop the fruits they cannot support, so there is no need to thin them unless you want larger fruit.
Thank you for the tips ,I think we don;t have those variety here in the Philippines,but we have a local orange we call DALANDAN.Im planing to get one,thanks again,keep safe and Godbless.
Thanks for watching from the Philippines! I'm sure citrus grows very well where you live. I would imagine satsumas are obtainable there. They're extremely popular in China, where they originated.
Thanks for this awesome video!
I know someone who has a red lime in ground, here in Wilmington, huge for many years unprotected. Just harvested massive amounts on it. I think the red lime taste more like a lemon. But I think it’s a cross between a type of orange mandarin and lime. Good for juicing. And no bitter notes to my taste. Massive trunk, just overall huge tree
I have one of those. It's been in a pot for 4 years, and it produces crazy amounts of fruit. Next year, I'm going to plant it. I'm trying to whittle away my container garden for less maintenance.
@@TheMillennialGardener I understand that! It’s easy to get a bunch of plants in pots. I’m trying to limit my pot use, unless I’m reproducing for other people. My dad when he sees thing’s in pots he wants to plant them, and I have to tell him that some are true tropical’s, so they have to stay in pots here. Also, I hope your red lime gets huge here! They do grow well without protection from my knowledge, at least from what that person told me. And I saw that thing this year. It was a good height and trunk thickness. I’m surprised no protection at all. And they get huge as in tall, but have a good shape.
Thanks for the informative video on these Citrus..Very do-able You're looking Handsome and Strong as usual..Dale eats Sweet Citrus too. Peace from Minnesota
Thanks for tuning in! Hope you're handling the winter well. Stay warm!
Thanks for the Fahrenheit/Celsius conversion. I'm in France. ;-)
My kishu mandrin just ripened all 3 of them this year. Same drooping style tree. I grow with cree LED lights on a timer inside to keep my 9 varieties of citrus alive in the winter. It helps with mood too,
That's great. What zone do you live in and how large is the tree?
Great video, looking forward to my own Owari to bear.
Scott Head thanks for watching! Hopefully it’ll be soon!
THANKS FOR THE WONDERFUL INFORMATION
You're welcome!
Meyer Lemon takes it up to -10°C, it´s sold as frosthardy here in germany. But anyway. I keep mine in pots and in the greenhouse over wintertime. We can get frosts far below 10°C.
therevelation19 I don’t believe that’s correct. The lowest temperature I’ve ever seen a Meyer Lemon rated for is -6C/20F, and that’s on a mature tree. At those temps, all the fruit will be destroyed and the tree may take significant damage (young trees may be killed entirely). In a study in Savannah, GA, 100% of all Meyer lemons were killed by a 13.5F freeze, which is -10C. 100% dieback occurred at much warmer temps.
Your channel came up on my feed. I like your content. Dale is cute too. New subscriber here.😊
Awesome! Thank you! I appreciate you watching.
I grow owari, miho satsumas, NZ lemonade, Cara Cara & Valencia oranges. I am eager to plant and protect them in ground . Looking forward to spring . I am in DFW, Texas, same growing zone as you brother. Thank you and God Bless..
You're growing a New Zealand Lemonade in 8a? I thought they were a 9b tree. Is it in a container? If you have a NZ Lemonade in ground in Dallas, that's amazing.
@@TheMillennialGardener . They are in 20 gallon pots now. But your video inspired me to plant Owari & MIho in ground. Watch this - fellow gardener Steve Rodenberg in Ohio ( Zone 6?) growing NZ lemonade in ground. ua-cam.com/video/nZgbNzNUlyE/v-deo.html He is also a zone pusher just like you.
I will take those seeds 🍊🐾🐾🐾🍊🍊🍊🍊🍊thanks for sharing.
You definitely don't want to grow a citrus tree from seed. They take around 10 years to fruit. If you want a tree, definitely get a grafted tree. They fruit within a year.
Made my mouth water when you cut it open
They are easily one of the best, if not best, pieces of citrus I've ever had! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the informative videos. Growing Meyer lemon in ground and marsh grapefruit temporarily in a pot. Next purchase will definitely be a Owari satsuma orange. From Navarre Florida.
Also, what is your opinion on growing citrus close to the coast, salt air mist, etc.
Thank you for watching. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I'm 9 miles from the ocean as the crow flies, and the satsuma does GREAT here. However, I can't say how it'll do if you're practically on the beach and have a saltwater breeze. We are close enough to the ocean that we have seagulls wake us up some mornings (which I love), but we don't have a sea breeze. I think it's definitely worth a shot though, because grafted citrus usually fruit within 12 months or so, so you'll know quickly with minimal risk.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thanks for your response! Will definitely try one and see. Keeping our fingers crossed no direct hit from a hurricane this season. Sally striped my lemon tree, leaves and all, It has recovered though, just less fruit this year. Again, thanks!
Another way to increase sweetness is to cut back on watering when the fruit is forming / ripening if you can. Lots of water dilutes the sugar content. I’m in South Louisiana and grow 9 types of citrus (Just the ones I like, I could grow more) and still need to use the microclimate technique for my Clementine. Brown select is just as cold hardy, doesnt “weep” like the Owari but the Owari is the best tasting Satsuma IMO. I also have a trifoliate tree (Not counted in the 9) that I use cuttings for rootstock when grafting. That thing is NASTY and not just the taste, the thorns are 4-6” long and all over the plant. I’m about to attempt to graft all 9 onto one tree. Because I can haha
I don't water my in-ground satsuma. It simply doesn't need it. It rains here too much as it is, so I don't water any of my in-ground trees. My satsuma, my avocado, my figs, my persimmon, my pawpaw's...I assume it's the same for you in LA since you're similarly wet. The only time they get water is when I give them a drink of soluble fertilizer. I have a trifoliate in ground and regret it every day. I hate it. You can't go near it. I purchased a seed-grown Ichang Lemon over the winter and I intend to cut my trifoliate down and graft on a piece of the Ichang Lemon once the lemon gets large enough to be cut. It's only about 18 inches tall and spindly as a rubber band.
@@TheMillennialGardener you nailed it on the wet thing, my yard is soaked at the moment. I can’t imagine having a trifoliate in my yard, that’s dangerous. Mine is behind my back fence in a kinda wooded area along with my loquat and some stinky pawpaws ha. Never could understand how a flower that smells like rotten meat can result in a fruit that taste so sweet 🤷🏻♂️
I picked up a 2 year old Yuzu this past year on the flying dragon rootstock, I am excited to see how it flourishes on my balcony.
Very cool. May I ask where you purchased it?
My orange tree is producing very well here in California. I only wish the fruit tasted better. Not sure what I should do different for next season.
What variety of orange is it? Citrus trees produce dramatically better fruit as they age. It's not uncommon for a young tree to produce really mediocre fruit, but 3-5 years in really hit its stride and produce incredible fruit as it ages.
А я живу в России,обожаю цитрусовые.Мои пять деревьев растут на лоджии и сацума у меня тоже есть. У вас очень красиво, удачи.
The winter storm that hit Texas killed mine, I planted another one yesterday (
Arctic Frost satsuma this time) ... Thanks for the tips
UGH! Are you sure it was dead? Sometimes it just takes awhile for them to come back. How old was it?
@@TheMillennialGardener I put it in a pot and I will see what happens
Thank you for all the info in all your videos I have learn a lot on them , even if I can’t grow citrus because I live in zone 5 but I like to learn new things and in Some years I’m moving to a warmer zone so I will know more about growing different plants wend I’m there , thanks again , ps. You a beautiful dog and you are so handsome 👍🏼
Consuelo Payan you can grow citrus in Zone 5 in a container if you have a sunny south-facing window. They do very well indoors, surprisingly. Meyer Lemons are outstanding indoors and fruit like crazy, and I think a dwarf Owari or Brown Select satsuma would do find through the winter if you brought it outside in spring through early fall if you purchased a dwarf variety. Thanks for watching!
Thank you I will try it 👍🏼💙
Any advice on Staking Loaded Orange Tree Branches SAFELY? To Stake or Not to Stake Orange Tree....?
2022, 30+ year old, Orange Tree, San Francisco Bay area Zone 10a/b - but with weird Bay-Effect Micro Climates 1 Mile off the North Bay amid rolling hills, is more loaded with large 4"+ fruit ( after dropping hundreds of early drop marble sized fruit buds last Spring which made Us concerned We might be left with no Ripe Seasonal Fruit, but We were very mistaken...! ... ) than it has produced in 8-10 years ( of poor attention / care ). We are now worried the Ripening Fruit, which is so abundant it has changed the overall shape of the dwarf tree in the last month, 7ft tall x 12ft+ wide, which now droops significantly ( no branches near or touching the ground yet ). We heavily wood chip mulched all orchard trees with 8"-12" which has done WONDERS for Apples Plums Cherries Apricots Lemons Limes; so far, so good.
You can use pampers to also protect from the cold
Any kind of cover you use must be heated underneath for anything more than a frost. Otherwise, it will just freeze through. Covers are very ineffective unless you place incandescent lights, a large thermal mass or another heat source underneath.
Okay, now I'm looking for one of these. I have Calamansi, and Kumquats but now I want this.
This satsuma is hardier than a kumquat, so it should be doable! Good luck!
@@TheMillennialGardener our local nursery just told me after I watched your video, that he has no Satsuma, only blood orange. So I'm going to try this.
Thanks for the sharing
You're welcome. Thanks for watching!
This was really good information. I am growing a Miho satsuma in a container in zone 8A. It is my second year. Do you know anything about the Miho satsuma? I hope to get an Owari myself next year. And I plan to put the Miho in the ground on my south facing wall. I like the bricks you add around the trunk for cold weather. That is something I can incorporate along with Christmas lights.
Your tree looks great! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks. I have not grown Miho, so I can't speak to it personally. I am growing Owari and Brown's Select, because they are the most cold hardy of the well-known satsumas, and appear to be superior to the newer supposedly "cold hardy" cultivars. While all satsumas are "cold tolerant" for citrus, the Owari and Brown's Select are the most cold hardy of the high quality, low-seed cultivars. From what I'm reading, Miho can tolerate temperatures down to the low 20's and briefly into the upper teens, but Owari and Brown's Select have shown the ability to briefly tolerate temperatures into Zone 8a range (10-15 degrees briefly).
Here is a good comparison article. Miho appears to be very early, especially compared to Owari: aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/patiocitrus/satsuma.pdf
Always top notch! 🙏💝
Thanks for watching!
Great information! Thank you!!
Glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!
If I were a zone higher I would grow these. But you know Jersey weather. My dog doesn't care about oranges but if I have a nectarine in my hands she will follow me anywhere.
They'll still do well in containers. You can just carry them inside in November, stick them in front of a sunny, south-facing window and bring it back outside in March or April as weather allows. I put my container-grown citrus in a garden cart and simply pull the cart inside on nights that are going to freeze. The rest of the time, I just pull it and park it up against my house in a sunny spot. If you purchase one of those Gorilla Carts, you can do something like that and fit 2-4 good-sized plants in there with near zero effort. It's worth it to have fresh citrus all winter when fresh fruit is scarce.
Wow that’s awesome.
Thanks for watching!
Recently found you on UA-cam and I appreciate all knowledge that you are sharing. Thank you. Where did you get your owarri trees from?
My Owari Satsuma is from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. I highly recommend him. He doesn’t do online orders, but he will ship them to you if you call him.
Thank you so much for responding. I will give him a call.
I have a Satsuma ( not sure of the variety but it's a seedling from another seedling that I got from my brother. Seems like they should be doing better. I might dig them up and put them in containers and place them on the South side of the house.
Thank you for all the precise info!! My question is...when I buy a Satsuma tree, will it already be grafted onto dwarfing root stock? Where do you purchase these?
Yes the will already be grafted. I got mine from briteleaf.com. I got a brown select satsuma.
No, not necessarily. Some places can clone them with rooted cuttings, so those trees would be "on their own roots." Some grafted trees are on "standard" rootstock, which means the tree will grow to be very large. Others are on dwarfing rootstock. You have to check, and if it doesn't say, you must contact the seller and ask what the rootstock type and name is. My tree came from Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC, but they're extremely common. You can go to big growers like Briteleaf or Four Winds, or just google them because they're very common. Home Depot and Lowes also get tons of them in in the spring, but the rootstock will be unknown.
Awesome Video! Can you buy Grafted Citrus Trees? I would love to grow one of these in a container.
I would ONLY recommend growing grafted citrus trees, with few exceptions. My meyer lemon, pink lemon and key lime were purposefully cloned, rooted cuttings to keep them small as a bush because they're naturally small trees. I would never grow one from seed because citrus trees don't grow true to type, so planting a tree from seed means you'll sit around for 10 years until you get fruit and probably wind up with a thorny, seedy, unproven, low quality tree. Every seed of a fruit tree is genetically unique, so I only recommend purchasing grafted varieties of known good performers.
Great video without the junk and loads of real info
Thanks for watching!
I have the same satsuma, a blood orange and a Eureka lemon.
How do you like it?
My satsuma is in a container and 3 years old, this is the first year I’ve allowed the tree to hold 2 doz fruit. I’m in New Orleans, so may be warmer than you, and just ate my last one. They were large, super easy to peel and very tasty! Love the variety! Most folks in my area have the brown select so I get plenty of those to eat since they share.
Now waiting for my blood orange to be ready to eat!
fruit and just
Debbie Fontenot very nice. What type of blood do you have? Mine is a Moro. They are very complex. They taste like raspberries and oranges in one.
My blood is a Moro also and also the first year fruiting. Trying hard to wait until January to sample!
Debbie Fontenot I ripened mine for the first year last year, and it took until February, I believe. Probably because my climate is cooler and the tree is young. I would expect it to be late its first few years until the tree puts age on.
Love your trees and Dale! I'm in zone 7a and have managed to get a small pomegranate tree to grow outside in a South West facing ell shaped nook touching the house. Can you suggest a citrus that could work?
Thank you! I actually can suggest a citrus that you may be able to grow: Yuzu. Yuzu is hardy to about 0 degrees when fully mature. It is a delicacy in Asian cooking and highly prized. You'll still need to protect it some, particularly when it's young to get it established, but it's extremely cold hardy.
I'm trying this tree , I have growing all kinds of citrus. But they have never produced good, and the citrus tasted watery and somewhat sweet. Never tried a manderen tree. This year I am. I'm north west Georgia, it gets very cold here sometimes
Hello my friend I hope you and the family are keeping well I just like to say fantastic video thank you for sharing this with you with us and have a happy Christmas you and your family thank you ❤❤🎁🎁👍👍👍
Thank you! I appreciate that. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Great video! How do you handle aphids on citrus? I seem to get them pretty bad every winter when I bring my orange and lemon indoors
I do not bring my citrus indoors. They stay outside 365 days a year. I only bring them inside my garage briefly if I see temps are going to fall into the 20's, which only happens around half a dozen nights a year on average. Then, they go right back outside after the sun rises, so I don't have an issue with aphids. If your citrus trees are not very heavy, you can combat aphids simply by carrying them outside on warmer days (40F or warmer). If that's not an option, you could purchase pyrethrin concentrate and mix your own spray. Pyrethrin is a broad-spectrum neurotoxin for insects made from the chrysanthemum plant, so it's natural. It is very potent, but it degrades rapidly so it doesn't hang around long. It'll wipe out good bugs and bad bugs, but since there are no "good bugs" on your indoor citrus, you can use it without fear.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you very much for the quick response! I'm trying the garage strategy this winter and bring them outside on warmer days like you suggest. Last two winters inside under growlights did not work out...all leaves dropped and aphid infestation. No matter what I used...insecticidal soap, neem oil, horticultural oil....yellow sticky traps...couldn't kill them all. The horticultural oil seemed to work best but I think did damage. I will try the other product you suggested....will provide an update in the next couple of months or so! Lemon has tons of blooms on it!
@@salvatorecaruso942 a little plant dolly makes the job easy. I put them in a garden cart and simply pull them in and out in 10 seconds. You can get one at Harbor Freight for about $80 that’ll hold 2 large trees.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you! I will check it out
I can grow one in Belgium,west-flemish!?!? The weather in winter here maximum -5,sometimes more but one or 2 times in january -6-7 for 1 or 2 nights but yes is always wet by raining!
Are you located around Brugge where it doesn't get very cold at night? If you do not see temperatures
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you very much! I don t live in Brugge but near,around 35 km to Brugge and here we have the same weather like in Brugge!!! Will look to find one but for the big pot if is possible! Will think good before to decide! Thank you again!
Lucian. Cojocaru you’re welcome. Good luck!
Can you suggest a soil mix for growing citrus in containers. I’m in zone 10 but i have no yard space to grow citrus. Thanks
I like the MiracleGro mix made for citrus and cactus. It is in an orange bag. It's made to be fast-draining and prevent root rot.
Make sure the soil drains well! I see so many people kill citrus tree from overwatering and root rot etc.
Citrus is very prone to root rot in containers. However, depending on the rootstock you graft them on, they can be tolerant of subpar conditions when planted in ground. I urge trifoliate rootstock because not only do they add a dwarfing effect and cold hardiness, but they're also very tolerant of clay soil that can hold water. They're a great all-around rootstock. That doesn't mean plant them in a low-lying area, of course, but they're not as bad as, say, an avocado with drainage issues.
I have Meyer lemon in apot and i love is loaded with litle lemons now.
I'm in my 30s and always got mandarins at Christmas in my stocks.
Michelle Bennett that’s a great tradition to carry on. Did your family ever explain why? It is a throwback to the days where citrus was purely seasonal. Imagine going to the grocery store and you can’t buy lemons or limes. The things we take for granted!
@@TheMillennialGardener no they never did. They also put nuts in the stocking and i have no idea why.
@@michellezevenaar probably something to do with harvest time, too. I don't really know much about growing nuts because you need enormous amounts of land for farming nuts. We take for granted that we can walk into any store now and get lemons, limes, walnuts, avocados, tomatoes, cucumbers and apples, all fresh. Historically, this is the first time in human history! A lot of these traditions were born out of scarcity.
Just some FYI...
My "Improved Meyer Lemon" survived an ice storm in the upper teens a few years back... in container and on own roots too!
All of the wood without bark died (most of the tree). She was assumed to be a goner.
Suddenly in LATE Spring the following year she began pushing new sprouts from the base of the trunk that actually had bark on it. By the end of the Summer she was bigger and better than ever and had fruit on her.
I am considering putting her into the ground. I made 4 clones in my aquaponics system and put them into containers. I have a wonderful South facing wall that is just begging for a citrus tree or two or three. lol
MySuburbanHomestead wow! That’s great to hear. I put a Meyer Lemon in ground over the summer, because I like to live dangerously! It took the 25F low last week like a champ, but it was covered in a frost jacket with 2 strands of Christmas lights on it. We will see how it handles lows in the teens. We are due for one or two this year.
@@TheMillennialGardener
As long as there is bark on the trunk there is a chance!
All of my potted Meyer lemons handled those same temps last week like a champ as well.
I am just a few hours North of you.
My Meyers were completely left out in the open. No lights or anything. I think the temps only got down to 27F though (what my truck said in the morning when I left for work). The are of course on the South side of the house sitting near a decent amount of brick foundation/stairs. Protected from the wind (Makes a huge difference).
Even my fruit made it through without damage.
@@great0789 that is BRAVE for a Meyer. I'm not that brave. I specifically did not get a grafted Meyer. I got a rooted cutting so I can keep it as a small bush pressed against the ground. I'll be growing it as a fruiting hedge against my house. Unlucky me, though, I got one that's thorny. The one my mother got was thornless so far. It's funny how that depends on the cutting you get.
@@TheMillennialGardener
I almost think it depends on the growing conditions actually!
All of my cuttings I started in the Aquaponics system had thorns. The mother tree does not.
All of the new growth on the cuttings no longer have thorns (except original branches). They do have fruit now though. lol
Did you happen to ship the pepper seeds yet?
Yes. They were all shipped yesterday via USPS first class mail. They will arrive in a standard white envelope. I am in southeastern North Carolina, so shipment times will be commensurate with distance. If you've been ordering packages lately, it's pretty clear USPS is running a little late these days, but they will be arriving as quickly as USPS can handle.
Hi ! great video! What is a good size forever home/ pot for DwarfOwari ? I dont have a yard, its in an apartment patio in a pot LOL ALSO, what is your current favorite brand organic fertilizer you are using for your Owari during fall ?? Thanks!
STRONG WORK 😎😎😎
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the great content. Where can we purchase the fruit trees you are growing? Thanks!
If you're talking specifically about citrus trees, all my grafted citrus are from McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. Stan McKenzie is probably the largest collector of cold hardy citrus in the entire United States. He's THE go-to for grafted citrus for the South.
You said your Owari ripens in november? Mine didn't show a hint of orange color until mid-december. I picked the fruit on jan 3 and it tasted okay but the flavor was kinda "watered down". I probably should have waited another week to pick it. Im in north Texas BTW.
Try a Pixie mandarin, sweet, juicy, seedless, remains on tree a long time, easy to peel.
I'm in zone 8A Faetteville NC. I brought my first persian lime citrus indoors because I didnt want to risk loosing it to the cold. I have lots of little limes coming out on them. I would really like to grow it outdoors inground, but ill have to get more information on hardy varieties. Where did you get this variety from & do you prune it? Thanks for the great information. I'm reading up on grafting now & the right selections. I'm the same, I don't like the winter either, I grew up in the north where we got 10ft of snow & still had to go to school.😝😕
You're about 90 mins northwest of me. I'm down in the Wilmington area. A Persian Lime will not grow anywhere in North Carolina. Limes are among the least cold hardy citrus and shouldn't be exposed to any freezing temps at all. There is only one lime that can survive here: The Hardy Red Lime. It is a lime-tasting cross between, I believe, a Rangpur lime and either a kumquat or a calamondin. It turns orange, and the skin gets sugary sweet, but the inside is a very seedy lime flavor. I like my tree a lot, and I got it from Stan McKenzie in Scranton, SC. My satsuma in this video and blood orange also came from Stan. It's a really nice country roads drive to his farm from where we live. It was about 2.5 hours for me each way.
@@TheMillennialGardener But I can grow it here if I bring it indoors, right. It appears to be thriving. I havent lost any leaves & I have lots of flowers, buds & fruit coming out. But thanks for the info!
Forgive me if you mention this later in the video, but can you share where I can buy this specific Satsuma tree?
My yorki loves mandarins
I’m a first timer trying to grow stuff with the way the world is going 🥴 my first question is HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT ZONE YOU ARE IN 🤷🏾♀️?? Thnx
Simple. Consult a USDA hardiness zone map: planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/pages/view-maps
This will show you your average minimum temperature each winter, which is one of the better determining factors of what plants can survive in your area.
You sold me!
Can the Blood orange take low temps,? Can they surrive very windy days ? Should soil be amended, if Alkaline?
My blood orange has taken temperatures as low as 26F with no damage. The leaves froze through but were just fine. I don't think they can take much lower than that. Blood Oranges are Zone 9a trees, so temps in the low 20's may cause some damage, and teens could kill the tree. If you're in the Canary Islands like you said in your other comment, they'll have no problem. Mildly acidic soil is best.
I have a Meyer lemon tree in a large container, I have been babying it bringing it in the shed in the winter time last year I got really large lemons off of it and really a good harvest this year I got eggs size lemons so I don’t know what I have done or didn’t do I fertilize three times a year and I was debating on whether I should put it in the ground or not. It is about five years old maybe six and about 5 feet tall can you give me some advice thank you. Forgot to mention I’m in South Mississippi
If your tree is fruiting very heavily, fruit size may suffer. Meyer Lemons have a habit of fruiting very aggressively and at all times. Your tree may be fruiting more than the roots can handle since they’re confined to a pot, and all the fertilizer and sun in the world won’t help if the roots are the bottleneck. What you can do is thin your fruits - remove some so the fruit load is more bearable for the tree. Reducing the total number of fruits will increase overall size.
Thanks
I also live in North Carolina. Where did you buy it. I want one of those! Thanks
All my grafted citrus trees are from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC.
Hi can we grow rhubarb in zone 8A
Love your passion for gardening thankyou for your helpful videos
I've never grown rhubarb before. A Google search estimates it grows in Zones 3-8, so I would assume so. Look for more heat resistant varieties if you're in the South. If you're in the PNW, any variety will probably grow.
Thanks!
Wow! Thank you so much! I really, really appreciate it. I'm glad you enjoyed the video ❤
Just received my owari satsuma and cara cara orange trees based on your suggestion from Mr. Mckenzie. When you say fertilize three times, is it the liquid fertilizer or granular fertilizer?
Awesome! Are you going to grow them in ground or in containers? If you're growing in-ground, you can fertilize them once each season. You'll want to dump around 1-2 cups of an organic 5-5-5 around the base of the tree and add some fresh compost/mulch. You can also add a watering can full of water and fish emulsion. For in-ground trees, I only use liquid fertilizer when the trees are young. After a couple years, the roots are strong enough that they just need healthy soil culture, which is compost, mulch and some 5-5-5 organic granulated fertilizer.
In containers, it's totally different. They *need* liquid fertilizer, because there isn't enough of a stable soil microbiome. You don't have worms and such coming into your containers. You need to add soluble liquid feed. I recommend you watch this if you want to grow in containers: ua-cam.com/video/uhZ6gslBoVw/v-deo.html
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you! I am going to grow them in containers, at least for now. I watched that video after this one, very helpful.
Now starting to grow grafted ones pime pekons in containers from the Caribbean
What about 7B? I actually have this tree but I have been afraid to put it in the ground.
It depends on the 7b. Technically, even 8a is too cold many years to be completely unprotected. If you live in 7b Charlotte, NC, or 7b Birmingham, AL, you could likely grow it in-ground with protection on those rough 5-10 nights a year. However, if you're 7b Philadelphia or 7b New York City, there is no way. While satsumas can briefly withstand very cold temps, it needs to rebound immediately. The reason why my satsuma can survive cold plunges is because by 10AM, it's 55 degrees, here. They need to warm up quickly. So, there's a big difference between a Deep South 7b where it's 55-60 degrees most days in January, and a northern 7b where you spend several days a year where temps never break above freezing. I would say, if you wanted to give a 7b a shot, you'd need to be south of Raleigh, NC, at the very least.
@@TheMillennialGardenerdo you have a video on the kind of protection? Does the brick surround you have around the one in the video help? We are in 7b, Northwest Georgia.
Do you have any thoughts on the Harvey Lemon?
I don't know too much about it. I know it's one of the hardiest nearly seedless lemons out there. It was one of the few survivors of the record freezes that Florida endured during the 1970's, and it's known to be capable of surviving the mid-teens very briefly. I am not growing it, but it's supposed to have a standard "lemon" flavor, so it may be feasible to grow in 8b. Here is a good article: www.dailyridge.com/en/2018/06/29/all-about-harvey-lemons/
I’ve got a 1 yr old improved Meyer lemon tree growing in a pot. I’m losing leaves to yellowing on the inside of the limbs, but not on the ends of the limbs. Is this normal? I’m not overwatering and the plant is flowering like crazy. I live in zone 9b in California, thanks so much! Love your videos.
My Meyer is in ground as a bush. The leaves far inside up against the trunk are yellowing and I expect them to eventually fall as the tree lignifies. As long as the yellowing leaves are right up against the trunk, I think that may be a normal thing. If you look at how shrubs grow, they tend to lose their leaves up against the trunk as they age to create airflow inside the center. If you're only seeing a couple yellowing leaves up against the trunk, I'd think you're okay. However, if it's persisting up and down the limbs or you see any drooping, you could be seeing root rot from overwatering. Citrus are VERY susceptible to root rot in containers, so I grow them all in self-watering containers to avoid that problem. If you're in 9b and you have some room in your yard, that tree will go bonkers in your climate. 9b is the premier citrus growing zone.
@@TheMillennialGardener will definitely give it a try, thank you very much for the information
Against the foundation is concerning? How are you keeping the house from being damaged?
The tree is grafted onto trifoliate orange. The trees barely get 6-7 feet tall. They can't do any kind of damage to a 24" concrete footer. You have to be selective with what you plant.
My meyer lemon taste like motor oil, it is awlful
Are you sure it is a Meyer? That is what you get from a trifoliate cross. You may have two problems:
1. You got the wrong plant.
2. You have a Meyer Lemon grafted onto Trifoliate Orange rootstock and the rootstock has sent shoots out and has overtaken the plant, and you're eating trifoliate oranges.
Is the fruit slightly orange, small and extremely seedy? Meyer Lemons should be very large, bright yellow and extremely juicy and almost "sweet" for a lemon.
Is it possible to graft this orange on a Meyer lemon tree?
Where do we buy the the grafted version of this tree, as you have? I have seen the tree for sale on a standard root stock but not in combination with a dwarf root stock.
Rizzo 919 I got mine from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in Scranton, SC. You want to look for one on trifoliate rootstock. They may or may not list trifoliate as a dwarf. It is not probably a true “dwarf” rootstock, but it has a dwarfing effect. I would recommend calling or emailing and asking what type of rootstock it is grafted to. I got it from Stan because he told me in person it was on trifoliate.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for such a fast reply ; ) I will follow your suggestion. We have a place at Sunset/Calabash beach and I think this would be great to plant close to the house there. As it is in a very similar climate to you. Cheers!
Rizzo 919 I am more inland, so it will be even more doable there. My parents live in Calabash, which is about 50 mins southeast of me down 17. I’m in north Brunswick County.
@@TheMillennialGardener Awesome! I will order one and take it down and plant it over Christmas ; )