Hardy Citchangsha/citrandarin in zone 7a - Northern VA!
We harvested the first fruit in early December, what a surprise!
Our fruit was a rich tangerine color just like a tangerine inside and the color of an orange outside.
* Relatively small pores , smooth skin on a round, golf ball sized
fruit.
* Here's the interesting part: the peel/zest had a definite
sweet orange taste with no trace of bitterness, in fact when I first
tasted the rind, I thought of orange marmalade- it was that
pleasant/sweet and orangey.
* _*The pulp tastes more like a mandarin or tangerine than anything
else, maybe a hint of lemon, not quite as sweet as a tangerine, more sour, but
definitely NOT bitter at all.
No trifoliate taste to speak of in the pulp or the rind!
With quite a bit of research and the expert input of several citrus hybridizers, we are pretty confident that this is what it is based on our taste test and where we got it and from whom.
This tree was planted in 2007, about 1' tall and now about 15'. It has experienced lows of near 0f at least once since planting and several single digit nights with no noticable damage or any dieback.
We have 18 seeds germinated from the fruit and are going to try grafting some wood this spring.
Pretty exciting for us here in zone 7 for a citrus this hardy and this tasty!
photos and videos here. Please disregard the references to citrumelo in the video- long story.
Boca Joe
Here is a link that might be useful: hardy sweet citrus in Northern VA, zone 7a
Comments (59)
foxd
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBoca_Joe(zone 7b) southern Delaware
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
1994-2014 Hardy Trachycarpus in Northern Virginia Anniversary
Comments (20)Yes, that's the record that is the basis for this claim but the weather station where it was recorded is about 4 mile away from the location of the palm. What it boils down to is whether you believe it was the same temperature at both places. I'm simply saying that's not a safe assumption, and it's not sufficient to make an unqualified claim. It's not particularly outrageous to point out that temperatures can differ by several degrees over several miles (seriously, does anybody doubt this? Anybody?) or to suggest that an extraordinary claim (based at best on circumstantial evidence) should be taken with a grain of salt. Take the facts and do what you will with them, but it should tell you something that I'm being attacked, rather than the simple facts I'm presenting....See MoreCitrandarin taste test again.
Comments (8)I have two of these in pots, which were started from cuttings of a bearing tree living (at the time) near Sterling, VA, zone 7a. They are each about 5 feet high now. Whether the original tree in Sterling was a seedling or a rooted cutting, I'm not sure. It seemed to not bloom until it was quite tall -- maybe 8 feet. Have you tried Keraji mandarin? Pretty darn hardy and might make it in zone 8. Better than Changsha....See MoreUS-852 hardy Citrandarin
Comments (10)John: US-852 was discontinued as a propagated rootstock for numerous reasons. One was that it did not produce enough nucellar seedlings...there were enough 'off types' that the seedlings were too varied, so this made it hard to propagate reliably on a large scale for the citrus industry. But someone told me it apparently has a very good long-term compatibility with satsumas. Apparently the hybrid has been remade by Univ. of Florida and called UF6. It supposedly grows more true from seed. Steve: The only reason this variety was of interest to me was because it's very hardy, approaches edibility (LOL), and actually survived and bore fruit in the ground in my region. But it's heplful to know that it does make a good rootstock as well, I suppose....See MoreNeed help to design shade yard northern virginia 7a
Comments (64)I'm trying to build my soil and I have read stories where even the hardest clay changes simply with top dressing every year. It takes much longer this way (years), but the stories have been convincing. I'm leaving the autumn leaves in my garden and I take bags of leaves from my lawn and keep them rather than giving to the county. I try to shred the leaves but we find the process messy and unpleasant (loud shredder) but I usually get a bag or two done which worth about 5 bags unshredded. I use the shredded leaves as a bottom layer of mulch for my vegetable garden and any leftovers for my ornamental garden. The whole leaves are used for the ornamental gardens and back "wild" garden. On top of the leaves, I put shredded hard wood mulch for the ornamental garden and natural bark mulch for the vegetable garden. I use much less than if I only used mulch as I have the (completely free) layer of leaves underneath. My vegetable garden gets turned a bit every year as I plant new, so I have seen the best change in my soil as the broken down mulch from the previous year is incorporated into the top few inches as I break up the soil and create a smooth planting base in the Spring. I'm starting to compost again and hope to have my own compost to use as another layer. My county doesn't do this, but others nearby will deliver for free to residents truck loads of compost (I'm so jealous). You might want to look into your local services to see if they either deliver or allow pickup of mulch or compost for residents. I'm really excited for you and your project! I think you will have an amazing woodland garden!...See More
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agopersianmd2orchard
10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
tcamp30144(7B N.ATLANTA)
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBoca_Joe(zone 7b) southern Delaware
9 years agolast modified: 9 years agoThe tree is strongly regrowing from the bottom. We took several cuttings from fruiting wood last summer and a few are even blooming this year!
This tree is a USDA 852 seedling , so it is not grafted , so it will be 100% true from the regrowth.
Just took this photo last week. One tough tree.
Boca Joe
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
9 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
katiebeth128_wv_6b
6 years ago
Joe S
6 years ago
Laura LaRosa (7b)
6 years ago
bklyn citrus (zone 7B)
6 years ago
poncirusguy6b452xx
6 years agoJoe S
6 years agoJoe S
6 years ago0webuser_27967133520
5 years agoJoe S
5 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
5 years ago
jenny_in_se_pa
5 years agoJoe S
5 years ago0webuser_27967133520
5 years agoJoe S
5 years ago0webuser_27967133520
5 years ago0webuser_27967133520
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoLeaves are trifoliate but fruiting terminal branches can occasionally have a few bifoliate or unifoliate leaves.
I would say if the fruit is left to ripen completely (nearly falling from the tree), then squeezed, diluted and with sweetener added, it can make a fair mandarin-ade drink. Fruit usually ripens by late November to December -- often too long past our first hard frost. Fruit is fairly large and very full of juice.
But I would not eat the fruit out of hand. It has trifoliate overtones. In fact, my wife commented she could smell it after I cut into it.
0webuser_27967133520
5 years agosocalnolympia
5 years agoThis is a picture of a fairly large citrumelo tree growing in Winston-Salem, central North Carolina (zone 7b)
credit to Bob Snyder for the pictures of his tree
bklyn citrus (zone 7B)
5 years agoBetsy
3 years agoSilica
3 years agoBetsy
3 years agoSilica
3 years agoBetsy
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years agoBetsy
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBetsy
3 years agoSilica
3 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBetsy
3 years agosocalnolympia
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years agoBetsy
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBetsy
3 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
3 years agosocalnolympia
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBetsy
3 years agoponcirusguy6b452xx
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoBetsy
3 years agoherman zimmerman
2 years ago
jacklord