Sure, but leave the mulch on until harvest as it will prevent weeds and help keep a stable soil moisture and temperature. Garlic hates weeds. TomNJ

I think it is great that you are doing these breeding experiments. Cold hardy citrus probably has a lot of work than can be very successful even with relatively small experiments, as opposed to thousands of seedlings to get a new apple variety for instance.

I love your "landed gentry" comment. I'm in that position now as well, so I'm hoping poncirus is as slow-growing as I've read, because mine will probably be in pots for several years. I just want to weigh in on the taste discussion. I stole a fruit from the zoo a few months ago and currently have more seedlings than I can handle (hopefully at least one will live to see my hypothetical future property). I am assuming the tree was plain ol' Flying Dragon, as it had the twisted stems/hooked thorns and had lived through some icy weather. At any rate, during the seed-removal process, I tasted the fruit. I did not find it awful. I tasted it again. In fact, I have a feeling that if one of these trees ever bore fruit, I might end up slurping at one every now and then. (There was pretty much no pulp to speak of, I don't know if that's because I'd left it on the shelf for a while after picking or because that's just how they are.) I admit, we did the PTC experiment during the chapter on genetics in ninth grade biology, and I was a nontaster. My sister hated me for making her taste the stuff (and still gets rather animated when reminded of it), so I guess it's really bad if you can taste it, but I got nothing. Anyone know whether whatever's in the poncirus is related chemically? Maybe that's why some people can take it, and others suggest storing it where it will be forgotten? (*cough*MrTexas*cough*) ;) I did notice that the mostly-empty peel started to smell awful after a couple of hours sitting out on the counter. To me it didn't taste anything like that smell, but is that the "poncirus taste" referenced? - Lali, who probably eats things she shouldn't anyway but still finds cilantro repulsive

Random observations in no particular order - just as they occur to me: ** It's extremely rare for 6 inch soil temperatures in zone 5 to ever drop much below 26*, so 10* air temps do not equate to 10* actual root temps, which is KEY. Roots are the least hardy organs of a dormant plant. ** There is a considerable moderating effect by geothermal heat radiating and conducting through the floor of buildings. Potted plants resting on the garage floor might have soil temps as high as 15* warmer than ambient temps of 15* and lower because of this moderating effect. ** There is no way to tell how hardy any individual plant is w/o killing it. Cold-hardiness is a genetic trait & is passed through the generations of vegetatively propagated plant material. Plants that are able to grow and fruit well nearer the equator may have nearly no tolerance to freezing temperatures, while trees originating from a more northerly provenance that grow and fruit well will probably have a considerable ability to withstand cold. ** When it comes to how much cold roots can tolerate - all roots are not created equal. The finer roots succumb to freezing first, then the medium diameter, more lignified roots. Finally, when temps get too cold, the more perennial, well-lignified hold-outs finally succumb, causing the death of the plant. ** The effect of this incremental root death is usually evident in late leaf-out in spring. The plant will expend a fair amount of energy developing rootage to support the canopy before the plant leafs out. The result is a plant with lower energy reserves to push the spring flush of growth; or a loss of potential increase in biomass. Many trees are pretty much the same as large cuttings come spring - because of the chill injury to roots. I'm guessing the damage to the finest rootage of the more hardy varieties probably starts around 27-28*. I'd like to say that there are few figs that will tolerate ACTUAL root temps much below 17-20*, but I'd probably get conflicting anecdotes, so I won't. You CAN see though, that at these extreme low temperatures, there is going to be considerable freeze damage to secondary and tertiary roots. Al