Depends, now is the time to watch what happens.

The true test is if the stems and branches have died. Are they still green? Sometimes you can scratch beneath the thin bark, and if you see green, and it's wet and cool, it's still alive. If brown and dry, then likely dead.

Don't scratch. You will find out very soon when spring arrives. It may come out from a rootstock sucker.

Steve

It is really going to depend on how low it got at your house and what kind of protection it had. If it is growing near the south side of the house it has a better chance of surviving. I got down to 16 degrees the first night and 14 degrees the second night. I have a large 8 to 10 foot sweet lemonade tree(orange/lemon cross) and it is growing sprouts. And it had no protection except for a tarp on the north side. So there is hope. I have a smaller satsuma and mandarin that do not look good, but still might make it. The second year trees I planted last year look like a lost cause. But even on those I will wait and see what happens.

It can take awhile to determine if the tree makes it. I have heard one person say that on a previous freeze it took until late summer before the satsuma started pushing out growth.

Basically, if the bark starts to split and separate from the trunk the tree is dead. Best to just wait and see what happens. I would not expect any fruit this year, just hope the tree survives.

In the future if we have another very hard freeze, put soil or mulch up around the trunk at least 18 inches. Everything below the mulch should make it. Everything above will probably die. But at least you save the tree. Then after the freeze remove all the mulch or soil from around the tree. I did one small satsuma like this and it survived.

You'll know by May; before that point, don't touch it.

My satsuma tree , very large bush really, seems to have no damage to the limbs, but pretty soon, when all the dead leaves drop, it will be a total skeleton. It is in the corner of the back lawn , with a wooded lot 20’ to one side and. 15’ high hedge 10’ behind it , the rest being open lawn 60’ to the south of the house. We are just north of Beaumont too.

Hope all your TX trees recover.

Eric - what variety of satsuma? If it is a texas developed cold hardy variety (Arctic or Orange Frost), they are grown on their own roots, so likely will come back for sure. The other commons satsumas (Miho, Owari, etc) are on rootstock, so you'll have to look to health above the graft.

Otcay - that pomelo harvest is amazing! Hopefully, the tree just has some die back and no complete death.

Not sure of the trees heritage. It was purchased from a local nursery and bears large fruit about the size of a softball.

If the limbs are still green, it has a good chance of making it. My Sweet Lemonade tree lost all its leaves but is pushing out new growth all the way to the top. Really surprised it is doing so well. The other citrus is not doing as well, but there is still time. Losing leaves really does not seem to hurt the citrus.

I have seen some new growth on some of the smaller satsumas that I planted last year. The growth was above the graft. Maybe they are not dead after all.

Mother Nature works her magic

I'm about to post some beetle damage photos showing how quickly some of my frozen trees are being converted into powder.....but in response to this conversation, I have three Satsumas in my yard, also here in SE Texas near Orange. One was a small tree, maybe two-inch diameter near the graft. I'm pretty sure it's dead but still giving it some time. I believe there is a chance our trees may try to re-sprout near the ground and hopefully above the graft. The good news is that my two bigger/older Satsumas are just now showing leaf buds on some of the branches. These trees are 10-15 years old and around 6-8-inch trunk diameter at the ground. I'm hopeful that your trees may show signs of life soon!

Give it time, I had one that lost its cover in the 14F night a few years ago, I thought it was dead, but it finally started leafing out the following August.

John - fingers crossed for your 6-8" trunked babies. I can only imagine having such a giant citrus being in potted citrus land of virginia. Being so large, if the scion is alive, it will have the stored energy to rebound with vigor.