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
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBoca_Joe(zone 7b) southern Delaware
10 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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