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Feb 24, 2014 11:13 PM CST
Name: Tim Hoover
Elysian FIelds, Texas (Zone 8a)
Beekeeper Ponds Region: Texas Seller of Garden Stuff
Hey Dave,
I live somewhat North East of you, near Shreveport. I have been growing a number of varieties of Satsumas for the past 12 years outside in the ground.. I have only ever lost one, oddly, it was Miho. I also am growing Meyer Lemon. Most years I get huge harvests...so many that at some point, I begin to start throwing them at my neighbors cows just to see if I can hit them. Yeah, I know, I need a hobby...
Anyway, here is the "trick" if you want to grow them. You must find a South wall and plant them along it- very (!) close. Satsumas grow more like a big, floppy multi-stemmed shrub rather than a tree. I do not need to really do any pruning because as they get larger, they will get beyond the "protection" heat zone that the wall creates and get cold zapped. They get as tall as my roof and then, again, the cold will self prune them. The protection zone seems to be about 7-8 foot from the wall.

In very bad years like this one and in 2010, they have been defoliated and bit back harder than normal from the cold but ultimately, they came back fine. Right now, they look like they have been blow-torched but I am not worried. Most years they have been perfectly evergreen. As a side note, until 2010, I also had a Blood Orange that became huge and bore very heavily along this wall. Amazing since that is a very cold sensitive variety. I got down to 9 bone-chilling degrees one night that year. I kissed my Blood Orange goodbye.

All these Satumas, as is typical, are on Trifoliate Orange rootstock. BTW..the Blood Orange undoubtedly was on Sour Orange rootstock- much less cold hardiness is imparted to the cultivar.

I just want to warn all you folks in Zone 8...yes, Satsumas ARE very cold hardy but if you want to have them more than a couple years, you must find a good micro climate in your yard. If you are in the middle of a large city such as Dallas or Atlanta, perhaps you need not be as worried. If you are rural as I am, do not even think about sticking it out in the middle of the yard. They are to expensive to gamble on! I have given this advise to many of my customers over the years- if they followed it, they have been picking some nice Tangerines! If they did not, they rarely made it but a few years, if even one.

I really enjoy showing them off to non-believers who drop by. This past fall, I took a ton of them to the farmers market that I participate in. I was called a liar so many times by know-it-alls (YOU CAN'T GROW CITRIS AROUND HERE!!!!) I decided not to ever bother bring them back, lol. Funny thing was that across from me there is a rotten old man who goes down to South Louisiana and brings a truck load of Satsumas back. He was selling them like crazy, for twice what I was selling them for. Mine were as sweet as candy and picked the day prior to the market. His looked old and dull. Go figure....
Hope this helps.

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