The weather people are not always accurate. According to the variety chart on the Four Winds Growers website, it says to protect it below 32. For me, 40 is as low as I will go. Why risk it?

At 38F dry-dry-dry air can case temperature drop below the ambient air temperature to moisture loss to air as well as radiant energy loss to outer-space through the super clear sky of dry air. Be very careful at those temperatures.

Steve

So what do you recommend, Steve? I have to be honest, I don't really understand everything you said. Would you recommend bringing it in when the temp is in the low 40s?

Evan is experienced in desert growing so I would go with his recommendation. I leave my trees outside as low as 32 with out problems here in humid Cincinnati

I leave my trees out until the mid to low 30's then I move them in. Sometimes I shuffle them in and out for the day and night until the days are consistently in the 30's then they stay in in my area that's not for long. I am in 8a so close but much wetter than your area. It's up to you but I find my trees do much better in a sheltered location outside in the high 30's/low 40's then under lights in my garage. Sometimes it takes some trial and error.

It is in a covered patio right now, but I will move it into my family room, just off the patio when it gets colder. I don't think it would get enough light in my garage. Besides, the family room is closer than the garage.

If it has fruit, definitely no frost.

In the family room is a better place for it Patti, my garage has no windows but I use lamps with CFL's. Depending on how much light it gets through the window it would probably benefit from some additional supplemental lighting as well. I just use a lamp and reflectors with CFL's and that seems to get them by so you could easily add a cheap floor lamp with a CFL bulb to make its time indoors better. Just make sure to transition from outside to inside gradually so its less of a shock. WLD (winter leaf drop) is very common and can be mitigated by a slower transition. This is my first year with an Oro Blanco as well so we shall see how they take the winter.

I've never done this before. What does CFL stand for? There ARE some fruit on the tree, so I'll be sure to bring it in.

These are the ones I have. Its the same set up as Laura and they worked out pretty well for both of us last year.

https://www.amazon.com/Philips-433557-100-watt-Twister-4-Pack/dp/B00M6SR1JM/ref=sr_1_3?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1506964727&sr=1-3&keywords=cfl+light+bulbs

In this lamp with a reflector clipped to it with a second bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20110903/

I keep the lamp about 6 inch's from the top of my tree but I start about 9 inches away and slowing move it closer every day so they don't burn. Then I point the reflector up at the bottom portion of the tree, its not as close but it still seems to help.

Great advice everyone. Patti, please realize that they won't grow as productive or actively grow, even might yellow up a bit, but they will be just fine....

Remember too that soil choice makes a huge difference. If you have your trees in a nice porous mix, they will be just fine. In a mix that stays wet for days on end, I would not risk temps lower than the 40's at best.

Cottonwood occassionaly does get nippy. My friend in Sedona has a Satsuma in the ground.... but Satsumas are more cold tolerant. In Calif. I have 2 OroBs in the ground. Years ago when they were 3 ft. Tall, The one that was healthy and green had no problem with a week long stretch of nightly dips into the low 20s. And one night to 18. Another one that was in rehab due to root rot from a sprinkler leak, was killed to just above the graft after a dip to 16. I pulled it, repotted and it is 6ft. Tall now.

I do not know how FW came up with the lower temp limit as its different than its brother, the Melogold. OroBs are tougher than you think. BUT. If you have the option/ ability to bring them indoors any time temps threaten mid 30s or lower, you will have a faster growing tree - good luck!

molewacker, does your friend in Sedona have any lemons? I wouldn't mind a Satsuma, but I don't have a lot of room, and I'd love a Eureka lemon. Meyers just aren't tart enough for me.

It would probably be pretty tough for a Eureka in ground but with lots of winter protection you might be able get away with it. I think it was Steve that said I could probably grow a Harvey lemon with winter protection the first few years if I wanted. I am going to try it out once I move into a more permanent location so you may look into that and see if its doable for you. I am not into Meyers as a lemon replacement either, I like the clean tart flavor of a traditional lemon. Mckenzie sells them: http://mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm

Patti, he does not have any lemons at this time. If I was to suggest a lemon to him, it would be the Santa Teresa or Lisbon 8A. Both are vigorous producers and I have heard (can't verify) that they are a bit more cold hardy than Eureka (I do not have any Eurekas). If in a pot that you can bring indoors, this is all irrelevant.

But, if you wanted to put in in the ground, it would have to be on a south facing (lots of hot sun) stucco (heat retaining) wall. And protect them when temps dip below freezing. My young Lisbon in Danville was damaged significantly at 19F while the Lisbon in Napa was killed down to 1 foot high at 16F. Both came back strong. The STL was in a protected area so can't compare exactly. Bottom line, you can grow these freeze sensitive cultivars successfully if you protect them during those [teens] dips that you get every other winter.

- good luck and post some pictures when you get them.

Summers, are you referring to the Harvey lemon for a traditional lemon or something else? Thank you for the link to McKenzie. They have yuzus too. I might consider that. Have you ordered from them before? I like the idea of the pink lemon. I've been thinking about it and I think I could grow one more tree in a pot then bring it into the garage if I grew it on the driveway in front of the house. I have a 3 car garage, but I only have one car, so I'd put it in front of the one car garage. Hopefully the HOA wouldn't give me a hard time about having a tree on my driveway.

Patti, Yes for a traditional lemon. I have not ordered from Stan but others here have and rave about him and his customer service. I think you would be just fine keeping less cold hardy varieties in pots and moving them in. Its what most of us do here. I kept mine in the garage in the winter, it has no windows and stays around 40 degrees all winter with only supplemental lighting and a fan to keep the airflow going. They don't look great at the end of winter but they get by and look better once outside in the spring. This year because I now have 20+ trees I am converting a spare bedroom into a winter place for my trees. There is one small window and it stays in the 60-70 range temp wise so we shall see if these conditions are better than my old set up. I just got a Yuzu last week after finally finding one (it took a year+) Its really small but in time will be an awesome tree. We plan to sell and move this year so nothing is going in ground yet. But after I move providing our new lot has the space the Yuzu, some Mandarins, and a Harvey lemon are going in ground and we are going to see how they do. I also dream of a green house but that's a retirement goal so I have a long time to wait.

Harvey lemon sold here

http://www.justfruitsandexotics.com/Citrus.htm

Steve

Steve, Just Fruits cannot ship citrus out of Florida due to quarantine. It sucks because I would love to order from them. They also changed their website layout and now it much harder to navigate.

Patti is also in a quarantine state so she will not be able to buy from McKenzie.

Evan