I would think that it will be to cold. Not a good idea.

There’s a guy in Delaware doing it but he covers with protection (a layer of heavy frost cloth and then a transluscent tarp) and uses Christmas lights (C7s?) on a Thermocube. You would probably not want plants to see much colder than mid 20s. He also grows Satsumas and grapefruit this way.

If you try it, I would suggest using the most mature plant you have, planted in spring. You want to give it time to get roots established. Make sure your drainage is good. Are you on clay or sand?

It is not the cold so much as the rootstock. Your cuttings are Meyer lemon root, which is infamously weak. If you wanted to plant a grafted Meyer in ground in 7A, you could probably come up with a solution to protect it (covering, lights, misters, etc); but you would likely not be successful on a Meyer lemon root.

7b sounds a little bit too cold. If you are willing to provide some winter protection, it may be doable.

Another possibility is to look into citrange and other hybrids like that. (If they take and become established, maybe you could try grafting Meyer Lemon on that)

You might still have to tie on a clear plastic bag every winter (helps to increase cold hardiness by about 3 or 4 degrees).

Are you familure with a Citrondarin. It is said to have a good satsuma taste with 0F cold tolerance. Some people think it may be the same as this new variety "Citsuma Prague"

description of this variety

Citsuma Prague

Steve

Hi Hibiscus, we are on mostly clay, however, the spot I’d like to plant it has beatiful rich soil, as it had a very productive fig tree there for at least 12 years. Southern blight got the fig tree, and I’m only just getting over it!

It’s a sunny area, south facing, next to a barn, so has some protection from wind. I raked up and disposed of the top few inches of the soil after pulling up the fig tree, and I’ve not found anything online about citrus being effected by southern blight, so am hopeful it’s not susceptible to it. Thank you.

Hi Steve, thanks for the photos - I am totally up for fashioning a mini greenhouse around it :) I shall look up citrondarin too. Thanks.

Hi Parker, that’s interesting you mention grafting to another rootstock. There is actually a type of citrus tree directly next to the area I’d like to plant. I don’t know if it is wild, or was planted by previous owners (+ 12 years ago). It has the trifoliate (sp?) type leaf and produces two or three perfectly golf ball sized inedible fruit. It is the thorniest tree I have ever seen, so I just prune it to six feet tall or so, to keep it neat looking. The southern blight had no effect on it. So I suppose this might be a sign that a citrus rootstock may be able to survive - I could plant the original which is grafted. Thanks.

Thanks John, I think if I do it, I’ll plant the original Meyer which is grafted, instead of one of the cuttings.

Dave, thanks for your comment, it’s good to know it’s possible. I shall google thermocube!

I wish you luck! I live in 7b also but a bit north (Annapolis). I doubt I’d be able to pull it off. I hope you can manage it with all the great advice from this forum!

are yours still living? did you plant in ground? I am in NW Mississippi and just got my 1st one so I am trying to figure it out. Thanks!

Up here in the Pacific Northwest, zone 8a, there have been a few reports of Meyer lemons managing to survive outside, up against the house. However, I'm not sure if that's every winter, or if they could survive permanently, when sometimes there is a year where a colder winter comes along. In zone 7b, I think it's doubtful they could survive through a winter outside.

Root grown meyers were killed with 16 degrees first night and 14 degrees on the second night. The soil temperature was never below 40 degrees. I am in southeast Texas and was on the edge of the historically cold weather in Texas last month. Many of the satsuma oranges were bitten back but appear to be budding above the grafts.