The best citrus that I've had in pots and gotten harvest is my Moro blood orange. I've had satsuma (owari) which were good, but I favor profile of the bloods is just wonderful. My Cara Cara hasn't hed fruit so I can't comment there. And I picked up a ponkan and changsha this year, so no fruit there.

Of all my lemons, and I have many (including the variegated pink), the ST is the best - a very close second is the Meyer, but the rind of the ST is thicker. The ST also produces way more than the pink eureka.

sweetest....I have really enjoyed my kimbrough satsuma this year and xie shan. The sanguinelli fruit I grew did not color up tons, but the flavor was great...and the minneola is among my favorite but it is a monster tree.

Grow a New Zealand Lemonade tree. You can't buy the fruit so grow it. you can buy any other sweet citrus at the grocery. Grow something unique.

Steve

Thanks for letting me know about the NZ emon. This is the first I've heard of it. Here even oranges aren't sweet. I'm in Z6 (-5F) so all citrus fruit sold here is picked under ripe and is vaguely sour with no other flavor. Except Sumo, which is wonderful and I pay the $5/lb. No citrus or other tropical fruit trees are sold locally. I'll look up the NZ Lemonade tree.

rjcantor - you can go on and try growing a Sumo (Dekopan/Shiranui). A bunch of us are! I am hoping to get my first fruit (just bought the tree this year) to ripen indoors. I bought it in April and it flowered at the end of May. Pic of the earliest fruit to set taken today of it (should hopefully be ripe by February or March or so) -

Harris Citrus sells them - and are nice and full too (they sell 3 different sizes of them). Link to their mandarins - http://www.harriscitrus.com/store/index.php?cPath=5

I love the sumo. I start calling the stores a few weeks early. Thanks for letting me know Harris has them. What size pot are you using?

Beautiful tree you got from Harris, Jenny. I may have to order one too!

I haven't grown too many sweets, but of the ones I have, Owari satsuma is my favorite. They are more cold hardy than most so you can leave them outside longer to get natural light. They fruit in November usually.

Calamondin

I really like your statement. " They are more cold hardy than most so you can leave them outside longer to get natural light". This lessens the time inside from both ends of winter and really protects you from loss when the temperature drops 10F lower than predicted. Everything I grow is very "cold hardy" and that is why I believe my trees are still alive.

Steve

Dave - Brian posted a pic of his (with fruit) in this thread (scroll down for it) - https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5509142/who-still-has-their-trees-outside#n=50

Since he is in Canada, he got his up there (as did Amy, who also has one). Laura, Alanna, Denise, and Nancy also have them - I think all from Harris.

It was 37F here this morning but I had covered my trees yesterday - the Shiranui is under the one to the far right...lol -

Jenny your so right Sumo is the sweetest. Jenny your Shiranui looks fantastic and I would say my fruit's are about the same size as yours. Jenny did you report those ghosts on your property lol your to funny!!!!!

Brian

LOL Brian - I found another ghost lurking in the jungle trying to hide too! They are sneaky!

Lol your right they are all over the place lol. How low of a temperature would your frost blankets take before the plants demise? Your garden Jenny is looking really good !!!!!

Brian

Brian - I think I only get a couple degrees out of them, but since they are fleece covers, they would help guard against frost settling on leaves. I wouldn't keep the trees out lower than maybe 35 (~2C), which is why I am prepping some space in the livingroom just in case. It seems like most of the forecast over the next couple weeks is 40s (~4C) at night and 50s/low-60s (~10 - 15C) during the day except for a couple days with cold fronts during that period with high 30s (~3C) as a low. Last year I was able to keep them out until 11/4, so I'm hoping to try to at least make it that far. This year I was able to finally get them back outside around the 3rd week of April (winter just wouldn't let up). One thing with these temps though - I have had my key lime and Thai lime inside with these chilly temps. I'm about at the point where I may just keep them in for the winter now (they are newer smaller trees so not really a hassle to move). I know limes are more sensitive to the cold.

Jenny so jealous of your weather!!!. Last night it went down to 30F our first killing frost which is not to bad living this far north. Be careful of this weekend a strong cold front is supposed to pass . Thanks Jenny for the info on the blankets I thought that they might be good for maybe 30 F . Before I brought my tree's in we had consecutive nights in the high 30's low 40's I could tell the tree's didn't like it much so I brought them in could also have been the adjustment to the low amount of sunshine .

Brian

Brian - all up and down the NE and northern Mid-atlantic areas, the National Weather Service issued frost and freeze warnings for early tomorrow morning (somewhat unexpected but I think the weather offices all collaborated and decided to go for it). Where I am is now under a frost advisory but we shall see. The ghosts are having a party under my open umbrella!

I think they do sell heavier blankets/covers that supposedly can protect down into the 20s (maybe as low as -6C even) but I'm not sure if these would and I wouldn't keep my citrus out with a forecast that low anyway.

Oh my Jenny the bookend ghosts really look like ghosts or maybe its the wine lol . Jenny I find at the beginning of every new season the weather people have a hard time with predicting the temperature highs and lows be careful with your babies !!!

Brian

Brian - I have a weather station out there and temperature probes, both outside and inside so I am watching it. It's my other hobby! LOL

Weather station (includes a temperature probe plus I have a 2nd temperature probe in my raised-planter against the house) -

Funny thing Jenny there are many here on the citrus forum that are part time want to be meteorologist lol me to . Love to watch snowstorms from indoors and I can watch the weather radar for hours . Why the obsession with citrus and meteorology I will never know but I love them both lol. Love your weather station !!!

Brian

LOL Brian - I actually almost decided to major in it in college and at my college freshman orientation had to agonize over it before deciding to choose chemistry instead - mainly because at the time, the job market for meteorologists was awful and pretty much guaranteed that I would have to move elsewhere. I figured chemistry offered more flexibility across related science fields. Nowadays there are more opportunities but back in the late '70s, not so much!

Plus for anyone who is an avid outdoor gardener, you are always at the mercy of the weather so you have to keep an eye on it and learn how to adjust your plant types and care routine to deal with that. :-D

As a note, so far this morning, I dropped to 35F (~2C) - at least at the area where that station is about 10ft from the house (it's closer to 40F (4C) up against the house). I finally decided to turn the heat on this morning (if anything to confirm that it works...lol).

Brian - as an OT note for this weather - here is something that survived the frost just fine this morning -

My James McFarlane lilac had the nerve to open a tiny bloom yesterday. I didn't notice it until it started getting dark last evening. In the 20 years that I have been growing lilacs in containers (the above shrub is actually my 2nd James McFarlane over that time period and is almost 10 years old), I have never had it rebloom...until now. Here it was back in May when it normally blooms (May 24th to be exact) -

That is what sat directly behind my Shiranui... and like the "Moscow Beauty" lllac next to it to the left, it tried to mimic being a citrus with all its foliage. lol It is a U.S. Zone 2 shrub that can survive down to -40F (-40C) and is a late bloomer specifically to get around spring frosts that can take out the early-flowering lilac blooms. A shame the bloom is about 8ft (almost 2.5 meters) up in the air where I can't smell it without pulling out a ladder. lol