Attempts to grow Yuzu in Zone 7

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This plant is a seedling from the seeds of the tree growing in Primorsky Park in Yalta city, Crimea. This tree is a clone of Citrus Junos and it grows there for about 50 years.

For some time, my seedling was growing in Kyiv in a container. In July last year I planted it into open ground in the South of Kherson region where I have a summer cottage at Black Sea coast, and last winter it was outside without any protection. The minimal low last year was -10,2C.



This is how it looked after the winter:




This is how it looks now:

[Sylvain]

-10,2C is OK for yuzu. The real problems start at -15°C.

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My experience regarding Junos did not allow to hope for such a great hardyness.
For example, in Nikita, Crimea on 1 Feb 2012 the minimal low at the weather station was -12,0C and up to -5,4C in the day, on 2 Feb it was -11,1C, and up to -5,9C in the day. The frost continued for 7 days.
Of course, I understand that hardyness depends on many factors. Apart from a plant condition, age, strength and frost length, there are other things. For example, the rain turning into wet snow impacts the plant hardyness extremely negatively, dissolving its antifreeze.
So, in Nikita Botanical Garden they have six Junos trees since 1952. They are about 8 m high. They sit in the lower part of the Garden, closer to the sea and much lower than the weather station. (Nikita is on the mountain side).
After that lengthy frost I visited Nikita at the end of Feb. There was snow under Junos trees and all of them were in complete defoliation. Later, in April, I found that some trees had lost up to half of the crown from north-eastern side, and branches had frozen and had not renewed. I also noticed at that time, and in summer it was confirmed, that the surviving branches had no flowers and later no fruits.
This is only one case, and I know some more.
Therefore, the hardyness of this young plant with the minimal lows down to -10,2C in another location, without mountains heated by sun in winter, inspires some optimism about the future of some Hardy citrus plants there.

[Sylvain]

Yes that's right. The first symptoms happen early. Yuzu lose easily its leaves. At -15°C cracks on the branches and trunk appeared.
They where in a bad shape but they survived.
They are different definitions of hardiness. Here we can say -12°C for "strong damages" and -15°C for "survived".

[Laaz]

Now that looks good! Yuzu stuffed with crab.

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Delicious!