# Satsuma Freeze?



## Captain Greg (Jul 19, 2007)

I just planted a satsuma tree a year ago. It has been doing good, and is around 3' tall.

What precautions should I take for the upcoming freeze?


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## Farmer Jim (May 21, 2004)

At 3' you should be able to save it. Water it good and then cover it with something fairly heavy (tarp, old blanket, etc). If necessary to prevent damage, drive four sticks around it to support the cover. Run an extension cord to it and place a light bulb under the cover. Radiant heat from the ground and heat from the light bulb should keep temps high enough to protect it down to about 12-15 degrees. Good luck. 

My tangerine and lime are both about 12' high and 7' across. I'm writting them off. No way they'll make it. A real shame too because my tangerine bore really good this year and has good sweet fruit. I'm going to pick the last of them this afternoon. I'll try to save my Kumquat since it's only about 3.5'. If you're going to try to grow citrus in S/E Texas, you have to expect this now and then. Either work your behind off to save them or plan of starting over every so often.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

+1

When living in Clear Lake during the early 80's we had satsumas and also had a 5 degree morning.

Using the above technique saved the tree....it did loose outer extremities, but survived ok. As added insurance, I piled mulch up around the tree base to provide further insulation. If you work at it, you can save the tree.


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Too late for this freeze but...*

My grandmother used to have a few tangerine trees, and she would more or less cut the middle out of the tree while it was growing, kinda like you would do a peach tree. This would keep it low enough (like 6'), make more of a bush out of it, so she could tarp it, and "light bulb it" as necessary. Plus it makes picking them a lot easier. Nothing like the citrus smell when you peel back the rind on a fresh tangerine right off the tree!! LOL

They lasted for decades, but when you get temps like we have now...gotta tarp em. If a freeze gets them, they will come back...but will be from the root stock, and small, seedy, and sour, or large like an orange, but sour like a lemon!! There is one there on the place that froze and came back...prolly 25' tall, but large BEAUTIFUL, Oranges.....Sour like a lemon!!

Later
R3F


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## wickll (Oct 6, 2009)

Meadowlark said:


> +1
> 
> When living in Clear Lake during the early 80's we had satsumas and also had a 5 degree morning.
> 
> Using the above technique saved the tree....it did loose outer extremities, but survived ok. As added insurance, I piled mulch up around the tree base to provide further insulation. If you work at it, you can save the tree.


Piling the mulch around the base of the tree is the best thing you can do on large trees that are not practical to try and save the whole tree. As long as the tree was grafted or budded just above the groundline (as most purchased fruit trees are), if you save the trunk above the graft/bud point, the regrowth that comes out above will be good fruit. Anything below will in all likelihood be sour orange rootstock.


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