Will southern citrus trees grow in a northern climate and produce fruit?

[sao123]

But will the tree survive the winters? Obviously expecting a low yeild crop, but will it even produce fruit at all?

 

[illustri]

any botarist here? i'm curious too,
im assuming a greenhouse is no go for your situation

/i know, botanist

 

[Bryophyte]

No, cold wet winters will almost certainly kill the tree. You can grow little dwarf trees indoors with great success though, and put them outside in the warm months (potted trees).

 

[mandala]

The freezes will damage the plant (possibly killing it) and ruin any crop of fruit you may have.

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: Bryophyte
No, cold wet winters will almost certainly kill the tree. You can grow little dwarf trees indoors with great success though, and put them outside in the warm months (potted trees).

Yup. Just got an orange tree from my girlfriend who just came back from Florida. 'course my botany skillz suck, so we'll see how long it lasts.

 

[illustri]

can you stick resistor wire into the ground and around the tree to keep it warm? Isn't that how hotels they keep palm trees in cold climate?

 

[Ronstang]

All the citrus trees growing in this country are in the Southern part of the country for a reason. Harsh winters and Citrus trees do not go together.

 

[NetWareHead]

My dad smuggled a lemon tree from Italy back to the states. While it grew pretty large and the leaves definitely smelled like lemons, it only produced 1 or 2 lemons for the 8 or so years we had it. We live in North Jersey. If you want your tree to survive the winter, you need to prune it, then wrap insulation around the tree. Then you wrap plastic bags around it so when it rains/snows, it won't ruin the entire thing. Don't use black bags since they will absorb solar radiation very well and cook your plant, use white bags. Or you could just build a greenhouse.