Satsuma tree planting advice

[eman]

Don't cover them unless the temps are going to be below freezing for 12 hrs or more

[Gerald]

Originally Posted by eman

Don't cover them unless the temps are going to be below freezing for 12 hrs or more

I use to cover all my fruit trees [9 right now] when it got to 30 F or less. Over the years I have "taken a chance" and not covered them, even when it gets down to 27-28 F for several hours. Any colder or if it will be below 30 F for say 6+ hours, the fruit trees need protection.

My lemon "tree" is the most senitive to the cold. A few years back, it got down to the low 20's here in Moss Bluff. I covered all the fruit trees and put a couple of 100 watt lights to provide a little heat in the tarp tent that covered them down to the ground.

The lemon tree almost did not survive. It lost all it's leaves and really did not grow back much that next spring/summer. I got no lemons that year and only about 10 lemons the next year. Three years later, I got a fairly good [250] crop of lemons last winter. The other fruit trees only had minor leaf damage that year. Every year I add more leaves and pine "mulch" under the plants. This helps hold in moisture and provides "insulation" in the winter for the roots.

I have not "trimmed" the lemon "tree" in a couple of years now. That tree now has a bunch of lemons growing 14+ feet off the ground.

This is a picture of the "frame" that I put up when covering the 6 fruit trees shown in this picture. In the back right of the picture is the lemon tree after it had been trimmed some.

I now build the frame in a "Lean-to" shap which is much easier to construct. If it is windy.....I use rope to help anchor it down to keep the wind from blowing it down.