Tropical fruit in AL

One of the wonderful benefits of living in central Alabama is that we can cheat a little on our plant zones.  We can grow things that are out of their normal zone by making some minor adjustments in that plant's habitat.



Bob's Owari satsuma is one of my favorite examples of "out-of-zone" plants.  My husband grew up in north Florida, where he enjoyed fresh citrus from his grandmother's little trees that she carefully nurtured "out-of-zone."   After learning that some citrus has been developed for more northern climates, I purchased Bob his very own citrus tree for Father's Day.

We planted his little tree in a big pot, with a rolling stand and then waited . . . and waited . . . and waited for three long years to see if his tree would produce its mandarin oranges in our backyard. 

Last year we harvested our first crop of 33 oranges.  This year I picked a whopping 67 oranges from the tree!   An extra bonus to growing my own oranges is the fabulous scent of the orange blossoms in the spring.

Growing our own mandarin oranges does take a little effort.   I spray it with compost tea all summer,  regularly add compost to the soil, and keep it well watered all summer long.   If we have a frost warning while the fruit is on the tree, it must be hauled into the garage (the tree/pot is heavy).   While the tree itself is quite hardy, it cannot tolerate temperatures below 25 degrees so it must spend a couple of months in the garage.  

We are considering planting our tree in the ground this spring.  If we decide to do this, it will be on the sunny, south side of our house to protect it from north winds.  We will also have to construct a PVC frame so we could blanket it during the coldest nights of our Alabama version of winter.

No matter what we decide, I am thrilled to be growing citrus in my Alabama backyard!