The Cold-Hardy Citrus Project explores whether sweet citrus can be grown reliably outdoors in the Pacific Northwest with little to no winter protection.
One of the biggest challenges in citrus breeding is that cold tolerance and fruit quality often appear to work against each other. Extremely hardy citrus tend to produce sour or bitter fruit, while sweeter varieties are generally much less cold tolerant. My goal is to determine whether that tradeoff can be overcome by selecting seedlings that combine both traits.
The project focuses on growing citrus from seed, evaluating their cold tolerance, vigor, flowering, fruit quality, and long-term adaptation to my local climate in Kent, Washington.
Rather than relying on heaters or permanent winter protection, my objective is to identify citrus capable of surviving and eventually producing quality fruit under normal Pacific Northwest conditions.
As the project progresses, promising seedlings may also be evaluated for rootstock potential and future breeding work.
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