A Yuzu Tree Grows in Florida?

Published on: September 22, 2008

by Diana Greenwood Mead

CLICK HERE to email your question and if it is featured we will send you a SupermarketGuru tote bag to say thanks! (Please include your location.)

Yuzu by Diana Greenwood Mead

This week Kurt from Sarasota, Florida wrote to Diana with an unusual question on the unusual topic of the Asian citrus fruit tree: Yuzu ...
Dear Diana,
Is it feasible to grow a Yuzu tree from seed in Central Florida, without the root grafting that so many other citrus trees in Florida require?

Hi Kurt,
I've been doing some research on your behalf and I think I have some answers to your interesting question about growing Yuzus from saved seeds.
It seems the Yuzu is a species tree not a cultivar (which is a hybridised plant from two different parents) and therefore you should be able to grow it from seed.
What all citruses need from day one, is warmth.
So start your pits off in a 5” pot of seed compost in a clear plastic bag in a propagator or a warm cupboard.
(If you choose the cupboard – keep an eye on the pot from about a week on because the seeds will suddenly start to sprout and you want them out into the light as soon as possible after that.)
All citrus plants love light and warmth, so if you get some little seedlings going – treat them as tender plants and they'll be happy.
You will probably not get fruit the first year – but you should have a little blossom and the smell is just gorgeous.

The pests you will have to watch out for (particularly if your young tree is indoors or in a conservatory) are mealy bug and scale.
Mealy bug sits in the leaf and stalk joints and makes cotton wool.
Scale is like little flat brown shells stuck, apparently unmoving, to the stalk.
Either can be rubbed off by hand, or with a cotton bud dipped in rubbing alcohol – or if all else fails – gin (or vodka)!
Just don't let them get going otherwise you do have to use chemicals.
I hope you get much enjoyment from your Yuzu!
As always,
Happy Horticulture,
Diana.

Column Archives

For archived copies of 77 Floral Answers and Gardening Guide stories, click the links below: