Flying Dragons winter care?

[power270lb]

Had them inside last winter, never gotten a specific answer and can't seem to find anything.

 

[KateM]

I know they are fully hardy in the ground in NJ.
I think @Cadillactaste has a nice bonsai specimen. Maybe she can tell us how they overwinter in a pot.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Mine winters in a controlled cold greenhouse setting with Temps never dropping below 32F. Sorry.

I intend to post a video of mine...on my Instagram tomorrow. It's in the reels area under drafts. Lol if one wants to look. My name there is same here. Cadillactaste.

 

[penumbra]

Mine stays in a pot outside with pot buried in mulch.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Yeah cold hardy would move this tree outside of a tropical wintering setting. Recall ...a tree not permitted a dormancy which needs one. They tend to weaken and die over time.

Cadillactaste on Instagram: "Giggling... a nod to SpongeBob. As I always think of that episode where Mr. Crabs warns of the hooks. 🤣🙃... the purpose of the buy... was those hooked thorns. 😉 A cold, hardy citrus... Flying Dragon [Poncirus trifoliata

30 likes, 2 comments - cadillactaste on October 30, 2023: "Giggling... a nod to SpongeBob. As I always think of that episode where Mr. Crabs warns of the hooks. 🤣🙃... the purpose of the buy... was those hooked thorns. 😉 A cold, hardy citrus... Flying Dragon [Poncirus trifoliata "contorta"]".

www.instagram.com

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Mine stay outside because I read they're hardy to -20°C.
And this seems to be true.

 

[power270lb]

Mine stay outside because I read they're hardy to -20°C.
And this seems to be true.

Awesome thank you everyone.

 

[power270lb]

Yeah cold hardy would move this tree outside of a tropical wintering setting. Recall ...a tree not permitted a dormancy which needs one. They tend to weaken and die over time.

Cadillactaste on Instagram: "Giggling... a nod to SpongeBob. As I always think of that episode where Mr. Crabs warns of the hooks. 🤣🙃... the purpose of the buy... was those hooked thorns. 😉 A cold, hardy citrus... Flying Dragon [Poncirus trifoliata

30 likes, 2 comments - cadillactaste on October 30, 2023: "Giggling... a nod to SpongeBob. As I always think of that episode where Mr. Crabs warns of the hooks. 🤣🙃... the purpose of the buy... was those hooked thorns. 😉 A cold, hardy citrus... Flying Dragon [Poncirus trifoliata "contorta"]".

www.instagram.com

Wow, I have 4 grown from seed. My bonsai room had a spidermite infestation (150+ trees mostly adeniums but a lot of ficus, cannabis, nepenthes) but seemed to only want flying dragons and cannabis. Moved everything outside and wiped literally everything down. The flying dragons went out first in early April and didn't get leaves until first week of July. I legit thought they were dead but the bark was bright green underneath. So strange.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

-20 C is roughly -4 F zone 6 , more or less

The green bark of 'Flying Dragon' does photosynthesize, they can survive quite well on just the photosynthesis from the green bark of stems, without leaves.

'Flying Dragon' is the asexually propagated clone of Poncirus (Citrus) trifoliata. If you propagated your trees from seed they are not clones of the original. They should just be called Trifoliate Orange, or Poncirus trifoliata. The 'Flying Dragon' is a single clone with highly contorted stems. All stems bend and twist between internodes, sometimes doing 'U' turns between internodes. The normal form has a growth pattern much like an orange or lime. Straight segments of growth between internodes.

Citrus seed sometimes do a "trick" and produce viable seed without a pollinator. This process is "apomictic" and results in something that is not exactly a clone of the fruit bearing parent, but much of the fruit parent's genome comes through with only limited re-assortment. These seeds are not clones, so technically should not carry the clonal name, in this case 'Flying Dragon' but they might carry the most notable trait of 'Flying Dragon' its contorted growth. This is an area of confusion. Not much we can do to sort this out. But if your Poncirus trifoliata came from seed, it technically can not be 'Flying Dragon', it is just Trifoliate Orange.

I've seen mixed notes on hardiness for trifoliate orange, some say zone 6, some say zone 5. I would expect it is probably pretty safely winter hardy through zone 7, and into zone 6, thru 6b. If sited well it might be okay further north in a protected location.

 

[Cadillactaste]

-20 C is roughly -4 F zone 6 , more or less

The green bark of 'Flying Dragon' does photosynthesize, they can survive quite well on just the photosynthesis from the green bark of stems, without leaves.

'Flying Dragon' is the asexually propagated clone of Poncirus (Citrus) trifoliata. If you propagated your trees from seed they are not clones of the original. They should just be called Trifoliate Orange, or Poncirus trifoliata. The 'Flying Dragon' is a single clone with highly contorted stems. All stems bend and twist between internodes, sometimes doing 'U' turns between internodes. The normal form has a growth pattern much like an orange or lime. Straight segments of growth between internodes.

Citrus seed sometimes do a "trick" and produce viable seed without a pollinator. This process is "apomictic" and results in something that is not exactly a clone of the fruit bearing parent, but much of the fruit parent's genome comes through with only limited re-assortment. These seeds are not clones, so technically should not carry the clonal name, in this case 'Flying Dragon' but they might carry the most notable trait of 'Flying Dragon' its contorted growth. This is an area of confusion. Not much we can do to sort this out. But if your Poncirus trifoliata came from seed, it technically can not be 'Flying Dragon', it is just Trifoliate Orange.

I've seen mixed notes on hardiness for trifoliate orange, some say zone 6, some say zone 5. I would expect it is probably pretty safely winter hardy through zone 7, and into zone 6, thru 6b. If sited well it might be okay further north in a protected location.

A good image of the growth of a flying dragon.

Good point on seeds.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

@Cadillactaste - Darlene, great photo.