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["Ned Rahn" <plantfolks@charter.net>]

Betsy,

 

Yuzu is shaped like a mandarin, yellow in color, with a rough peel.  It peels easily, and the segments separate much like those of a satsuma. The flesh is sour, and, like you have heard, the juice and zest is used in cooking, especially Japanese cooking.  It is not something I enjoy eating out of hand, but I think, in many cases, it would make a passable substitute for a lemon.

 

It is subject to many of the same problems as other citrus, but I would guess that it is better able to contend with such problems than most others. Here at my nursery, the Yuzu’s seldom have problems.  I would expect that deer would eat the foliage.  Here they will nibble on virtually any citrus, especially new growth. 

 

They will grow on trifoliate,  and are also fairly easy to root.  They should do fine on their own roots.  I have read that, in Japan, they are sometimes used as rootstock for Satsuma.   I am sure mature wood could be budded on Yuzu seedlings as well

 

I would expect it will survive brief dips to 10 degrees, if properly hardened off.  I would not expect it to survive prolonged dips below 10, but I will have to say that where I live we have not seen that kind of cold in quite a while.  Stan McKenzie normally has Yuzu.

 

 

Ned.