Satsuma Mandarin Growing Guide | Owari Satsuma Cold Hardy Citrus Tree

I am growing an Owari Satsuma citrus tree in Zone 8A on the southeastern North Carolina coast where we have hot summers and mild winters, but are prone to brief extreme cold outbreaks from Arctic blasts. Growing most citrus in Zone 8A is out of the question, but varieties of satsuma mandarin citrus can actually be grown in micro-climates. Satsuma mandarins are sweet, zipper-skinned and mostly seedless, and the quality of fruit is excellent. These are not bitter, trifoliate orange based hybrids. These are real-deal top-notch citrus trees.

The tree featured in this video is an Owari Satsuma grafted onto trifoliate orange rootstock. I purchased my tree from Stan McKenzie at McKenzie Farms in June 2018 and planted it in the ground in March 2019. It is now December 2019 and I picked the first ever satsuma off this tree.

This video is a comprehensive overview of the tree, along with integrated links to my other videos which show you how to plant and fertilize your satsuma mandarin citrus tree. I end the video with a taste test of the tree's very first fruit. The fruit quality was excellent, and I cannot wait until the next crop already.

If you live in Zone 8 and think it's too cold to grow citrus in-ground, think again! Citrus in Zone 8 is not only possible, but it's easy with this wonderful tree.

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ABOUT MY GARDEN
Location: Southeastern NC, Brunswick County (Wilmington area)
34.1°N Latitude
Zone 8A

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© The Millennial Gardener

[Leah.Peah]

I just bought myself an Owari Satsuma tree. I’m in north Florida and they grow really well here. I already have two mature Meyer Lemon trees and 3 Ruby Grapefruit Trees. This winter I traded with my coworker, lemons for Satsumas and now I’m totally obsessed with them. Can’t wait until it starts to fruit!

[elizabethmccone]

Someone here in Richmond VA bought an owari satsuma from McKenzie farms and hers is massive!

[jsimp]

I saw this video about a month ago. Yesterday I was at Costco, in California, and in their citrus tree area they had Owari Satsuma trees! I remembered hearing this name in your video. It is not a dwarf, but I purchased it anyway. I will put it in a container and prune it to be smaller. The rest of my container citrus trees are dwarf. I am so excited. I had to watch your video again!!! Looking forward to the future of this little tree.

[thcoggins]

I went by McKenzie Farms last weekend and bought a Brown Satsuma and a limequat! Thanks for letting us know about him. He really knows his citrus!

[pd]

I got it! You motivated me when I first saw this video last year. Tonight, I bought an Owari. Since I am in 7b, I know I am taking a chance. As soon as I got home, I had to watch your video again. I will follow your lead and bring it in for the first year.

[kchedville]

You planting the right one -- we have a 3 year old Owari Dwaft in a Pot and it was full of tasty ripe Oranges just a month ago. We put it in the Barn with a Light on it when it gets too cold in Winter.

[tomdongrace]

Ok, I'm using your vid to convince hubby to put this in our yard. Lol thanks

[ChristinesBackyardGarden]

I visited Stan two weekends ago and bought an Owari because of one of your previous videos I had watched where you talked about how delicious they were. Stan said that he gets lots of business because of you. 🙂 He also said that he learned how to keep citrus warm with a barrel of water by watching one of your videos. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[ForgingFreedomTV]

Thank you for sharing this amazing tree. We live in zone 5, but our community is looking into building one of those partially underground green houses. A guy in the Midwest has been successfully growing citrus there in a zone as cold as ours. This tree seems like a perfect fit.

[frankdavis]

I just purchased 2 Owari trees from an old fellow who grows and sells them. His yard is bedecked with a dozen that are enormous. Quite literally 10 to 12 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter. His yield is staggering. He fertilizes with 12-6-6 and he drives a 4 foot rebar rod next to each tree for iron consumption for the trees. Well, with my 7 Satsuma trees, I hope in the near future to reap a bountiful crop too. Here in Semmes, Alabama, we deal with a handfull of freezing days and I'm covering them with tarps. Good luck with your fruits. Truly, you've chosen one of the best varieties.

[kevinwhite]

You are a wealth of information and I want to see you grow. The first 4 minutes is the same picture. Turn this into a video! Subscribed.

[citrusman]

Just wanted to say Hi and thanks for posting these videos. I would probably be safe in saying I have at least one customer per week that comes here because of your videos. Keep up the good work!

[empathy]

Thank you for the great video and all of your helpful comments. I have a small 10 acre farm in South GA about 50miles northeast of Columbus. The only "fruit" tress we have are the terrible Bradford Pear. I don't understand why the previous owner ever planted them. We had a beautiful peach tree but unfortunately our goats at the time got into the yard and destroyed it. So I'm looking into planting some fruit trees with a purpose and my family loves citrus. These trees sound like a good fit! Yours looks beautiful as does the pepper. Thank you so much for the idea and sharing your experience.

[rgruenhaus]

Awesome video! I live in Pensacola FL and have luck with my Meyer lemon tree, but the orange and grapefruit trees I tried got freeze burn due to their placement in my yard and the windchill! Their bark cracked because the windchill came with little warning and I didn't get them protected as I normally would! My Meyer lemon tree is about 5 feet from an Eastern side fence and is always kept from harsh cold! It is about 12ft high now after about 15 years of growth! It almost got killed and I thought that only the rootstock wad left, but in the coming year after a freeze I noticed Meyer lemon branches growing from the base! I let all growth go for a few years until I had my Meyer lemon tree back and removed most root stock with all those 4" thorns!
Now every year I get hundreds of lemons out into March of the new year! Already here in May there are a few hundred golfball size green lemons! My neighbor just added a satsuma to the side of his house toward the front on the south side and I wondered what they would be like! I was surprised he chose that as it will be blocking his small veggie garden behind it! The tree if it stays like yours wouldn't be too bad, but that windchill might get it if he don't wrap it! I was thinking of adding a satsuma now that I have seen yours! I can put it on the same fence the lemon is and a small brown turkey fig is! I might have as good luck with it as my lemon tree! I just need to find a source that can send the satsuma to Florida!

[eljardinperdido]

Excellent video! Great info and lots of details. I just grafted 5 varieties into a satsuma I got from the nursery. This will be my center citrus tree in Houston, TX.

[charlescoker]

We have Brown select, and the Owari. Owari is sweeter. I'm in zone 8A also. 12 years. They produce like crazy every other year. Winter before last. We did not try to protect becauses of their size. They got burn back. The next season. they had maybe 3 . This year they are loaded. Need to water in summer if it has been dry.

[Peterrdee]

I just got an s2 satsuma I’m so excited it’s so cute

[jenniegraymusic]

Thank you so much for this information. I love growing citrus in my South Brunswick Co NC garden. Since we are so close in location I feel confident trying it myself. Blessings friend!

[OmgKrystie]

Thank you for this video. I just purchased a satsuma from Stan. I can’t wait for it to arrive

[charlescoker]

We had some nights in the upper 20's. the fruit did not have any damage. One year I thought I picked all of them. But missed one. In January. I found it. It had many nights of being below freezing. But it was still good.