This Cold-Tolerant Citrus Fruit is Super Fragrant: Yuzu
By Steven Biggs
Grow Your Own Fresh Yuzu Citrus
Yuzu fruit, also called yuzu citrus, is very cold tolerant.
This citrus fruit looks similar to a mandarin orange. But scratch the rind and you’ll quickly know it’s not.
Don’t pop it in your mouth, either. This isn’t a peel-and-eat fruit.
Unlike a mandarin it’s:
Pucker-up sour
Super seedy
Delightfully aromatic
Chefs and food enthusiasts know all about yuzu. Yuzu juice and yuzu zest are prized.
But good luck finding fresh yuzu fruit for sale—or finding a yuzu plant at a garden centre. The gardening world hasn’t caught up with the culinary world when it comes to yuzu.
It’s too bad, because yuzu is easy to grow. And—for cold-climate gardeners—it’s even more cold tolerant than lemon.
With its fragrant flowers and glossy leaves, it’s a fine addition to the cold-climate kitchen garden. Grow it as a potted plant—or an in-ground plant in borderline zones.
Keep reading this article to find out how to grow and harvest your own yuzu in a cold climate.
What is Yuzu
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Yuzu (Citrus junos) is a very cold-tolerant citrus plant. The cold-tolerance is no surprise given its pedigree: It’s thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid of two other cold-tolerant citrus fruits, mandarin and ichang lemon.
Yuzu plants are fairly upright, making them easy to grow as a single-stem potted tree. I keep my potted yuzu at about 1.5 metres (5’) high.
When the fragrant white flowers come out in the spring, they’re a magnet for pollinators. Bees love them.
Unlike mandarin, yuzu peel is a bit pebbly.
Yuzu flowers are fragrant—and are a magnet for pollinators.
Like most citrus fruits, yuzu is evergreen, meaning it has leaves on it year round. (Unless you really stress it out, see below.)
Acid Citrus Fruits for Cold Climates
When it comes to growing citrus fruit in cold-climate gardens, here’s a great way to set yourself up for success: Start with “acid” citrus.
Acid citrus are the sour ones like lemon or lime—and yuzu
For sweet citrus, think navel oranges and grapefruit
Yuzu fruit is a bit pebbly, not smooth like a mandarin.
The reason to start with acid citrus fruit is that they can ripen in a cold-climate garden with cool or short summers. Sweet citrus need hot summers with sustained heat to ripen...and don’t always ripen.
Yuzu is an acid citrus. Perfect in colder climates.
Yuzu Tree Cold Hardiness
Yuzu Minimum Temperature
Yuzu fruit is an acid citrus, making it a good choice where summers are short or cool.
I’ve never pushed the lower temperature limits here in my Canadian Zone 6 (USDA Zone 5) garden because my yuzu tree spends the winter in a cold greenhouse, kept near freezing.
But yuzu can survive much colder temperatures than that.
Yuzu hardiness—like any plant hardiness—isn’t an exact thing. Hardiness guidelines vary, depending on who you ask. You’ll see recommendations down to -10°C (14°F) –and colder!
But one thing is for sure: As citrus go, yuzu is very cold-tolerant.
The reason for the varying minimum temperature recommendations is that hardiness is affected by a few things.
Here are a few things that affect the hardiness of a yuzu (or any plant!)
The rootstock used for grafted yuzu trees
Young trees are more tender than mature trees
New growth is affected by cold before older, woodier stems
The duration of cold temperatures
How sheltered or exposed the tree is
How many degrees the temperature drops
Container trees are more susceptible to cold than in-ground trees because the temperature around the roots fluctuates more
Yuzu Cold Tolerance: Bonus Point!
Covering everything from lemon varieties, to location and watering, to pruning and shaping, to overwintering, dealing with pests, and more—and including insights from fellow citrus enthusiasts—this book will give you the confidence you need to grow and harvest fresh lemons in cold climates.
Some citrus (e.g. lemon) bloom on an ongoing basis—so a plant can have unripe fruit going into winter. This can be fun if it’s indoors and you want to pick lemons over winter.
But the fruit can’t get as cold as trees; when the fruit freezes it spoils.
That means that the temperature at which the fruit freezes (around -2°C, 28°F) becomes the minimum winter temperature for cold-climate gardeners growing lemons outdoors.
Find out how cold lemon fruit can get over the winter.
Unlike lemon, yuzu has a spring bloom and fall ripening…so there is no fruit on the tree over the winter. That give you a wider temperature range for overwintering. You’re not constrained by the freezing temperature of the fruit.
How to Grow Yuzu
Grow Yuzu in a Pot
Yuzu does well as a potted plant. With its upright growth, it’s easy to manage.
Here are a couple of top tips for growing yuzu as a potted plant:
Use a potting soil that drains well
Keep the soil moist, but not wet
Potted Plant Yes: Houseplant No
Just because it grows well in a pot doesn’t not make it a good houseplant.
It’s not suited as a houseplant over the winter. Centrally heated homes are too warm. Instead, pick a bright and cool spot for winter. If you have a sunroom or a cool greenhouse, that’s perfect.
(I’ve also stored my yuzu in a cold, dark garage. The plant isn’t growing in cold weather—so it will tolerate the dark.)
No Place in Winter?
Not sure where to put a potted yuzu for the winter? A friend has a spare bedroom and turns off the heat there over the winter. It has a bright window, and is 10°C (50°F) cooler than the rest of the house. Perfect for citrus!
Outdoors for Summer
Wherever you store it for the winter, be sure to put it outdoors for the summer. Pest pressures are lower—and you have pollinators for the flowers.
Grow Yuzu in the Ground Outdoors
The first time I came across in-ground, unprotected yuzu trees growing here in Canada was when Bob Duncan gave me a tour of his experimental orchard on Vancouver Island. He has a great video about yuzu; watch it here.
Beyond USDA Zones 9-10, in borderline areas, choose a protected site with full sun and good drainage.
In borderline areas, you can grow yuzu flat (as an “espalier”) against a south-facing wall and protect it from winter extremes with horticultural fleece and a string of incandescent Christmas lights, as is done for lemons in borderline areas.
Another option in borderline areas is to grow yuzu in the ground in an unheated greenhouse.
As cold temperatures get close to the cold-hardiness limit—especially when coupled with cold wind—yuzu plants might drop their leaves. If the branches are still alive, they will grow new leaves in the spring. Scratch the bark to see if the cambium is still green…and if it is, you might be in luck.
Beware the Thorns
Whether it’s in the ground or a pot, mind the thorns! They are far from dainty! We’re talking horticultural acupuncture…
If you have yuzu on a patio where people might brush past it, snip off protruding thorns with your garden shears. If you have a larger tree and you’re reaching into it to harvest, thick gloves are a good idea.
Yuzu Tree Care
When a lot of fruit set, some small fruit drop off…but if they all drop off, the plant is stressed.
Potted yuzu plants need more care than in-ground ones. Like most fruit trees, when they’re stressed, they might drop fruit and leaves. A common stress with potted plants is drying out.
Here’s a good way to think of watering:
Don’t overwater and keep the soil continuously wet
Allow the soil to dry a bit before watering—let is get to the dry side of moist
When you water, water enough so that all of the soil in the pot is moistened and you have water coming out the bottom
Feeding
The top tip for feeding is to use a fertilizer that has “micronutrients.” Deficiencies of the micronutrients iron and zinc are common.
Pruning Yuzu Trees
Yuzu marmalade. It makes great marmalade on its own—or mixed with other citrus fruit. More yuzu cooking ideas below.
For starters, remove growth from below the graft line…it’s your rootstock sneaking up. Not sure where the graft is? Look for a bump on the main stem close to ground level. (More on grafting yuzu below.)
Next, tidy things up:
Remove dead branches,
Cut out damaged branches
Remove interior branches that don’t get a lot of light and have few leaves
Next:
Prune to allow air movement within the plant
Prune so branches are well spaced and fruit will get some light
Trim back branches that have grown too long
Next, let’s look at how to prune a young tree compared to how to prune a mature tree.
Keep Your Lemon Tree Through the Winter
And enjoy fresh homegrown lemons!
Shape Young Trees
With young trees, we’re pruning to develop the shape. We’re creating a permanent framework of branches.
If you have a single-stem young plant (a “whip”) you want to get it to branch out. This is done with a “heading” cut. It just means cutting off the top of the stem.
If it’s a grafted plant, first find the bump on the stem so you know where the graft is. Make your heading cut well above this.
As side branches form after the heading cut, pinch the tips once they have 3-4 sets of leaves, which will cause them to send out side branches. You’re causing a shorter branch with side branches.
A well-shaped tree has branches coming out from the main stem at different heights…a bit like a spiral staircase.
Pruning Older Trees
This book will help you apply creative “fig thinking” in your garden and harvest fresh figs even if you have a short summer or cold winters. With some fig thinking, you can harvest figs in areas where they don’t normally survive the winter! In this book, I share many of the questions I have been asked about growing figs in temperate climates, along with my responses.
With young trees we’re creating a framework of branches. With older trees, the focus is size control.
My yuzu is at its final size: I don’t want it to get any bigger. So every year, I prune it back to the permanent framework of branches.
Prune in spring, before there’s new growth. If you heavily prune an actively growing tree in summer, it can cause lots of new growth that is less likely to survive cold winter temperatures.
Where to Get a Yuzu Plant
Canadian garden centres often bring in citrus plants from California in the spring. Ask in good time to see if they’ll bring in yuzu.
Mail order from a specialist nursery that carries citrus. Many specialist nurseries take pre-orders, and then bring in a load of citrus in the spring.
Propagating Yuzu
Can you Grow Yuzu Plants from Seed?
Yuzu is easy to grow from seed.
But…
I hear from gardeners who seed-grow yuzu plants…and then wait and wait and wait. For years. I’ve seed-grown yuzu too…and I’ll report back in a few years when they fruit for me!
The reason for the wait is that seed-grown plants go through a juvenile stage. It can be years before they produce fruit.
Grafting and Budding
With grafting and budding, we’re putting bits of a mature yuzu plants onto a set of roots that has desirable traits (smaller plant size, early bloom and fruit, cold hardiness).
Because we’re using mature wood to graft and bud, the result is a plant can produce fruit more quickly than seed-grown plants.
Flying dragon (Poncirus trifoliata) is a common rootstocks that has good cold-hardiness and dwarfing properties.
Cuttings and Air Layering
Like many other citrus, you can also propagate yuzu from cuttings and air layering.
Yuzu Flowering and Pollination
A cool period over the winter months encourages flower bud formation.
Yuzu is self-pollinating, meaning you can get a crop if you have only one plant.
(It doesn’t mean you don’t need insect pollinators…so if the plant is indoors where there are no pollinators, be prepared to act the part yourself! Simply jostlie flowers with a cotton swab to move around pollen.)
Small fruit will already be forming from early flowers as the blossoms finish up.
Harvest Yuzu Fruit
Yuzu is often picked green, or as it just begins to change colour.
Ripening time depends on where you are and how soon your plant starts growing in the spring. My yuzu ripen in the fall.
Commercially, yuzu is often harvested green. (If this sounds strange, it’s the same thing with limes; they are picked green, even though they eventually ripen to yellow.)
In a home garden setting, you can experiment by picking at different stages of ripeness and seeing how the flavour evolves. Try picking all the way from green through to orange. As it gets very ripe, it feels puffy when you squeeze it—and at this point, it’s harder to zest and the fruit is no longer very juicy.
Yuzu Pests
In cold-climate gardens, pest problems are minimal.
Pests are more of a problem indoors—as with most plants.
A common indoor pest is spider mites. Because I overwinter my yuzu somewhere cold, I have no spider mite problems through the winter. But if the plant were somewhere warmer I’d expect spider mites. Insecticidal soap and horticultural oil are both useful for controlling spider mites.
Yuzu Recipes
The ingredients to make yuzu kosho paste: yuzu fruit, salt, hot peppers.
The fruit is versatile. It works well in savoury dishes and desserts. Try it in cocktails, marinades, and desserts.
And like other citrus, it contains lots of pectin, so you can make yuzu marmalade.
The yuzu taste is distinct. I find it very floral. The yuzu juice is tart, and the yuzu peel is full of aromatic oils. Use both.
You can also use it where you might normally use other citrus fruits.
Yuzu, honey, and cranberries to make cranberry sauce.
Here are a few ideas:
Yuzu kosho (citrus chili paste) – I love this in ramen
Salad dressings
Marinade
Instead of lemon in a spanakopita-style pastry
In cranberry sauce (instead of orange) – a big hit in my family
Marmalade
Yuzu tea
Top Tips for Growing Yuzu
Cool temperatures over winter is best
Don’t overwater in winter
Trim off thorns if it’s somewhere you walk past!
Yuzu FAQ
What is a yuzu lemon?
Savoury pastry: The ingredients to make a chard-and-yuzu spanakotpita-style pastry.
It’s another name for yuzu fruit. It’s also called yuzu citrus, Japanese citron, and Yuzu Ichandrin
Can yuzu grow in Canada?
You can grow it in the ground, unprotected in the mildest areas of Canada. In other areas, grow in the ground with protection—or as a container plant.
How long does it take to grow yuzu?
A grafted or budded tree (which is what trees at garden centres usually are) can produce fruit while still quite young.
Can yuzu be grown in pots?
Yes! For more insights into growing citrus in pots, read this article about how to grow a lemon tree in a pot.
Can yuzu be grown from seed?
Yuzu grows easily from seed. Don’t let the seeds dry out after removing them from the fruit. Place them in a pot with moist potting soil, and cover with some more potting soil—about the same thickness as the seed. Then keep it moist and be patient.
What is Sudachi?
Sudachi (Citrus sudachi) is another acid citrus with similar parentage to yuzu. Like yuzu, it is often harvested green. The fragrance is slightly different from yuzu. It is less seedy than yuzu.
Do people grow it commercially in cold climates.
Yes. There’a a greenhouse in Laval Quebec selling yuzu and sudachi. And here’s a story about yuzu in New Jersey. (I love the whole yuzu fruits filled with tasty treats!)
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More Citrusy Ideas
Here’s a Guide to Growing Meyer Lemon Trees.
How To Grow a Lemon Tree in a Pot
Book: How to Grow Lemons in Cold Climates
Covering everything from lemon varieties, to location and watering, to pruning and shaping, to overwintering, dealing with pests, and more—and including insights from fellow citrus enthusiasts—this book will give you the confidence you need to grow and harvest fresh lemons in cold climates.
Online Course: Grow Lemons in Cold Climates
New to growing citrus in cold climates? Or bitten by the lemon bug and want to up your game?
Lemon Masterclass equips you with information and creative ideas so that you can make the most of your cold-climate garden for growing lemons and other citrus.
