Last edited on February 03, 2024. View history
Citron
Citron
How to sow citron: Cuttings or young tree
Sun requirement for citron: Plant in Full Sun
Citron is a large, fragrant, lumpy citrus fruit with a thick green to yellow rind and a fragrance that combines lemons and violets. It is native to Southeast Asia and is one of the four original citrus fruits (the others are pomelo, mandarin and papeda), from which all other citrus types developed or were hybridized. The fruit grows on a slow-growing shrub or small tree. Unlike other citrus fruits, citron's primary culinary use is it's thick white rind, which is often candied (and added to fruitcakes). Citron's pulp is quite dry and the little juice it does have is not very flavorful. The juice is high in Vitamin C and was historically used to treat seasickness, pulmonary ailments, intestinal issues, and scurvy. Citron is susceptible to root rot and trees are often grown in clay pots to prevent rot.
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Citron facts
Lifespan
Height
2500cmCrop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For citron, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 12°C and a shortest growing cycle of 210 days at its best temperature, about 2520 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your citron will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Photos
Photos
Citron crops
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 210 to 365 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Citrus medica L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Rosidae Sapindales Rutaceae |
|---|---|
| Killing temperature | growth: -1 °C, rest: -2 °C |
| Life form | shrub, tree |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | deep (>>150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, light |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
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