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HARDY PLANTS

Cold wave January 2026: effects on citrus trees

The start of 2026 has been marked by a fairly intense and long cold wave.
Let’s take a look at the effects on different citrus varieties.

Note:
Temperature diagrams are those published by Meteo Suisse, available here:
https://www.meteosuisse.admin.ch/services-et-publications/applications/valeurs-mesurees.html#param=messwerte-lufttemperatur-10min&table=false&chart=day&compare=n&station=MAG

The nearest Swiss Meteo station is Cadenazzo-Magadino.
The diagram shows lows of -5 as early as November.
At the beginning of January, lows dropped even lower, reaching -8.5C on January 6.
On our terraces at Monte Carasso, minimum temperatures were certainly higher than on the Magadino plain. But it still froze every night for over a month, probably between -3C and -7C.
Meyer lemon trees are one of the most frost-sensitive varieties.
The last shoots, from October, have in fact frozen.
We will remove them when we prune in March.
And the little lemons have also frozen and will soon fall off.
On this other Meyer lemon tree, the small fruits have frozen, but the large lemons are still perfect.
Little damage to Caracara orange trees.
Once again, only the youngest shoots suffered.
Navelina orange trees are virtually undamaged.
The thick mulch undoubtedly helped.
This Sudachi is planted in the place most exposed to the wind.
We can see that the youngest, finest branches that grew strongly in autumn will all have to be pruned back in March.
The Kabosu planted very near is completely unscathed.
It grew mainly in summer, and the branches had time to strengthen before the first frosts.
The same goes for this Eremorange, with no noticeable damage.
No problems with this Yuzu Nr3.
Yuzu are among the hardiest of all citrus trees, provided they are on the right rootstock.
This Pomelo Enzo, although rather exposed to the wind, didn’t suffer at all.

So all in all, this cold wave didn’t seriously damage any of the citrus varieties.
The tips of the burnt branches will be pruned back in March, with no consequences for the trees.
These trees, planted in the ground, are now well enough established to withstand fairly intense and repeated frosts.

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