World of CitrusConestoga 011 Citrange
Seeds from C-35 citrange were sown on April 12th, 2018, for the breeder’s southeastern Pennsylvania cold-hardiness trial. Conestoga 011 belongs to the surviving selections. The pollen parent of the seed lot was not confirmed.
Initiated and directed the open-pollinated C-35 citrange breeding and selection project.
The trial seedlings were field-planted on June 12th, 2018. The breeder reported no winter protection for the original planting; later surviving plants could be protected or propagated as backups.
Established and managed the outdoor cold-hardiness trial.
Conestoga 011 belongs to the surviving selections from the 2018–2019 C-35 seedling trial. The reported −11.8°F (−24.3°C) low was measured about 30 inches above snow, not in the plant’s tissues. Most seedlings died and 69 survivors were retained by June 2019. This does not establish an individual injury-free limit for this selection.
Retained Conestoga 011 Citrange following the severe 2018-2019 trial.
Lifeasible’s flow-cytometry report classified the submitted hybrid sample as tetraploid. The breeder posted the report on September 2nd, 2021 and identified the sample as Conestoga 011. The finding establishes ploidy, not ancestry or breeding success.
Sources: [5]
The breeder reported a first 011 flower without a pistil. This was an early reproductive-stage observation; spring 2024 flowers later had prominent pistils.
Sources: [7]
In February 2024 the breeder reported that tetraploid Conestoga 011 had not yet fruited and remained among the hardiest selections at that point. Later seasons provided different hardiness and fruiting observations.
Evaluated and documented this Conestoga selection within the multi-year outdoor cold-hardiness trial.
Sources: [19]
The breeder documented short, squat 011 flowers with prominent pistils and earlier bloom on downward-oriented branch portions. The branch association was observational.
Sources: [8]
In an informal tasting of immature fruit, the breeder placed 011 between the less-favored 006 and the preferred 010 and 026. No measurements or ripe-fruit conclusions were supplied.
Sources: [9]
Following January 2025’s reported −8°F (−22.2°C) low, the March assessment placed 011 among selections with moderate to severe damage, unlike the much less injured 006, 010 and 026. This is a grower’s trial report, not a universal survival threshold.
Evaluated and documented this Conestoga selection within the multi-year outdoor cold-hardiness trial.
Sources: [1]
By January 31st, 2025, the breeder included 011 among the selections that had fruited. Immature 011 fruit had already been tasted in September 2024. The later March assessment found more cold injury than on 006, 010 and 026.
Evaluated and documented this Conestoga selection within the multi-year outdoor cold-hardiness trial.
Sources: [20]
The breeder named the group of surviving selections Conestoga after the nearby river. The date when selection 011 received its number is not established.
Established the Conestoga series and assigned selection number 011.
Sources: [18]