Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Clementine (Citrus × clementina)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called clementine, Algerian tangerine, seedless mandarin.

More about clementine

About Clementine

Citrus × clementina · also called clementine, Algerian tangerine · edible

A small, easy-peeling mandarin hybrid producing very sweet, juicy, usually seedless fruit in winter. Clementines are compact, often spiny trees that crop heavily and ripen early. They need plenty of warmth and sun to sweeten and are slightly less cold-hardy than satsumas, but make rewarding container citrus for conservatories and sunny patios.

Cold limit: USDA 9-11 (frost-tender; established trees withstand only brief light frost, roughly to -4°C) · RHS H1c (15-30°C)

What clementine's hardiness rating actually means

Clementine is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Its RHS rating of H1c means: Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost. On the US scale that maps to USDA 9-11 (frost-tender; established trees withstand only brief light frost, roughly to -4°C) — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Clementine has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

Concretely, for clementine as it gets too cold:

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches.
A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover.
Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.

Can clementine go outside or overwinter — and where?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually.
Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C.
It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when clementine can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H1c figure above.

Clementine hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is clementine cold hardy?

Clementine is not cold hardy. It is a tropical houseplant that dies if it is left out through frost — there is no zone where it overwinters outdoors in a UK or cold-US climate. Indoor-only in almost every home. Clementine can only live outside year-round in genuinely frost-free climates (roughly USDA 9-11 (frost-tender; established trees withstand only brief light frost, roughly to -4°C)); everywhere else it is a houseplant that summers out at most.

What is the minimum temperature clementine can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about 5 °C (and never frost). Clementine has no frost tolerance at all — it is an indoor plant in any climate with a real winter.

What hardiness zone is clementine?

Clementine is rated USDA 9-11 (frost-tender; established trees withstand only brief light frost, roughly to -4°C) and RHS H1c — Warm-temperate — can summer outdoors but must come in well before the first frost.

Can clementine survive winter outside?

It can holiday outdoors in summer once nights are reliably above 5 °C, in shade or dappled light, hardened off gradually. Bring it back indoors well before the first autumn frost — do not wait for a frost warning, move it when nights drop toward 10-12 °C. It will never overwinter outside in a temperate climate; the indoors is its winter home, full stop.

What happens to clementine below its minimum temperature?

Below about about 5 °C, growth stalls and the leaves start to show cold stress — dark, water-soaked, or yellowing patches. A single light frost blackens the foliage; a hard freeze kills the whole plant, roots included, and it does not recover. Even a cold, draughty windowsill or an unheated porch in winter can be enough to damage it permanently.