I have a graft of Avana tardivo di Ciaculli which is a version of the Willowleaf/Mediterranean mandarin. It’s supposed to be very late. It’s a small graft on a newly planted tree from a sleeve. So, it might take 1-2 years before I see any fruit.
Finally managed to find one ripe fruit in each variety at the same time
L2R: Okitsu Wase, Miho Wase, Xie Shan and Owari Satsumas
All of them taste pretty much the same. Brix was around 13 for all of them. One shouldn’t be grafting these varieties for differences in flavor. They do spread the harvest nicely though - Okitsu Wase (mid-late Oct), Miho Wase (late Oct), Xie Shan (Nov) and Owari (Dec).
11 Likes
Clemenules - I’d say this is the best mandarin I’ve tasted that’s grown in Bay Area. So far, I’ve tasted Satsumas, Kishu, Page and Clementine grown by me or others. Kishu was my favorite out of these and I think Clemenules are better. It has intense flavor that reminds me of orange sorbet. I was told this is ranked highly in CRFG citrus tasting for many years in a row and I can understand why. I never thought I’d enjoy a mandarin with seeds (it only has a few) but I’d keep this around. Very vigorous grower as well.
11 Likes
First Sumo of the season. It was a bit hard but like before, I failed to convince my daughter that it’s not yet ripe. All the same flavors of the store bought fruit are there but probably needed two more weeks.
Can’t believe this is a one year graft from last Oct. It is very vigorous and precocious. I thinned most of the fruit but a couple more still hanging on
14 Likes
With the exception of the kumquats, our citrus all appear ripe in color but have a ways to go in ripening. The Minneolas are particularly vibrant this winter.
1 Like
Same here. The color change is most noticeable after the first few cold nights of the season. Speaking of Minneola, it is bright orange (I don’t think the camera accurately coveys that) but also super tart right now.
3 Likes
Yes, my daughter had to try a Minneola yesterday but my wife and I were more cautious. They have a ways to go.
My sumo are all orange colored as well, but they really don’t get to full sweetness until Jan-Feb in my location (Fullerton). If I wait until March then the fruit is over ripe. I wouldn’t leave more than 1 fruit on a one year old graft or it will slow down the growth of your graft for next year. I did not let my sumo fruit until the second year, and it is growing very strong with lots of fruits (13 last year).
Here’s the large fruits on the second year grafted branches (last year).
5 Likes
I like the Clemintines, just grafted a lot more varieties. I have a fruiting Fina Clementine which also has a few seeds but taste is very good. I hear from other citrus enthusiasts that Xie Shen is the best tasting in many of the taste test done. I have that one as well, it does taste sweet, but not the same flavor as the Clementine. Both of these are still better tasting than the Owari Satsuma. Ponkan tastes better than Owari as well.
2 Likes
I had Minneola but it never got sweet to me, just on the tart side so I top worked that tree with other varieties.
My favorite of the ones I tasted (over 10 varieties) is the Yosemite Gold. I never had a fully ripe one until this year and I must say it is the best. Tastes best of the three TDE varieties. So, if you haven’t tried one, I suggest you do, it is much sweeter/with tartness and has more flavor than the Clementine (Fina). Hard to find scionwood of this variety since it has a patent by UCR.
It has grapefruit in its parentage and not intended to be sweet like a mandarin.
Yes, I know that. I grow over 50 varieties of citrus. For some reason my Minneola just never tasted as good as the other mandarins I grow and seemed to be tart most of the time. I have lots of grapefruits and the ones I like are the hybrids, they taste sweeter (Cocktail, Melogold, Oroblanco, Flame, etc). I have not had fruit of Flame yet. Also have most Pummelos and I only like a few, Thong Dee, and Valentine (hybrid), Reinking is marginal, have two excellent seedling pummelos.
It should not be compared with true mandarin, just as Seville should not be compared with Washington.
In my opinion, if a person doesn’t like Pomelo then they shouldn’t bother with grapefruits – nor kumquats.
Also, I’m not a fan of frankenfruit trees. If you like a fruit, then grow it as a crop. If you don’t like it it – tear it out and plant something better. If you don’t know what’s better then spend a couple years attending USDA double blind tastings, or at least tastings offered by large chapters of NAFEX or CRFG. After all, the cost of the tree is just the down payment.
I like many different varieties but don’t have the space to grow that many trees. That is the only reason I have been grafting multi-grafted trees. Why would I want only 1 or 2 lemon varieties or grapefruit or pummelos?
1 Like
Because you said you didn’t like the others as much.
I like Sumo, I’m surprised you can get it here.
Yes, you can buy fruits here in CA, they don’t sell them until Jan-Feb most of the time. If you want to grow it, you can buy plants from a few online nurseries. Also you can purchase any of the 200+ varieties of citrus budwood from UCR CCPP budwood program.
2 Likes
Richard, I never said I don’t like Pomelo/Pummelo, I have many varieties of grapefruits, pomelos, kumquats, etc. I prefer to keep the ones I like the taste of, not just every variety there is.
Thanks, what section would Sumo be under, I looked under this site and I don’t see any. Does it go by another name?
CCPP - VARIETY DATA…_ga_Z1RGSBHBF7MTY3MjI4MTE4OC4xLjEuMTY3MjI4MTcwMi4wLjAuMA…