If you live near Costco, this is the time of the year that pomelos are sold in store. We hope to get some before they are gone. Pomelos can keep for several weeks so we often buy a few bags each time.
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Pick a few more pomeloās and Mandarins today. Next picking date February 14. Valentineās Day, picking more Valentines pomeloās and mandarins.
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You trees are always breathtaking Bob! Do you burry some of the containers?
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No, they just sit on top of dirt after itās leveled a bit. Containers should always be leveled because the property is hilly.
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I love pomelo. When I go to Thailand, I eat a lot of it, in Petchaburi, already prepared. I prefer them sweet, mild, and ādryā with big juice kernels that donāt break open and leak when the segment membranes are peeled off.
But I havenāt had many different types, maybe Iād like others even better. Iām usually too lazy to prepare them myself at home, especially when they arenāt as good anyway.
It feels decadent like eating freshly cleaned crab meat, or prepared artichoke hearts.
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Our taste is similar. My hometown, Nakorn Pathom, is where Thong Dee came from. Our province is a well known for pomelos and grapes.
The relative newer variety I have not tried much is Siam Ruby, the deep red fleshed one.
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Our friends here rave about both varieties I grow, extremely juicy, sweet not sharp tasting like grapefruit. I enjoy eating them and fond growing them. Membranes are not bitter.
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Amy, did you buy your second greenhouse yet? The one you have should be filled up by now! Like to see your collection. Been grafting any? You,Jan and Laura are better skilled than the guys in that short of the time, except Steve.
I never understand why people eat grapefruit. It is tart and bitter, IMO. It can also post some health risks to people with certain medical issues.
Bob, you are an amazing citrus grower. I donāt know what to do with scales when I brought the plants indoors so I gave up.
Tippy, scales are easy for me to get rid of, Shout (stain remover). This is what I use, people frown when I mention this. I spray the tree, wait a couple hours then wash the tree with garden hose.Scale usely dry out. As many I grow none have scale.
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Will look into Shout. Thanks, Bob.
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I think pomelo is also a risk for people who take some medications like certain statin drugs.
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Agree. They share some of the same compounds. However, pomelos are far and away tastier and is (almost) worth dying for 
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Most of the traditional pomelos canāt be grown here, like Thong Dee or Sarawak. Well, they can be grown but I should settle for just eating the pith 
However, Iām excited about the (relatively) new hybrids like Oro Blanco, Cocktail, Valentine, Poorman, etc. May be Rojo Blanco is worth trying as well. I wish there is commercial interest to breed more of these.
I wouldnāt rate grapefruits near Pomelos (or these hybrids) either, but I can eat them. When ripened well in the right environment and peeled properly, they can be good. It could be something you grow up with and cultural, like guavas in my case.
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yeah, many varieties of grapefruit tastes metallic/bitter to me too. I guess people eat more grapefruit simply because much cheaper and more readily available. Moreover, pomelos are not as pretty on the outside as grapefruit and other citrus species. Common citrus look glossy and brightly colored, so nobody cares to pay extra for a dull-looking and often warty citrus variety
as i see it, pomelo is to citrus family as jackfruit is to fig family. Usually among members of any fruit family, the bigger-fruited species are typically not as desirable in eating quality compared to medium/small-fruited species of the same family. Pomelos are the largest of citrus, and jackfruit are the largest figs, but to me, both pomelo and jackfruit are way more desirable than their smaller family members.
incidentally, if one should come across āpomeloā cultivars but with english names, then quite likely they are not true pomelos(C. grandis), but rather just regular grapefruit(C. grandis X C. sinensis)
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Pomeloās donāt have the problem you could have in comparison to grapefruit. Just eat them, you are not going to die. The season is short. I tested a Valentine pomelo a couple of weeks ago, pretty good also but have to wait till Valentines Day, for another update. Most of my pomeloās are already spoken for. Can grow a couple dozen trees having no problem given to friends here.
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Speaking of Thong Dee and other varieties, @Marta has a nice post documenting the experience of growing these in Central Valley
For comparison with coastal climate, this is an example of Thong Dee from Gene Lesterās citrus collection in Santa Cruz
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I donāt know if such a thick rind is a function of the climate only. Might be the low phosphorus to N ratio. I suspect my tree could have fruits with thinner rind if I had more P or less N.
The other contributing factor could be the rootstock variety. I am looking for good reference articles for finding the best rootstocks for each type of citrus fruit. There are bits of info, but Iām yet to find a comprehensive table with modern citrus cultivars and their best rootstocks. I just learned that C-35 is not good for Shiranui, and Carrizo would be better. C-35 is not good long term for grapefruit too. While almost any citrus scion grafts on almost any citrus rootstock, this does not mean that the fruits will be optimal and the tree will live long. Any pointers to comprehensive info on this? Or personal experience?
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I have a fruit on my young Tahitian pummelo and I live in Canada. I will report back how it will look inside. I also have a fruit on my cocktail mandalo but thus one is an hybrid.
Bob, lol, I donāt have any plan to build a second greenhouse anytime soon! I have my hands full with all the plants I gave right now. My brain tells me to stop buying more plants but I still have a couple that will come in spring. Oh dearā¦
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With that thick rind, all I could think of is to make candied rind from such fruit.
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