Smith red valencia flavor reviews, plz

General Fruit Growing
#1

Hi everyone!

After a good deal of research, I got a smith red valencia. I chose it because I wanted the blood orange coloration, but I much prefer the flavor or valencias or “regular” oranges to blood oranges - BOs are generally not sweet enough for me.

I’ve never tasted SRV, so if you have grown it I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on taste, flavor, and general tree health. Do you like this variety? Does it taste more like blood oranges or more like valencias/sweet oranges? I know environmental conditions always play a role, but interested to hear about other’s experience…

Thanks!

P.S. I am growing in Z10a Oakland, CA - since we are coastal I don’t think we usually get enough heat for good oranges, but I have a white southern facing wall that gets very intense reflective heat all day long, so that’s where I am trialing orange growing. I grew up in So Cal and really want to be able to grow sweet citrus even though I now live in the Bay Area! This is my first year growing citrus here.

Thanks!

#2

I am not growing SRV, but it did come up in my research. We have a big orange tree in our sideyard and by the process of elimination, I narrowed it down to Midknight Valencia. The fruits are ready in late summer but holds well on the tree till the end of Fall. Its a juicing orange and does sweeten up nicely in our coastal weather (few varieties do). So, if SRV is anything like a regular Valencia, it should work in your area. Although, from what I read, SRV ripens in winter. So, I’m not sure if we can expect it to have the same characteristics. I am curious to hear more about your experience with SRV.