I bought these mandarin oranges in a whim since they were on sale. I usually buy tangerine or tangelo, but these were superior than any other tangerine, tangelo or any other oranges I ever have eaten.
It is not just seedless but easy to peel and extremely sweet. I just need to know the name of it so I can buy a tree.
Thanks
It looks like either a Honeybell or a sumo (usually sold as an orange). For some reason they taste very similar to me. Apparently I’m not the only one:)
I bought some that looked like that at Sam’s Club recently. Sumo Citrus brand of mandarins. Tasted excellent! I doubt they are available for home growers, but I’m not sure.
Just look for “shiranui” or “dekopan” those are the non-trademark names for the exact same cultivar as Sumo™. You can get grafted trees from a nursery or scionwood from CCPP. Here’s the listing from Madison:
Oh sweet, thank you!
I’ve got one on order from Madison. I’m excited as it seems to get rave reviews.
Anyone have other citrus that they really like?
Kishu! They are tiny, but the flavor is phenomenal, and they are virtually always seedless and among the easiest to peel of any citrus, with less stringy fiber than shiranui. I’m hoping my graft from last year will flower this year, but if not I’ll just keep buying them when they are in season.
Thank you. I’ve heard good things about Kishu. Just added it to my order.
I have been growing citrus since the mid 60s. Following is my opinion of the referenced varieties. Kishu is sweet but very small and little flavor. I only kept it for my juice pile. Dekopan is very sweet with a unique flavor. Spouse loves them. I couldn’t eat more than one. If you like sweet, try cocktail. They are sweeter than dekopan while still green. Once they get some orange coloring they are syrupy sweet. Sweeter than dekopan and kishu. They ripen too late in Kingwood. Fruit would freeze every year unless grown in a container. I pulled it. Most of my citrus was on flying dragon in the early days. You could keep them small and cover for freezes. They now graft most citrus in Houston area to other aggressive rootstocks for larger much younger trees. Much less time in the nursery and most people don’t know any better. I had 20 year old trees at 4 to 7 feet tall. Miyagawa is very good also, but once xie shan and california honey ripens, miyagawa would go to the juice pile. Don’t think there is anything better than xie shan and california honey. California honey is seeded and can’t be imported into Texas. I grew the California varieties in SW La. Still don’t think TX has bud wood. Tx honey mandarin is very sweet also and seedless.
@fruitnut, knowing you I think you won’t enjoy Kishu as much. It’s easy to peel, tiny portion and a sugar bomb. In other words, very kid friendly 
We love Kishu! Also Cara Cara Oranges are great.
I have about 6 different budwood I’ve ordered from the CCCPP to graft onto an older Tangelo tree so I will let you know how that goes next year or after that 
… all of those are supposed to be excellent but no personal experience:
Cocktail Pummelo
Oroblanco Grapefruit
Wekiwa Tangelo
US Superna (USDA 88-2) Mandarin
Parent Washington Navel
Edit: I also have a small Dekpon tree that I originally bought as a budwood source for spring grafting but that I’ve been considering keeping as a tree by itself as well. We will see. I have very limited space so not sure if I have space for this. Can try in a pot maybe.
Also - we have a Pixie Mandarin and we like that too though I’ve heard some folks don’t like it as much for some reason. Apparently it can get too sweet! So you might have to do some research.
We also grafted Yuzu Lemon onto our Meyer Lemon and hoping for some Yuzu fruit this year or next.
Bearss Lime is great as well.
We also have a small Owari Satsuma Mandarin but that tree has stalled for the last 2 years at about 1.5ft so I’m about to transfer it to a pot and inspect the roots to see what’s up. It’s supposed to be great. Might also just use it as grafting material for either the Pixie Mandarin or the large Tangelo.
Hope this helps!
Thank you! Appreciate the detailed notes! I’m going to have to look into these.
My favorite so far is Gold Nugget.That is store bought.My tree hasn’t produced fruit yet.
The one that has,is a Xie Shan Satsuma,which is very good.
Weren’t there citrus,in your greenhouse,at one time?
I haven’t had any homegrown, but the kishu from my local grocery store has a very strong flavor, similar flavor profile to dekopan but even sweeter. I don’t find it to be a one-dimensional flavor at all, the way things like a navel orange and page mandarin seem one-dimensional to me. I found kishu had a much richer flavor than Gold Nugget, for example, but I know many people praise that one so maybe it had just not been picked at the right time by whatever farm the store (PCC) uses as their source.
+1 - we’ve liked Kishu quite a bit - we are in Zone 10 though. I suspect ripening, flavor, etc will all differ by zone and conditions it’s planted in.
I have several mandarins, here are my brief impressions:
The Kishu that we have bought locally have ranged from very sour and somewhat acidic, to sweet and flavorful.
I got one from them this winter and it’s a fine looking tree (as per the usual from Madison) pushing a lot of new growth right now. Also my potted Kishu (ran out of ground space) from them a year prior is loaded with blooms right now
Shiranui
I already have xie shan on order. Good to know you really like it. I also ordered a Cocktail based on your recommendation. I have a very long season in my greenhouse with 10 months of 90F heat. I should be able to ripen anything except things that need warm nights. Nights are warmer in south/southeast Texas than in my greenhouse.
