Mandarin oranges?

[Ccat]

Does anybody grow (owari satsuma) mandarin oranges in Puna?

If so, how does the constant rain And warm weather affect them?

They are a variety noted for cold weather tolerance.

[1voyager1]

We have 4 tangerine trees, a Dancy, 2 Honey and one Satsuma.
All but the Dancy and one Honey are from Plant It Hawaii and were put in a couple of years before the eruption.
The newer and older Honey's fruit are different.
Obviously, the older trees are from a different source.
All have done poorly but are finally showing recovery this season.

The Honeys and Satsuma have finally fruited relatively nicely.
The Dancy was badly damaged by the gasses and lost a large number of branches, then did a survival mass bloom on the remainder.
Not much came from that, only had 2 fruit on it this season.
This year it 's filling out again, and has many new branches.


I ate tangerines, 10 or more a day, until gone just recently.
Baring further eruptions and such, I expect a very good bloom and fruiting from all next season, hopefully, more than I can eat up as they ripen.
I'm very happy that I don't seem to tire of them.
In fact, I'm disappointed that I've finally run out.


We are at 750'.
Summers occasionally reach high 90sF.
Winters are not hot.
So far they have never seen temps lower than 63F, not exactly a cool climate.The USDA map has us on the cusp of zones 12A and 12B.

One of the Honeys has contracted citrus scab that puts spots on the leaves and fruit.
I've begun pruning the tree and will begin spraying all when they bloom soon.
Hopefully, I will have it under control for the next season's fruiting.
The Satsuma is definitely a dwarf tree, and has fruit almost as good as the Honeys.

We'll see how they all turn out next season.
Not exactly an answer to your question, but may be useful.

[Ccat]

We have 4 tangerine trees...zone 12...

 
zone 12 is really warm for a mandarin orange (satsuma).  I am glad you are finally getting fruit!  Citrus is known to be slow.

I wonder how grapefruit would do?  they must have high heat to get sweet, but I wonder if the total heat units in your zone 12 would work? 

thanks for the reply.

[1voyager1]

Not likely to see us put in grapefruit, not GF eaters.
I love tangerines, especially Honeys.
That's why I put another tree of them in.
The Satsumas are almost as good.
So far, the Dancy is not as good compared to the other two.

We do use a lot of limes in our drinking water, so I've put a Tahitian Lime in.
It has bloomed a couple of times, but birds have eaten the small immature fruit.
One did hold long enough to ripen.
I'll net this one too.

I've already picked up some netting for the Longan tree because of birds eating the small young developing fruit.
I expect it to bloom in a month or two, will get the net over it after blooming.
Should get a lot of fruit from it.
It was badly impacted by the eruption, but is recovering very nicely.
Fruit should be ready in Aug or Sept.

Experimented with it.
The fruit freezes very nicely and thaws with little to no effect on texture or flavor.
If I'm right, we'll have a lot of Longan fruit over a long period this next season.

There was an orange tree when we bought.
It is NOT an eating orange, very tough and stringy.
It takes a lot of hard chewing to eat it.
It does make a delicious juice, though.
I think it's a Valencia.

I turn the entire fruit load into juice.
If they ripen too fast, I freeze the juice.
We drink a lot of OJ.
Miss that one when it's gone too.

Got a runty little Meyer lemon that hasn't done well at all.
I think its due to being in an area where water pools during rains.

The other lemon, a Eureka, Is gone.
Iselle and subsequent wind storms blew Ohias down onto it breaking off limbs, finally killing it.
That poor tree took a beating.

I'm thinking about adding an eating orange, maybe a Naval.
But, we've got a lot of citrus already.
Plus, things are getting tight, running low on room.

There, that'll teach you to get me started on fruit trees.
I skipped over the avos, bananas and others.
All were badly impacted by the eruption and disease.
Been spending a lot of time getting them ready for the next season.

[Durian Fiend]

Citrus is not slow in Puna. It all does great. My brother in law says my navel oranges are the best he’s ever had. My satsuma had a big crop this year. We’re at 700 ft. The fruits seemed to be best quality earlier in the season, losing flavor later on.
Best tangerine IMO is Gold Nugget. My opinion is based on eating them on mainland, haven’t seen how they do here yet.
Best citrus of all is Dekepon, also known as Sumo orange or tangerine. They can go for $6/lb on mainland.
Have one planted as of last year so no fruit yet.
Instead of grapefruit plant Pommelo. There is a special cultivar developed for Hilo/Puna area that Plant It Hawaii sells.

[Ccat]

As far as grapefruit goes...I grew up in premium grapefruit land and I do love it, but it may not be for everyone.

Grapefruit needs HOT! summers and almost freezing winters to taste mouthwateringly right and Puna May not have what it takes.

Ummm...ruby red grapefruit!

(I eat a Solo papaya for breakfast everyday in Puna.)