Two newest members to my fruit tree family...

[Mr. Clean]

My lovely girlfriend helped in the selecting and planting process.

Cute girl friend (adventurous enough to climb up a tree) and good luck in your relationship. So good things have been happening to you ever since you started planting fruit trees. When and what did you first plant. Did you first plant trees in 2011?

The picture was at a local park, we went kayaking and then she decided to climb a tree.  I planted my first fruit tree in 2012 in my yard, a Red Lady Papaya.  I am upto 26 fruit trees / plants now... I've been busy.

[fruitlovers]

What size is your yard?

[Mr. Clean]

What size is your yard?

1.25 acres

[zands]

The picture was at a local park, we went kayaking and then she decided to climb a tree.  I planted my first fruit tree in 2012 in my yard, a Red Lady Papaya.  I am upto 26 fruit trees / plants now... I've been busy.

Might as well start big. Those 26 fruit trees are a really fast start in just 2012. If you want some citrus I recommend Murcott tangerine. A $40 tree got at HD and planted last fall is full of little fruits. Many will drop off I suppose but it is off to the races for this fruit tree. Another plus is Murcott does not require another companion pollinator tree the way others such as Honeybell do

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch078

[fruitlovers]

What size is your yard?

1.25 acres

That'll keep you busy, and well fed! 

[bsbullie]

The picture was at a local park, we went kayaking and then she decided to climb a tree.  I planted my first fruit tree in 2012 in my yard, a Red Lady Papaya.  I am upto 26 fruit trees / plants now... I've been busy.

Might as well start big. Those 26 fruit trees are a really fast start in just 2012. If you want some citrus I recommend Murcott tangerine. A $40 tree got at HD and planted last fall is full of little fruits. Many will drop off I suppose but it is off to the races for this fruit tree. Another plus is Murcott does not require another companion pollinator tree the way others such as Honeybell do

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch078

Really, its just the honeybell and some clementines that "require" pollinators.  I don't know if any other orangevarieties that will fruit in SFla that "require" pollinators.

As far as citrus goes, I would pick from lemons, limes, kumquats, or calamomdin but leave the "big boy" citrus, oranges, tangerines & grapefruit, to points North (Indian River County area).  We just don't get enough chill hours to properly sweeten/flavor up the oranges, tangerines & grapefruit.  Just my 2 pennies.

[natsgarden123]

The picture was at a local park, we went kayaking and then she decided to climb a tree.  I planted my first fruit tree in 2012 in my yard, a Red Lady Papaya.  I am upto 26 fruit trees / plants now... I've been busy.

Might as well start big. Those 26 fruit trees are a really fast start in just 2012. If you want some citrus I recommend Murcott tangerine. A $40 tree got at HD and planted last fall is full of little fruits. Many will drop off I suppose but it is off to the races for this fruit tree. Another plus is Murcott does not require another companion pollinator tree the way others such as Honeybell do

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch078

Really, its just the honeybell and some clementines that "require" pollinators.  I don't know if any other orangevarieties that will fruit in SFla that "require" pollinators.

As far as citrus goes, I would pick from lemons, limes, kumquats, or calamomdin but leave the "big boy" citrus, oranges, tangerines & grapefruit, to points North (Indian River County area).  We just don't get enough chill hours to properly sweeten/flavor up the oranges, tangerines & grapefruit.  Just my 2 pennies.

You haven't had issues with Citrus?
The citrus has been looking awful-canker is everywhere now, at least in our neighborhood and in my previous  one also. The only Citrus I planted is a Sambokan lemon- only because my husband wanted it.

[SWRancher]

Very nice new trees. I have been thinking about planting a jakfruit tree in my yard too, to round out my collection. 

For Mothers Day I bought my wife one of those 5 variety cocktail citrus trees hopefully it will do all alright in South Florida, citrus cankers and all.   

[bsbullie]

The picture was at a local park, we went kayaking and then she decided to climb a tree.  I planted my first fruit tree in 2012 in my yard, a Red Lady Papaya.  I am upto 26 fruit trees / plants now... I've been busy.

Might as well start big. Those 26 fruit trees are a really fast start in just 2012. If you want some citrus I recommend Murcott tangerine. A $40 tree got at HD and planted last fall is full of little fruits. Many will drop off I suppose but it is off to the races for this fruit tree. Another plus is Murcott does not require another companion pollinator tree the way others such as Honeybell do

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch078

Really, its just the honeybell and some clementines that "require" pollinators.  I don't know if any other orangevarieties that will fruit in SFla that "require" pollinators.

As far as citrus goes, I would pick from lemons, limes, kumquats, or calamomdin but leave the "big boy" citrus, oranges, tangerines & grapefruit, to points North (Indian River County area).  We just don't get enough chill hours to properly sweeten/flavor up the oranges, tangerines & grapefruit.  Just my 2 pennies.

You haven't had issues with Citrus?
The citrus has been looking awful-canker is everywhere now, at least in our neighborhood and in my previous  one also. The only Citrus I planted is a Sambokan lemon- only because my husband wanted it.

No, have not seen, nor heard, of any recent widespread canker issues.  If you purchase a clean tree and spray with fungicides on a regular basis you should be ok with the canker issue.

[bsbullie]

Very nice new trees. I have been thinking about planting a jakfruit tree in my yard too, to round out my collection. 

For Mothers Day I bought my wife one of those 5 variety cocktail citrus trees hopefully it will do all alright in South Florida, citrus cankers and all.   

Word of wisdom with respect to the cocktail trees...the grapefruit will be the most vigorous and over time will want to "take over" the tree.

With all your trees you don't have a jackfruit     Time for a visit to Excalibur...

[Mr. Clean]

Might as well start big. Those 26 fruit trees are a really fast start in just 2012. If you want some citrus I recommend Murcott tangerine. A $40 tree got at HD and planted last fall is full of little fruits. Many will drop off I suppose but it is off to the races for this fruit tree. Another plus is Murcott does not require another companion pollinator tree the way others such as Honeybell do

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ch078

Thanks for the suggestion.  I am avoiding citrus because of citrus canker concerns.  Good luck with your Murcott tangerine. 

[fruitlovers]

As far as citrus goes, I would pick from lemons, limes, kumquats, or calamomdin but leave the "big boy" citrus, oranges, tangerines & grapefruit, to points North (Indian River County area). We just don't get enough chill hours to properly sweeten/flavor up the oranges, tangerines & grapefruit.  Just my 2 pennies.

Sorry Rob, but this is obviously wrong. I grow lots of oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits, and we have lot less chill hours than you, namely ZERO chill hours. The ones that i found do best are washington navel, ruby red grapefruit, minneola tangelo, dancy tangeringe, honey murcott tangor, temple tangor. Pummelos also do great in the tropics. And yes they do sweeten up just fine! If they don't sweeten up at your locale it must be for some other reason than lack of winter chill.

[bsbullie]

As far as citrus goes, I would pick from lemons, limes, kumquats, or calamomdin but leave the "big boy" citrus, oranges, tangerines & grapefruit, to points North (Indian River County area). We just don't get enough chill hours to properly sweeten/flavor up the oranges, tangerines & grapefruit.  Just my 2 pennies.

Sorry Rob, but this is obviously wrong. I grow lots of oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits, and we have lot less chill hours than you, namely ZERO chill hours. The ones that i found do best are washington navel, ruby red grapefruit, minneola tangelo, dancy tangeringe, honey murcott tangor, temple tangor. Pummelos also do great in the tropics. And yes they do sweeten up just fine! If they don't sweeten up at your locale it must be for some other reason than lack of winter chill.

I have tasted plenty of citrus grown in Palm Beach and Broward counties and there is no comparison to fresh picked Indian River fruit (my parents lived in Vero Beach for many years so I have had the fortunate ability to taste and compare fruit from both areas.  Indian River wins hands down (I don't mean grocery store fruit, but fresh from the groves).  Don't know what to say in your area with the chill hours but cold snaps (not extended blasts below 30 degrees) definitely sweetens and enhances the flavor or tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.  Feel free to do some googling...

As for pomelos, yes I agree but they do not consistently produce quality fruit in our area from what I have tasted.

[zands]

Sorry Rob, but this is obviously wrong. I grow lots of oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits, and we have lot less chill hours than you, namely ZERO chill hours. The ones that i found do best are washington navel, ruby red grapefruit, minneola tangelo, dancy tangeringe, honey murcott tangor, temple tangor. Pummelos also do great in the tropics. And yes they do sweeten up just fine! If they don't sweeten up at your locale it must be for some other reason than lack of winter chill.

Now I feel better I have an Oro Blanco pomelo/grapefruit. But in 2010 when we had a few nights w freeze temps my Dancy tangerines got really sweet. I have Murcott and Mineola same as you

[murahilin]

Very nice new trees. I have been thinking about planting a jakfruit tree in my yard too, to round out my collection. 

For Mothers Day I bought my wife one of those 5 variety cocktail citrus trees hopefully it will do all alright in South Florida, citrus cankers and all.   

Let me know if you're going to plant out a jackfruit tree. I may have one for you.

[murahilin]

I have tasted plenty of citrus grown in Palm Beach and Broward counties and there is no comparison to fresh picked Indian River fruit (my parents lived in Vero Beach for many years so I have had the fortunate ability to taste and compare fruit from both areas.  Indian River wins hands down (I don't mean grocery store fruit, but fresh from the groves).  Don't know what to say in your area with the chill hours but cold snaps (not extended blasts below 30 degrees) definitely sweetens and enhances the flavor or tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.  Feel free to do some googling...

As for pomelos, yes I agree but they do not consistently produce quality fruit in our area from what I have tasted.

Well, I did do some googling and it seems to be questionable whether the cold actually enhances the flavor.

Here is one quote that I found regarding the cold weather sweeting the fruit:
"Fred Gmitter, a professor of citrus breeding and genetics at the University of Florida, told ABC News today that he was not aware of any data proving this theory and that he believed it was a “sort of wives’ tale.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/a-bit-of-cold-weather-the-sweeter-the-orange/

It also said that the cold damage could possibly damage the skin of the orange causing water evaporation and concentrating the sugars but I don't know how much it is actually ehancing the flavor as much as damaging the fruit.

I remember reading in a book that it was the soil in Indian River that caused the better tasting Citrus in that area as compared to the rest of FL and not the weather.

[bsbullie]

I have tasted plenty of citrus grown in Palm Beach and Broward counties and there is no comparison to fresh picked Indian River fruit (my parents lived in Vero Beach for many years so I have had the fortunate ability to taste and compare fruit from both areas.  Indian River wins hands down (I don't mean grocery store fruit, but fresh from the groves).  Don't know what to say in your area with the chill hours but cold snaps (not extended blasts below 30 degrees) definitely sweetens and enhances the flavor or tangerines, oranges and grapefruit.  Feel free to do some googling...

As for pomelos, yes I agree but they do not consistently produce quality fruit in our area from what I have tasted.

Well, I did do some googling and it seems to be questionable whether the cold actually enhances the flavor.

Here is one quote that I found regarding the cold weather sweeting the fruit:
"Fred Gmitter, a professor of citrus breeding and genetics at the University of Florida, told ABC News today that he was not aware of any data proving this theory and that he believed it was a “sort of wives’ tale.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/a-bit-of-cold-weather-the-sweeter-the-orange/

It also said that the cold damage could possibly damage the skin of the orange causing water evaporation and concentrating the sugars but I don't know how much it is actually ehancing the flavor as much as damaging the fruit.

I remember reading in a book that it was the soil in Indian River that caused the better tasting Citrus in that area as compared to the rest of FL and not the weather.

I also stated that extended temps below freezing are not good as yes, that will damage the fruit.

If you are posting articles, then you should be fair and post the articles that state what I am saying.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/a-bit-of-cold-weather-the-sweeter-the-orange/

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/06/food/la-fo-marketwatch-20120106/2

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-06/us/florida.citrus.growers_1_fellow-growers-florida-citrus-grower-small-grower?_s=PM:US

[fruitlovers]

Well, I did do some googling and it seems to be questionable whether the cold actually enhances the flavor.

Here is one quote that I found regarding the cold weather sweeting the fruit:
"Fred Gmitter, a professor of citrus breeding and genetics at the University of Florida, told ABC News today that he was not aware of any data proving this theory and that he believed it was a “sort of wives’ tale.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/a-bit-of-cold-weather-the-sweeter-the-orange/

It also said that the cold damage could possibly damage the skin of the orange causing water evaporation and concentrating the sugars but I don't know how much it is actually ehancing the flavor as much as damaging the fruit.

I remember reading in a book that it was the soil in Indian River that caused the better tasting Citrus in that area as compared to the rest of FL and not the weather.

I agree this is a fairy tale for most, but maybe not all citrus. I know for example that with blood oranges without a chill you will not get the coloration and full flavor. But with most others have no difficulty growing good quality citrus here in land of zero chill. About pummelo, don't understand Rob why you wouldn't get good quality on that one either? Pummelo is very widely grown in the tropics, and i believe also originates in tropical Malaysia. I think Sheehan must be right and has something to do with your soil rather than temperature growing requirements.

[Mike T]

It sounds like there is some confusion about growing citrus in the tropics and I have some experience with numerous cultivars and types grown between 35 and 12 latitude.Assuming all other factors are equal I am confident of the following.
My minneolas grew huge navel like fruit that never coloured or formed the bump.Poleward of 23 latitude they start to get proper colour,flavour and shape.Navels of mine were also pale,lacked flavour but were huge and also preferred subtropical and cooler climates.The same grapefruit types are sweeter  and better when grown in the tropics  and pomelo are way better when grown within 20 latitude of the equator.
Navels only yellow and can regreen at my place (16 55') and lack a bit of acid but are alright.In Cairns some mandarins (tangerines) are excellent like emperor,ellendale (tangor),honey murcott and hickson but most that need chilling for colour and flavour are poor and trees are sickly like freemont,afourer,imperial,satsuma types and many others.Blood oranges are hopeless in warm humid climates.For wide ranging citrus types skin is thicker,colour is often deeper and there is a higher acid content at cooler parts of the 'envelopes'.Wet and dry climates also cause noticeabley different fruit characters within a variety. 
The moral of the story is select varieties of citrus that best suit your climate for success and good fruit.Sorry to ramble folks.   

[bsbullie]

Well, I did do some googling and it seems to be questionable whether the cold actually enhances the flavor.

Here is one quote that I found regarding the cold weather sweeting the fruit:
"Fred Gmitter, a professor of citrus breeding and genetics at the University of Florida, told ABC News today that he was not aware of any data proving this theory and that he believed it was a “sort of wives’ tale.”
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/a-bit-of-cold-weather-the-sweeter-the-orange/

It also said that the cold damage could possibly damage the skin of the orange causing water evaporation and concentrating the sugars but I don't know how much it is actually ehancing the flavor as much as damaging the fruit.

I remember reading in a book that it was the soil in Indian River that caused the better tasting Citrus in that area as compared to the rest of FL and not the weather.

I agree this is a fairy tale for most, but maybe not all citrus. I know for example that with blood oranges without a chill you will not get the coloration and full flavor. But with most others have no difficulty growing good quality citrus here in land of zero chill. About pummelo, don't understand Rob why you wouldn't get good quality on that one either? Pummelo is very widely grown in the tropics, and i believe also originates in tropical Malaysia. I think murahilin must be right and has something to do with your soil rather than temperature growing requirements.

oh well, I remember hearing from a number of Indian River growers that say otherwise...

As to the Pomelo, I think a lot does have to do with a combo of the soil and more importantly, the water.  There is an area of Jupiter that the composition of the municipality's water is wreaking havoc on the fruit (in a negative way).  Don't know if they are more sensitive or just have different requirements.  In any event, I have had some that were very good and some that were very awful.  With the Pomelo I am NOT saying it is the temperature having any effect.

[Mike T]

bsbullie I was not disputed any observations but merely making a comment regarding climate and different citrus and their quality.I think when you consider fruit flavour with climate aside the range of nutrients available,soil characteristics (health,chemistry,type,structure etc) and rarely soil contaminants will influence fruit flavour.Some micronutrients,K,S and even P and when/how they are available have a big role in fruit taste. 

[bsbullie]

bsbullie I was not disputed any observations but merely making a comment regarding climate and different citrus and their quality.I think when you consider fruit flavour with climate aside the range of nutrients available,soil characteristics (health,chemistry,type,structure etc) and rarely soil contaminants will influence fruit flavour.Some micronutrients,K,S and even P and when/how they are available have a big role in fruit taste.

I agree with your comments.  I also think the generations of family citrus growers in Indian River County area also know what they are talking about.  I am not disputing what was said about soil being better as that is probably a huge factor in why that area is so productive in general.  What I don't agree with is the fact that, as you hinted with respect to the varieties they are growing, "cold snaps" at the right time don't enhance the overall quality of the citrus (on top of the quality level they would be producing on a "regular" basis).  Wives tale, coincidence or fact, from tasting citrus from that area for many years, there is a noticeable difference with the temperature drops at the "right" time periods of fruit production.

[Mike T]

The timing of chill during fruit development should be able to influence flavour alot I reckon.

[fruitlovers]

The timing of chill during fruit development should be able to influence flavour alot I reckon.

Like i said before this all depend on the cultivar. Here we have lots of citrus that have been selected for our area that do really well, and that i mentioned previously, including oranges, tangerines, tangelos, tangors, grapefruits, and pommelos. There are commercial citrus orchards here, and one very large nursery just specializing in citrus. If what Rob was saying was correct none of them could exist. What Mike said is true about areas closer to equator. But Florida, which is what we were discussing, is 25+ degrees north of the equator and should have no problem as far as temperature for growing lot of very many citrus cultivars. Here at 19N also not a problem. Once you get closer to 10 degrees from the equator many citrus will not color up well and tends to be more watery. In those equatorial areas you need higher elevation to grow good citrus.

[Mr. Clean]

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