Dancy or Sunburst Tangerine?

[puglvr1]

Thanks NCH!! I appreciate the kind comments  ...I'm glad I was able to help.

This is a great forum, SO many members have such great advise and always willing to help others...I learn SO much from everyone here.

[puglvr1]

Say goodbye to my poor dead loquat and Hello to my new Dancy 

Poor hubby




Dancy Tangerine

[zands]

What do   you mean "poor hubby"? You are helping him stay healthy with some good useful exercise. Very nice lawn btw.

[sunworshiper]

Looks great!

[puglvr1]

Thanks Zands and Sun!!

Guess I'll try that approach the next time I have to ask my hubby to remove a dead tree..."but I'm helping you stay healthy"  ...not sure if that approach will be received,lol...

[Central Floridave]

I've got the dancy and I highly recommend it.  Carefree for me and tons of fruit every year.  Its a commercial variety so its a good choice.

I would also like to mention one that more people should grow. its the one from Jamaica, the ortanique.   Its zipper-skin and taste pretty good.  It produced a lot of fruit for me on a small 5 foot tall tree and the fruit is very pretty. 

For me the Honey-Murcott is the sweetest.

I've had a sunburst before that died in a flood. But, it produced good fruit also but was plagued by bugs.   I'm not too sad its gone.  I may replace it.

I have the clementine and it produced a lot of fruit for me also this winter.  Its not like the fruit you buy in the store though. 

I have the ponkan also. Which is good, but I haven't seen much fruit from it.   

also, the links to the newer variety look promising. But, the main problem no nursery wants to propagate them due to the low demand for sales.  I wish someone would get on the ball and push out those new variety. 

[puglvr1]

So here is my Dancy tangerine planted almost 3 years ago...last year it produced appx. 15-20 extremely dry juiceless fruits, none were edible  . I assumed it was due to its young age ( was only planted a year and a half ago) at the time...and its first time producing fruits. This year it's pretty loaded I count appx. 90+ fruits!

Do I need to water this tree on a weekly basis from now till I pick the fruits? I didn't do any additional watering last year so maybe that may have attributed also to the dry juiceless fruits last year?

Oh and when do they usually ripen in the winter?

Thanks for any help/advise...

Its hard to see the fruits because they are all still green   

[palmcity]

December is usually a good time in South Florida to pick and eat the Dancy Tangerines. After a cool night will usually make the tangerine sweeter. Regardless of a cool spell or not, start trying the taste in early December of a few.

However, if you leave them on the tree too long.... Your tangerine may become a nice solid orange color and juiceless.

When the tree starts to grow in usually about Feb. (could be earlier or later), It will absorb the juice from the tangerine before it eventually falls from the tree and as you noticed, this is not good. It is possible any time to have a dry tangerine if it has been really really dry. Prevent this in Nov. Dec. & Jan. by occasionally watering if dry spells are long. It is possible to also have a dry tangerine if root rot orcitrus greening is present and the tree is not getting enough water even if rains are normal. Thus many possibilities for a dry tangerine. What time of the year did you try them?

Another sign of a dry tangerine is loose skin. If the tangerine has the peeling close to the skin, it has a better chance of being juicy. However, when I pick tangerines from my tree, I usually try to eat the loose skins one first as I know they will dry out quicker in drought or if growth begins. Good luck.

Oh, i forgot to say i had one tangerine yesterday that was mostly green with a hint of orange. It had sweetness to it but was still more tart than sweet. So i guess I should say start trying today if a little orange is present. Better to eat them than something else or they rot or fall off the tree later in the year...

I looked again at your picture and see a lot of oak trees. Their roots can go 3 times the diameter of the canopy when pressured from other oaks for available water and nutrients in some South Florida locations. If the trees were mine I would decrease their size and slowly replace with fruit trees or less aggressive growing trees. If the top is smaller, the roots will need less of your fruit tree area. Try cutting with a shovel near the side to your left in the picture and see if roots are in the shallow top soil within 1 foot. They will look orangish and many strands for the leading root tips. But your yard and trees look great so maybe you have much better soil and water conditions than I.

[achetadomestica]

I live in 9b close to LaBelle, FL. When the fruit gets soft it's ready to eat. It may still be green.
If you wait till it turns orange it could be dry and worthless. It is very unpredictable to grow oranges here and each year
I have experienced different results. This year we had a very wet September which caused some brown spot and fruit drop.
I have:
1 brown select satsuma
2 ponkans
1 owari satsuma
1 xie shan satsuma
1 sugarbelle
1 temple
1 ortanique
1 kishu
1 clementine
1 tango
I plan to dig up the clementine and replace with my newest purchase the Tango. Your tree looks great and the fruit looks ripe now?
Squeeze the fruit and if it is soft try one. So far we have only had one night that got 55F and the fruit will not be very sweet. It should be
tangy and juicy though. Some of my fruit is still green and already drying out. Last year was so warm there was an early bloom and the fruit
is early. If you leave dry fruit on the tree too long it will effect next years harvest also.
Mike

[JF]

The season is right around the corner but in the meantime we can enjoy these delicious little treats

[puglvr1]

Thanks Palmcity, achetado and Joe for your advise and input 

Sounds like I waited too long to eat the dancy last year, it was around mid January if I remember correctly. I thought I had to wait for the color to turn really orange and since it was a very warm winter last year I waited for several cold nights and that didn't happen till January.

Palmcity, those Oak trees are not in my yard, Lol...those are my neighbors. I only have a few Oak trees but they are contained in an island with a couple of Mango trees that are doing great there...no issues with my mango trees planted near them luckily. They've fruited yearly. Those Oak trees are actually a lot further away than the picture shows so hopefully they won't have too much affect on them...

Joe, I am SO jealous!!!!! Wow, your tree looks amazing and loaded!!!!! Wish I lived next door 

[puglvr1]

The side that gets the most sun is slowly coloring up...also had a few over night lows in the 50's,but the fruits are definitely not ready yet. I tried one and the one I tried was definitely juicy but not sweet yet...a few more weeks hopefully. I read one article that this tangerine has been nicknamed a "Christmas" tangerine...

[Central Floridave]

For a follow up my Dancy is extremely loaded with fruit this year and just turning color. Can't wait to start eating them!  I've had them last until late Feb and into March. About 10 percent of them are dry but the rest are sweet and juicy.  Dancy is a great variety for us.  Carefree and disease resistance. I hardly ever do anything to mine and get fruit every year. 

Curious enough, the sunburst that I said died has come back to life and is thriving again, but too small to produce fruit again.  I thought it had croaked but it re-sprouted above the graft line.

[puglvr1]

Dave, that's awesome! I can't wait to try mine when its ready. I really hope it won't be dry this year. Sweet would be nice too 

[WGphil]

I planted a sunburst tangerine grove when they were getting 25 a box.   Unfortunately the 80's were not kind to citrus.

20  sunburst for one Orlando Tangelo pollinator.    Minneola is almost as good for pollination. But once you get a mix of mandarins that should be enough.
 
Satsuma will live through most cold and very good.  Ponkans are similar but wont take as much cold

Murcotts are the sweetest.

I have a Dancy as they are the easiest to grow but my fave is the Robinson.  Harder
 to grow and seedy they aren't as common.  People want seedless.

But once you juice them the magic starts.  No more seeds and flavor best described as Lifesaver tangerine  in a sweeter liquid form

Nominate it for best screwdriver mix 

[palmcity]

Satsuma will live through most cold and very good. 

Murcotts are the sweetest.

I have a Dancy as they are the easiest to grow but my fave is the Robinson.  Harder
 to grow and seedy they aren't as common. 

Agree that the Dancy is most hardy of my tangerines i have grown and they are of good quality. They are my preferred tree of the few varieties I have but I have not tried the Robinson etc.

My few Dancy trees are over 20 years old and have managed to hang on after hurricaines, canker, citrus greening, and assorted other fungal/bacteria/ boring insect attacks. The trunk of some are partially decayed and trying to regrow with about 50 fruit holding per Dancy tree.

The one murcott is about 20 yrs old but really stunted with height of less than 5 foot and visible fungus/lichen growth over the limbs with little growth and no fruit. Previous years produced a few fruit that were smaller than my Dancy and maybe sweeter but not really preferred with the more difficult skin peeling since it held tighter to the fruit. I am trying to revive it with copper spray etc and hoping with more time to care for it, it may have fruit next year if alive.

The Satsuma tangerine was always our least preferred. At my location it ripened in early Nov. but the kids did not know it as the ripe stage is more green than orange/yellow. They usually waited until it turned yellow orange about Dec. and it was already starting to dry out. It never really tasted as good but it was the earliest to eat if wanting a tangerine in Early Nov. My lack of desire to care for it probably helped hasten the fungus/root rot and it has finally deceased this year after being here 20 yrs. However, a mango tree is now enjoying the decaying material from its former self.

[palmcity]

Do I need to water this tree on a weekly basis from now till I pick the fruits? I didn't do any additional watering last year so maybe that may have attributed also to the dry juiceless fruits last year?

Oh and when do they usually ripen in the winter?

Thanks for any help/advise...

I have been eating my Dancy Tangerines as about half the tangerines are ripe enough to be sweet on 2 of the trees and they appear as 5/6 yellow/orange and 1/6 greenish. I also sent about 20 tangerines back to some kids at college yesterday after the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

[Vitaliy]

Hello. Say why do not bloom Sunburst Tangerine (Robinson × Osceola). The tree is 5 years old. Rootstock citrumelo swingle 4475. Cold wintering, phosphorus (K2O) and Potassium (P2o5), did not help.
Friends advise something?