Citrumelo Nr. 82

[Florian]

I posted this on facebook but since not everyone is on there I thought I'd share it here too.

In Switzerland, we have this Citrumelo called Nr. 82 because that is its catalogue number from Eisenhut nursery. It is a selection they made. It is not known what the original variety was. A fellow citrus enthusiast once said that this was by far the best Citrumelo he had ever tasted and that he thought it tasted like a grapefruit from the 80s. A few days ago, I picked the fruits and I have to say it is quite good for a Poncirus hybrid. The flesh is sour but with a notable sweetness. It is also bitter but not unpleasantly so. And there is very little poncirine taste, no resin. The juice is even better, I can drink it just like that, bo Poncirus notes whatsoever. I used the juice to make jelly and I think it tastes great.

Mind you, this is still far from eatable compared to any commercial citrus but much better than other Poncirus hybrids that I have tasted. It is also better than Dunstan in our climate. I have a smaller one in ground but it hasn't fruited yet. It did sail through its first winter with about -9C unscathed though. Considering that spring and early summer were much too cold (everything is about a month behind) I think it could taste even better in a normal year.

[tedburn]

Congratulation Flo, looks great your tree with fruits. For me as also cold hardy citrus cultivater its only a pity, that our species (cold hardy citrus cultivater) is so rare, that fruits of the different cultivars are so seldom, that we not often are able to compare fruits and taste of cold hardy varieties. So your taste test and sharing of this is very appreciated, thanks a lot . And good luck for fruits with your tree planted in soil.

[tedburn]

Hi Flo, can you compare the taste tobDunstan or 5* citrumelo ? Would be interesting to know if there is a difference to better taste ? Thanks Frank

[mikkel]

I have not been able to compare the 3 at the same time, but I would call N°82 the best of the three and the european Dunstan the worst.

[tedburn]

thanks Mikkel, seems I have to regradt some of my Dunstans 😉, because I also see 5* better than Dunstan in taste.

[Florian]

Frank,
A French guy said somewhere that he tasted both 5* and 82 and that they were close. But I can't remember where I read that.
I have only tasted a European Dunstan from Germany and I did not like it too much. It was certainly no match for my 82.

[tedburn]

Thanks Florian,
for your Information. So in every case it s good to have an further citrumelo with the nr. 82 which has relativ eatable fruit. I still have 3 nice last years grafts from Dunstan and Ilya s Ichangstar 60 and Staraji55. Already curious to taste these fruits, but I guess the plants will need a two or three years to set fruits. Best regards Frank

[Zitrusgaertner]

thanks Mikkel, seems I have to regradt some of my Dunstans 😉, because I also see 5* better than Dunstan in taste.

5* is bad enogh! The bitterness is grave and long lasting and there is resin. Nearly as much as with my Poncirus.

[maesy]

My Dunstan comes from Eisenhut and gives me lots of fruits. But I'm not sure if it's the same as the Dunstan you are talking about, since I belive there are two different typs.
The fruits are not eatable out of hands, but the juice with some sugar and diluted with water is enjoyable.

A few years ago I pollinated it with pollen of my I x S. Now I want to cut down a good amount of the tree and graft some scions of the hybrid seedling on. It may still take some years until ist first bloom, but I guess it will take longer for the seedling itself.

[Florian]

Only four fruit on my potted and none on my in-ground tree this year (no flowers yet). I picked one yesterday to see how it was and tried peeling it just for the sake of it. Still the best Poncirus hybrid I have tasted (and I still haven't tried 5*). I will leave one or two fruits a bit longer on the tree to see how they turn out.

[lajos93]

Hey

Did you taste it again? whats it like as the tree got larger?

[Florian]

Hey

Did you taste it again? whats it like as the tree got larger?

The tree hasn't grown much since it is still potted and I prune it. The one I planted out only made its first flower last year but no fruit yet.
The fruits are still excellent for a trifoliate cross. The rind is not good, though. I will also graft one onto Citrumelo rootstock and see how that goes. I'd hope for larger fruits.

[lajos93]

why havent you planted it outside in a protected location?
Is it not on a hardy rootstock?

I bet your zone 8a is more like 8b, that should be plenty easy for a citrumelo no?

[Florian]

why havent you planted it outside in a protected location?
Is it not on a hardy rootstock?

I bet your zone 8a is more like 8b, that should be plenty easy for a citrumelo no?

It is on Poncirus but I simply don't have enough space. My grandma allowed me to plant two rows of hardy citrus in her garden and that is where I planted one of the Nr. 82 that I grafted from my tree shwon above.

In the last twelve years, we have not seen anything colder than -10/-12 C which would be 8a. Many winters have in fact been 8b or even 9a, so you are right.
However, our winters are long and damp and we can have prolonged freezes where temps stay below zero for days and sometimes weeks. A hard freeze is usually not followed by positive temperatures the next day. And that is what kills citrus here.
Moreover, while some citrus may be hardy here, most of them fail to ripen their fruits in time before the first severe freezes. Our growing season is simply too short. My in-ground plants usually don't flower before May.