Author Topic: ? Summer ripening mandarins  (Read 1918 times)

brettay

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? Summer ripening mandarins
« on: June 25, 2022, 04:28:16 AM »
Hey all, are there any good summer ripening mandarins?  I have gold nugget which ripens in late spring and holds well on the tree into summer.  I’ve been disappointed with the fruit quality of gold nugget however.  It’s, in general, pretty dry.  It seems like I’m not the only one who has had this experience.  Are there any other mandarins that you can pick in the summer?  I would imagine that these would also be fruits that ripen in late spring and can hold on the tree well.  Thoughts?

-Brett

poncirsguy

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2022, 11:51:19 AM »
Valencia

From Google:
  What is special about Valencia oranges?
Image result for valencia oranges
Worldwide, Valencia oranges are prized as the only variety of orange in season during summer. Furthermore, Valencia oranges bring benefits because of the vitamin C and flavonoids contained. In 2012, the genome of the orange was sequenced, and was found to have 
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sc4001992

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2022, 03:52:09 AM »
I also have a large/old gold nugget tree which finishes with ripe fruit about now. My gold nugget tastes good til the end (mid-June).

But there is another mandarin that hangs longer, it's a murcott mandarin. I have two versions of the murcott tree which has different fruits/tastes. The ones that hang on the tree ripe until July is the murcott (honey, from FL) with super thin, smooth skin, has many seeds, and is very sweet. When you compare the taste of the fruits in May-June with gold nugget the murcott is much sweeter and juicier. I'll pick a few ripe fruits tomorrow and post it so you can see what the murcott fruit looks like. Of all my mandarins, it is the only one that is still ripening now (March-July?). The fruit skin is so thin and tightly adheres on the flesh, so it is not as easy to peel but it does still peel away from the flesh sacks. This murcott variety closely matches the UCR CCPP VI-147. My other murcott (VI-462) fruits are different. It has very few seeds, peels easily, but doesn't hold until June. The VI-462 ripens from Jan-Apr/May. It tastes more watery and not as sweet as the VI-147.

Yes, I agree, I have four varieties of Valencia orange and they do stay ripe and hang on the tree during summer. They are good for juicing, messy if you try to peel and eat it, very juicy. If I had to choose between the murcott and valencia orange, I would pick the valencia orange since it has less seeds, fruits are larger, so you get more to eat.

Oolie

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2022, 07:31:49 PM »
I have had many disappointing GN's as you have described, but they, like most, mandarins will be like that for the first 7 years or so, after which they improve dramatically.

Other super lates are Pixie, and Shasta gold, which hangs well until late.

I've also got a navel which holds until May or so that many have mistaken for a mandarin, but it's a sweet orange by flavor.

Galatians522

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2022, 11:35:21 PM »
Murcott and W. Murcott are two totally distinct varieties which leads to a lot of confusion. To add to the confusion, Murcott is often marketed as "Honey" but there is an third mandarin by that name! King was the old Florida stand by for late production and had a reputation for being the latest to ripen. The internet tells me that it does not fare well in California. Although they have quite a few seeds Murcott has such a rich sweet flavor that it is definitely worth growing in my opinion.

sc4001992

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2022, 12:56:57 AM »
Galatians522, do you have a photo of the Florida King mandarin? I don't think I have seen any info on that one.

pagnr

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2022, 04:21:13 AM »
The Gold Nugget mandarin was bred in California and is a hybrid of Wilking (King tangor x Willowleaf mandarin) x Kincy (King tangor x Dancy mandarin).

Galatians522

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2022, 10:49:09 PM »
Galatians522, do you have a photo of the Florida King mandarin? I don't think I have seen any info on that one.

I am afraid that I don't have a picture of my own. Here is a link to the UCR web page. A lot of old timers called it a tangerines, but I guess it is actually a tangor. It is a parent in a lot of tangerine varieties grown today. Especially ones that are for late season.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/king.html&ved=2ahUKEwiz9aeA0dH4AhXag2oFHYfyB9YQFnoECAYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3xVLvoF8o1Zf4nUwKmudOw

sc4001992

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #8 on: June 28, 2022, 11:50:54 PM »
Ok, thank you for this info, I do have the VI-235 grafted on my trees. Just don't have any fruits on the new grafts yet. If it's larger than the Murcott fruit and ripens later that would be good for me to have more citrus to eat during summer.

I took some photos of my Murcott (from FL, VI-147) and Valencia today, will post soon. I also have Oroblanco fruits that are ripe and hanging on the tree. I have Melogold which is supposed to be similar to the Oroblanco from UCR but Melogold ripens earlier and hold for only 3 months (Dec-Feb).

pagnr

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2022, 10:54:13 PM »
King is fairly strong flavoured, in line with tangelos etc more than most mandarins.

sc4001992

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2022, 12:42:56 AM »
I think I will need to add more grafts of the King Tangor on my trees for next year.

Here's the photos of what citrus is ripening (or still hanging ripe) on my trees now:

















poncirsguy

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2022, 06:35:28 PM »
That means the murcott will rot your teeth 2X faster than the other 2

Galatians522

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #12 on: June 30, 2022, 11:16:14 PM »
It does not happen often, but I have eaten Valencias that hung on the tree for 10 months after being ripe. The next year's crop was almost ripe. Now, the quality was poor and the top half of the fruit was dried out, but it was edible. They hang in there longer than anything I know of.

tedburn

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #13 on: July 04, 2022, 04:47:29 PM »
Don' t know if you are also interested in autumn ripening satsumas, but I can recommend for example satsuma myagawa, it is ripe in southern Germany in October and is really good. Tasty and good balance sugar and acid.

sc4001992

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #14 on: July 05, 2022, 02:26:46 AM »
Yes, I agree about Miyagawa, it gets large fruits and is juicy, not as sweet as other satsuma but still a large fruit. My grafted branches gets many fruits and since they weigh so much, it always pulls down the branches on my large in ground tree.

poncirsguy

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Re: ? Summer ripening mandarins
« Reply #15 on: July 05, 2022, 09:13:30 AM »
"I have eaten Valencias that hung on the tree for 10 months after being ripe"
Get the Valencia.  It is tried, true, and will hang on the tree for you.  It is also better for your teeth and your
A1C
« Last Edit: July 05, 2022, 09:18:40 AM by poncirsguy »