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Thomasville v. Morton?

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bussone:
Is there anything to recommend a Morton over a Thomasville, or is the Thomasville considered superior in basically all comparisons?

It seems to have better vigor, fruit, and hardiness than the Morton.

I ask only because the neighboring town is called Morton and thus the name appeals to me, but aside from that I cannot fathom a reason to prefer it. Anyone with a minority view?

jim VH:
Hi Bussone,

     I have both Morton Citrange and Thomasville Citrangequat, both on Flying Dragon rootstock.  Both are about eight feet tall.  They are two completely different animals.  (Animals?  Well, they both do have a bit of a bite to them.) 
     The Morton Citrange is a 50-50 hybrid of an orange and a Poncirus Trifoliate and has large orange sized fruit that typically ripens in late November, here in my short growing season location.  It tastes like an orange, with an off-flavor I don't enjoy at all.  But that's subjective; a local board member loves them and comes to get them in December.  It bears relatively heavily; I get fifteen pounds or more, most years.
     The Thomasville Citrangequat is a cross between a Citrange and a kumquat.  It has kumquat  sized fruit that can be harvested green in November, here.  The flavor is like a Key Lime–a lime flavor with a touch of bitter–which I enjoy and use in a number of culinary applications.  It's rather shy bearing; I typically get less than five pounds.
     The Morton Citrange is much hardier than the Thomasville Citrangequat.  A two week arctic blast in January 2017, with one low near 8F, caused extensive small twig damage to the Thomasville; the Morton Citrange snickered at the cold and had no discernable damage.  Based on this, I'd guess that the Morton could survive down to Zero Fahrenheit, or maybe a bit lower, making it a zone 7 plant, whereas as the Thomasville is more of a zone 8 plant.  Although, being in Pennsylvania, your arctic weather events would last much longer than mine, based on my experience in living in Michigan for thirteen years, so that may have a bearing on survivability of the Morton in your location.  The Thomasville wouldn't survive at all in your location, without protection.
     Hope this helps,

Jim

hardyvermont:

--- Quote from: bussone on November 14, 2022, 09:58:02 AM ---Is there anything to recommend a Morton over a Thomasville, or is the Thomasville considered superior in basically all comparisons?

It seems to have better vigor, fruit, and hardiness than the Morton.

I ask only because the neighboring town is called Morton and thus the name appeals to me, but aside from that I cannot fathom a reason to prefer it. Anyone with a minority view?

--- End quote ---
The one fruit I had from Morton was attractive but not edible out of hand.  A ripe Thomasville is edible when ripe and can be used before as a lime substitute.
For breeding purposes, others have posted that they got a deciduous seedling from a Morton, and that Thomasville is not zygotic.

mikkel:
my experience is different with Morton, I guess it depends a lot on the individual clone whether it is edible or not. I had a Morton from Ilya, although a nucellar seedling it was the best hybrid I could taste so far. not like an orange but something very own, tropical. another morton that I could try earlier was not good, typical poncirus hybrid aroma....
I just tried a thomasville. I didn't like it, not awful but not good either.

poncirsguy:
Why not get a Fukushu kumquat and plant it in the ground and cage it in the winter.  At least you will have something that taste good when fully ripe.


Fruit from above tree

cage is four glass sheet thick with 5/8 inch gaps between each sheet.  Needs heat below 20F

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