Nippon Orangequat - cold hardiness

[tedburn]

Tuesday I got an Nippon Orangequat with a really wonderful fruit, 6cm in diameter, wonderful mandarinorange flavour and very juicy, delicious.
I read it could take down to 10° F.
Does anyone cultivate this wonderful plant and what are the expiriences concerning cold hardiness and other specifics of the plant. Thanks Frank

[poncirsguy]

I am glad your fruit is tasty.  everything I have read is that the fruit is so sour it has no flavor.  Marumi kumquat on Flying dragon properly hardened can go down to 10F with no damage and 0-F with leaf loss.

[tedburn]

Thanks Poncirusguy, I think there are several cultivars under the name Orangequat, mine is a cross of mandari x meiwa kumquat and so the fruit tastet realy delicious.
But I think hardiness is therefore also limited for planting in ground at my zone 7 place, without more protection.

[SoCal2warm]

From what I understand, Nippon orangequat is only as hardy as kumquat, which is only a little bit hardier than Satsuma mandarin.

They're edible, but some people complain that they are not as good eating quality inside as Satsuma (or a regular mandarin), and their outside peel is not as edible as a kumquat. That mixing together the traits of both are not really the most desirable thing for being able to enjoy the fruits.

[SoCal2warm]

But I think hardiness is therefore also limited for planting in ground at my zone 7 place, without more protection.

I am pretty sure Nippon Orangequat is not going to be able to survive zone 7 in Germany without protection.
I remember someone did an experiment and planted a kumquat just outside of Atlanta (US state of Georgia, zone 7b), and even covered the plant with frost cloth, and it did not survive.

[poncirsguy]

I believe that someone with the 0rangequat tree was on Macophilia or rough lemon roots and those aren't cold hardy so the  tree died because its roots died.  An Orangequat on Flying dragon would have a very good chance in zone 7 with Christmas lights and radiant barrier frost cloth.

[mikkel]

I am pretty sure Nippon Orangequat is not going to be able to survive zone 7 in Germany without protection.

this is just pure speculation

[tedburn]

@all, thank you for your comments.
But believe me the fruit was really delicous comparable to a satsuma.
My plan is to take a small twig of the plant and graft in on poncirus and plant it later in ground, but I guess protection and heating in zone 7 will be necessary if temperatures lower than -10 or -12 ° Celsius ( 10° F).

[brian]

All of the fruit that my Nippon has produced have been bland.  The pulp not very sour, and the rind not very sweet.  Seedy and anyway too large to eat in one bite.  However, I have read other reports that this type is quite nice to eat, so maybe their is some variety for whatever reason.   The fruit in Tedburn's picture looks more like a satsuma to me.  All of my Nippon fruit have been round to egg-shaped, I have never seen one with the slight-pumpkin-shape that is common with mandarins.

[tedburn]

Yes Brian, my fruit looked satsuma like and tasted satsuma/orangelike, lower acid than my satsuma myagawa.
Think I will take a small twig in spring for grafting on citrumelo or poncirus and then will test frosthardiness.

[brian]

from the other thread about Dekopan it sounds like some varieties have significant variety.  You should clone yours and propagate it.

I guess it is possible that my orangequat or yours is mislabelled, but the leaves look correct for a kumquat hybrid

[tedburn]

Brian, I also think there are several cultivars, because some descriptions of Orangequat dont fit to my plant/ fruit.
I found a description wich fits very good and also the fruit size seems to fit, see the link and go to the description/ picture.
http://mckenzie-farms.com/photo.htm

[Skandiberg]

Hi,

Sorry to be a little off-topic but I just stumbled upon this one, called Oceana orangequat, which is a cross between a Satsuma and a Meiwa. I have never heard of it before. Does anybody know it? Could it be the same as Nippon?

https://youtu.be/SCRb0DEkaHk?si=JP7AY6AkMf31rSyH

https://www.citrina-plants.com/en/products/orangequat-nippon/oceana/?srsltid=AfmBOooqzkLfD8gBW0xf5WQjP0UWa6vFK-J35uBXkeRUGt6MC73mgT9d

It looks nice and the video looks promising. I wonder if it ripens one time, preferably before the frosts like a Satsuma  or has the flowering and bearing periods like the kumquat parent.

[mikkel]

Citrina plants sells the usual varieties under their own names. On the label, on the plant itself, the real variety name is written in small print (which you have to give them credit for, because many sellers don't do this).

You can also find out the real variety on the website (I think). I bought a Limequat from them in the shop, it also had their brand name on the label, but also the real variety name in small print next to it. That`s why I purchased it.

[Skandiberg]

Thanks, Mikkel.

The only other place I found it besides Citrina and the youtube video I linked is a Romanian webshop. As the plant is out of stock, it isn't displayed but here is a shot of it from elsewhere:

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/citrus-orangequat-oceana-meiwa-kumquat-x-satsuma-mandarin-in-2024--677862181447300531/

Probably it's Nippon because I can't find any further info of it anywhere.

Too bad, I thought I had found something exciting and new.

[tedburn]

I don' t know what you expected to find interesting and new ?
Yes this citrus with the fantasy name is exactly a Nippon Orangequat,
so you are in the right topic.
I think Nippon Orangequat is a very interesting variety, very cold hardy and
excellent fruit, nearly same taste as a good Satsuma.
I have now two grafts in ground and with fleece protection they survived -11°C as
young plants.
Only secret is if they are in my climate already sweet end of December ?
I will see it this December.
My plant is from Eisenhut in Swiss.

[Skandiberg]

Interesting and new cultivar which is maybe newly introduced to the market thus not really known to the public. The name Oceana was unfamiliar to me that's why I thought so. But it seems I was wrong, it's just a Nippon which is widely known. So I turn the page.

[Lauta_hibrid]

According to the Riverside California collection, which is on their website, the ninpo orangequat is not edible, so those who have sweet fruit plants should analyze what they are. Those who have their own harvest, it would be good if you could upload photos for comparison. Here in Argentina I got something that looks like the ninpo from a collector, but it needs to be analyzed more. Mine has round and oval fruit, it stays on the plant for a year without falling off, skin like an orange, very little essential oil, very juicy and acidic like lemon all the time. It is an embryonic monkey and has a leaf shape that is somewhere between a Satsuma and a kumquat. When I can, I will take a photo so you can see, but there is no reliable source here since only this collector has it. By the way, at Riverside there is a photo of the open fruit that does not match what is shown on the plant.

[a_Vivaldi]

UCR can be a bit dismissive as to what is edible or not. They don't even describe Thomasville as edible.

[Lauta_hibrid]

I made a compilation of Ninpo Orangequat photos from different sources for comparison, and I'm uploading the photos of my plant which is from a collector in Argentina. I concluded that it is also Ninpo. Keep in mind that there are varieties sent to other countries by research centers and therefore they can vary (according to my conclusions my plant is 100% mono embryonic). "The names of my fruit are the pollen I used to pollinate them, since I wanted a backcross with kumquat to improve its flavor. My description: large fruit for a kumquat (4 times larger), mostly oval but also pear-shaped or round, holds well on the tree until next flowering, hard and unpleasant skin (like eating orange peel), very juicy, always more acidic than lemon and full of mono embryonic seeds.

[martweb]

Nippon as well as Indio has to hang a very long time on the tree. Then it becomes sweet.