Citrus > Citrus General Discussion
What happened to "Sumo" (Dekopon) in the US?
greg_D:
I remember when these first hit the market they were enormous and always very high quality. Now they are the size of regular oranges (if not smaller) and very hit-or-miss in terms of sugar and acid balance.
Not asking to complain; rather, it seems like home growers could learn from this (i.e. mimic the growing practices that made the original fruit so good, and avoid whatever changes that have caused the quality to go down)
happyhana:
Agreed. Bought 4 pounds of AC sumo last week, all were small and mostly sour.
sc4001992:
Many growers in different countries grow them, not all the exact same variety. Read the UCR website, there are 3 accessions, one is good, the rest is not as good.
Alippincott:
--- Quote from: sc4001992 on January 26, 2025, 02:32:27 AM ---Many growers in different countries grow them, not all the exact same variety. Read the UCR website, there are 3 accessions, one is good, the rest is not as good.
--- End quote ---
That is fascinating! I wonder how the divergence occured. Perhaps people assumed poly seeds would produce a clone, but in reality it did not. I've always questioned the validity of citrus poly seeds. I don't know if I have seen proof of a sumo seed producing an exact clone yet
happyhana:
While there are three different accessions legally in the US that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily different genetically.
The videos I’ve watched on Sumo cultivation in US and greenhouse growing conditions of Shiranui in Japan show how fruit quality is greatly impacted by culture.
The poor fruit I had was from AC Sumo whose accession has the oldest and most direct lineage to original Japanese cultivar. Whoever grew these fruits did not take the same care I saw from a Sumo grower on YouTube.
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