Author Topic: Do Satsumas get better with age?  (Read 961 times)

edweather

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Do Satsumas get better with age?
« on: December 04, 2022, 07:01:22 PM »
We have a young Owari Satsuma a few years old, and it has about 20 fruits this year. The juice is sweet, but they are hard to eat, and chew, and you have spit a chunk of pulp after every bite. Our neighbor has a mature Satsuma, and the fruit melts in your mouth, and is really sweet. Will ours improve with age? I hope so. Thanks.

brian

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2022, 09:01:53 PM »
I had a small owari that was never all that healthy, it would grow some, fruit some, and die back some.  Eventually it died completely.  However, the fruit was always very good!  I wonder if it is the growing conditions rather than the age of the tree that is the issue for you.  Or could be just bad luck :)

countryboy1981

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2022, 06:59:14 AM »
It may have something to do with age or the ability to hold more fruit.  The more fruit a tree holds onto the smaller the fruit tend to be (at least for me).  The small fruit are sweeter and do not have the issues you are speaking of.  I give the larger satsumas to my chickens to eat.

Oolie

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2022, 10:50:15 AM »
Some fruit trees don't show their colors until 3 years after first fruit. For some varieties it's much longer.

Mandarins in particular are said to take 7 years to show their true colors. This does vary with rootstock, dwarfing rootstocks producing satisfactory fruit in much shorter times.

I've eaten so many gold nugget mandarins, and they are almost all as you described. Hard, pebbly, dry flesh, often with off flavors, I've tasted cilantro in GN. I'd never plant one if that was my only example, though it was repeated so many times.

GN is good when from a mature tree, sweet and juicy. Fruit trees are for the patient.

Millet

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2022, 12:45:01 PM »
edweather, when you say our tree is a few years of age.  I take that to mean the tree is 2 years old.  Most citrus varieties do not produce quality fruit until at least 5 years old at the earliest  As the saying goes...... Good things come to those who wait..

EricSC

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2022, 01:59:15 PM »
It may have something to do with age or the ability to hold more fruit.  The more fruit a tree holds onto the smaller the fruit tend to be (at least for me).  The small fruit are sweeter and do not have the issues you are speaking of.  I give the larger satsumas to my chickens to eat.
I have a tree which I thinned the fruits in spring so about 12 of them kept on tree.   They ended up all very big (about 4:1 by volume to normal size) with rough rind, dry and tasteless inside.   I basically through of them out.

countryboy1981

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2022, 04:56:28 PM »
It may have something to do with age or the ability to hold more fruit.  The more fruit a tree holds onto the smaller the fruit tend to be (at least for me).  The small fruit are sweeter and do not have the issues you are speaking of.  I give the larger satsumas to my chickens to eat.
I have a tree which I thinned the fruits in spring so about 12 of them kept on tree.   They ended up all very big (about 4:1 by volume to normal size) with rough rind, dry and tasteless inside.   I basically through of them out.

I agree with that.  The larger sized fruits are edible but not of great quality.

AndrewAZ

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2022, 12:16:58 AM »
I was told by someone smarter than me, allow your fruit to produce fruit for 3 seasons.  After then, you can truly judge the fruit quality.  Not perfect, but I find it a good rule of thumb.

edweather

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2022, 08:01:04 AM »
Thanks for the replies. Satsumas thrive in this area, and the tree was purchased from a decent nursury. It was very young when we bought it, and this is only the second year with fruit. Hopefully it will get better. We also have a red navel tree the same age, and last year the few fruit were disappointing, and this year they are really good. We have 5 trees, and they all seem to have a life of their own. Growing citrus for this transplanted New Yorker, is not as smooth a process as I imagined :) Thanks again.

poncirsguy

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Re: Do Satsumas get better with age?
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2022, 08:32:27 AM »
I too have found citrus to be very fussy.  However the Osage orange tree across the street is very healthy and incredibly productive.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2022, 12:05:02 AM by poncirsguy »