Author Topic: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits  (Read 2857 times)

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« on: November 24, 2024, 12:44:42 AM »
I thought I would share some photos again of the satsuma tree that is very productive here in SoCal.

This tree had over 2,000 fruits last year. This year it looks to have about 1,000 fruits. I picked about 100 fruits today. The fruits on this tree usually are ripe from November - January.

Fruits are easy peel, seedless, and pretty sweet. Much sweeter than my Fallglo, Washington Navel, Lane Late, Cara Cara orange, or Kishu mandarin right now.


sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2024, 12:46:03 AM »













sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2024, 12:51:02 AM »












SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2024, 12:18:28 PM »
Wow Kaz, that is amazing, very big tree, my trees are small comparing to yours. But this is what I harvested yesterday before the rain. Only 1/4 of the tree.



sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2024, 12:37:37 PM »
Your fruits look good. Do you know what satsuma variety you have?

I don't know for sure which one this large tree is, probably over 15yrs old. The second tree is more of a dwarf growing satusma, it has over 1,000 fruits again and it is only 6-7ft tall x 10-12ft wide.

SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2024, 01:12:46 PM »
Thanks Kaz, I have no idea, I bought 2 satsuma trees from the guy at the local farmers market, and they are different.
Wow again for a dwarf satsuma tree that has 1000 fruit, I trim my trees to be poodle size, maybe 3.5 feet by 2.5 feet, I think I might have a total of 60-70 fruit.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2024, 01:16:10 PM by SoCalGardenNut »

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2024, 01:29:53 PM »
Unless you have space, it is a good idea to keep it on the smaller size. After 100 fruits, you really can't eat them all. I always end up delivering/giving away more than 80% of the fruits. It takes time to pick them and give them away, so a smaller tree is the way to go. My trees are all multi-grafted with 10+ varieties, so it doesn't have too much of the same varieties.

Millet

  • Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4898
    • Colorado
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2024, 01:41:40 PM »
SC400 your trees are always amazing.  You should write a book.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2024, 09:36:30 PM »
Thanks for the compliment. I think the soil in our area must be real good since most of the fruit trees grows healthy with hardly any fertilizer. I just water the trees and buy a bag of fertilizer if I remember once a year.

I also have a weird fruiting Oroblanco grapefruit tree, it has fruits in clumps of 4-6 so the fruiting branches are always sagging down. The Cocktail grapefruit has fruits that hangs the same way. I'll have to take a photo and show you what I mean.

Here's one of the smaller Cocktail grpaefruit trees with the fruit cluster. Each fruit is over 1 lb when ripe. I tried a few today and they are very good. Probably will be the best tasting citrus again for me. Some branches already broke off from the weight of the fruits. This tree was grafted 3yrs ago with the Cocktail grapefruit.














« Last Edit: November 24, 2024, 10:23:52 PM by sc4001992 »

dytandme

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 40
    • zone 6b
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #9 on: November 25, 2024, 10:07:07 AM »
Wow! What beautiful trees and fruit. I'd be happy to see a single cluster like yours on my potted trees.

MasOlas

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
    • Zone 10b (new) Sandy Eggo, CA
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #10 on: November 25, 2024, 11:36:11 AM »
Impressive. How does the cocktail grapefruit taste? Is it typical grapefruit flavor?

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2024, 12:32:00 PM »
Thanks. No, the Cocktail (Mandalo) hybrid pomelo is different from any grapefruit that you eat. I keep calling it a grapefruit but it is not, it is a hybrid of a pomelo and mandarin, see the real description from CCPP link below. I like to eat it like a pomelo, separate the fruit sack and open each one like you would to eat a pomelo. The seeds easily come out and no messy juice when you separate the sack envelop from the flesh.

https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/crc3555

The fruits are large, very sweet, with a little tartness, and lots of juice. Everyone that tastes this fruit for the first time say it's the best grapefruit they have had. Now I have a list of people (friends & relatives) that expect me to save a fruit for them for Christmas so I reserve so many for these friends and relatives when I see them.

I also have an old/large Valentine pomelo hybrid which I thought was better since it doesn't have any sour/tartness, but the more I compare the taste of these two fruits, the Cocktail grapefruit is the winner for me.
https://citrusvariety.ucr.edu/crc4182

I grow pretty much most of the mandarin, grapefruit, pomelo, lemons that UCR has, and the top fruit may be the Cocktail due to its taste, size, productivity. Check out my large Cocktail tree that keep posting the same photo of my record 30 fruits on one grafted branch from my tree (old photo). The fruits on this photo all ripened and weighed in over 1 lbs each.



MasOlas

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 183
    • Zone 10b (new) Sandy Eggo, CA
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #12 on: November 25, 2024, 03:37:55 PM »
Kaz,

Will these graft to a Valencia or a Moro Blood orange?

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #13 on: November 25, 2024, 05:02:13 PM »
yes, no issue with grafting these on any citrus variety (lemon, orange, grapefruit, pomelo, kumquat). I even grafted a pomelo (banpeiyu) that is supposed to have fruits up to 10lbs each on my Australian finger lime tree.

SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2024, 05:22:22 PM »
Kaz, my sister has a Cocktail grapefruit but her grapefruits are not as big as yours. Thanks for saving me money regarding getting more pomelo scions from UCR. I’m not very successful in grafting them for some reason. So far one Sumo and one Murcott grafts were successful out of 20 or so citrus grafts.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #15 on: November 25, 2024, 07:01:39 PM »
ok, if you like good tasting citrus, the ones I still have because they taste good are the Valentine, Cocktail, Thong Dee (excellent), Melogold. People keep mentioning the Sarawak/Tahitian pummelo is good, but I didn't think so and I top worked my tree with other better tasting varieties.

Now the best pomelos I have are seedling varieties and they are better tasting than majority of the pomelos from UCR except for the Thong Dee.

But, if you like kumquats, one of the best tasting to me was the Indio Mandarinquat (VI 335). I ate fruits from the UCR research field and it was excellent, better than the Nagami kumquat since it is a much larger fruit and juicy and sweeter. But, I do have the seedless Nagami and it is nice since you can pop the entire fruit in your mouth and eat it all.
« Last Edit: November 25, 2024, 08:39:49 PM by sc4001992 »

poncirsguy

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 767
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 6a/6b
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #16 on: November 25, 2024, 07:56:08 PM »
This year I will have New Zealand lemonade.  I have pick 4 and have 4 more fruits to pick from this tree


sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #17 on: November 25, 2024, 08:41:21 PM »
Nice fruits on a small tree in pot. Did you bud graft it on the rootstock?

SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #18 on: November 25, 2024, 08:44:19 PM »
Kaz, I gave 2 Nagami Kumquat trees to my brother, I still have a Meiwa kumquat in my front yard, but TBTH, I really not that fond of kumquats.
I asked my neighbor what she thought is the best pomelo right now, she said Emerald Green, green skin, red inside. So that's what I’m going to acquire next.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #19 on: November 25, 2024, 09:05:46 PM »
Ok, she is right, that one is very good, I bought many from Weee online store. I'm not sure what the real variety name is, it may be buoi Da Xanh (Green Skin). There are a few other varieties from Vietnam that is supposed to be real good tasting called buoi Tien Vua, and buoi Tam Hong. The neat one is the Tien Vua, all red skin and red flesh.

I have a friend who is growing the green skin, red flesh pomelo so I hope to taste one from the tree in January.

poncirsguy

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 767
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 6a/6b
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #20 on: November 25, 2024, 11:11:25 PM »
I T-Budded the NZL to sour orange.  I have 5 of them.  I will be giving 2 away to friends and family.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #21 on: November 26, 2024, 12:19:19 AM »
ok, the tree looks nice.

poncirsguy

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 767
    • Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 6a/6b
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #22 on: November 26, 2024, 10:46:09 AM »
ok, the tree looks nice.
Thankyou.  It was late so I could show my other 2 NZLs.  1 of them has given 6 fruit and the other will start giving fruit in about a month.




sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #23 on: November 26, 2024, 11:45:49 AM »
Wow, that's a lot of fruits on your NZ on NZ grafted tree. I do like the taste of NZ lemon.

12Zodiac

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 158
    • Los Angeles
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #24 on: November 26, 2024, 02:01:24 PM »
Should have thin my satsuma. Half my tree has broken branches.







« Last Edit: November 26, 2024, 02:03:00 PM by 12Zodiac »

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #25 on: November 26, 2024, 04:58:51 PM »
Yup, too much fruit left on the tree is not good. That's why I pick 200 fruits at a time from now until January or the branches will break from the weight. I'm picking another 200 fruits tomorrow.

jbirdfunk

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 48
    • San Diego
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #26 on: November 28, 2024, 11:42:13 AM »
People keep mentioning the Sarawak/Tahitian pummelo is good, but I didn't think so and I top worked my tree with other better tasting varieties.

I remember reading those comments about Tahitian and bought one on a whim at Lowe’s that was on sale. Still small but I’ll make a cocktail out of it if it’s not good. I finally have some Chandler coming in this year after 3 years in the ground. I don’t expect to be wowed and will graft others on.

Still a favorite in our house is Oro Blanco (more grapefruit than pomelo of course) but I’m planting a couple more because we get friends and family asking for them.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #27 on: November 29, 2024, 11:43:31 PM »
I have a few older Oroblanco trees which always gets many fruits. My tree has fruit clusters like grapes, and these fruits weigh over 1lb each so I need to put some rope to support the branches before they break off. I had one side branch (2" diameter) that was holding 110 Oroblanco, the fruits almost got completely yellow before the entire branch broke off.

You might want to add the Melogold (VI323, sister of Oroblanco) since it is also seedless, but sweeter, not much sour taste at all. On my Oroblanco fruits I can taste a little sour after I eat it.



SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #28 on: November 30, 2024, 05:36:44 PM »
Ok, she is right, that one is very good, I bought many from Weee online store. I'm not sure what the real variety name is, it may be buoi Da Xanh (Green Skin). There are a few other varieties from Vietnam that is supposed to be real good tasting called buoi Tien Vua, and buoi Tam Hong. The neat one is the Tien Vua, all red skin and red flesh.

I have a friend who is growing the green skin, red flesh pomelo so I hope to taste one from the tree in January.
Because of this thread I went to an Asian supermarket and got some Emerald Red(name according to Whee). This fruit is not super sweet, very deep green skin, i.e. I don't think it was picked at its peak, I personally want to taste it before I pursue this variety.

I have a spot where my mulberry Silk Hope is located, I’ll probably replace it with this pomelo variety.

jbirdfunk

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 48
    • San Diego
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #29 on: November 30, 2024, 11:59:36 PM »
I have a few older Oroblanco trees which always gets many fruits. My tree has fruit clusters like grapes, and these fruits weigh over 1lb each so I need to put some rope to support the branches before they break off. I had one side branch (2" diameter) that was holding 110 Oroblanco, the fruits almost got completely yellow before the entire branch broke off.

You might want to add the Melogold (VI323, sister of Oroblanco) since it is also seedless, but sweeter, not much sour taste at all. On my Oroblanco fruits I can taste a little sour after I eat it.

Thanks for the advice on Melogold - it's been in my ccpp cart a few times but never bought it. I will try it. I also have Banpeiyu pumelo, Thong Dee, Siam Ruby and Bakouzba on my list.

My Oro Blanco has about 60-75 large fruits a year but has not broken any branches. Mine also does the cluster growth, some branches must hold 10-20lb of fruit but no breaking. These branches recurve down to the ground and it almost looks like it's a bush citrus. Tree is only 5' tall but 8' wide.

My Gold Nugget broke several finger thickness branches last year and I was able to save a few with poly grafting tape and support and they've grown back and look strong but I'm keeping the fruit thinned this year.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #30 on: December 04, 2024, 02:12:10 AM »
SoCalGardenNut, I don't know how many different pomelo varieties you have tasted, but most have no taste or are barely sweet. I have tried most of the varieties that you can buy here in the Asian markets and from friends yards and from my UCR varieties.

The Emerald Red (buoi da xanh) is good (average to good) taste for the store-bought pomelos, at least it has some taste, most of the ones you will see during December-January celebrating the Chinese New Years (White Honey, Red Honey, is for looks, but no taste. I just order a few myself to see if they taste any better than the ones I tried earlier. Still tastes the same, good, but not very sweet at all, oranges or mandarins are sweeter. It will be interesting to see how the fresh Da Xanh fruit will taste from a member's tree.

My Cocktail grapefruits are excellent tasting with sweet, very juicy, but a little tartness. The Valentine pomelos on my trees are just starting to turn yellow, should be ready in late January to compare it. Also, my Roy seedling pomelos are all turning a little yellow now so by end of January I should have photos to show. The Thong Dee and Banpeiyu is behind, still large green fruits but no yellow so probably will be in February before it is ripe. Next year I should have about 14 pomelo varieties fruiting to do some taste comparison. I think some people like the pomelos which are drier, not as juicy as a grapefruit. I like both dry flesh and juicy flesh as long as they taste good with some tartness like the Cocktail grapefruit hybrid.

If you like sweet citrus fruits, then pomelo may not be what you want to add. Instead, I suggest you gets Satsuma (like the tree above), or other good tasting mandarins like the Gold Nugget, and Yosemite Gold (both seedless) which have high fruit production and are seedless. Don't buy a Kishu since it is just a miniature version of a seedless Satsuma.


SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #31 on: December 04, 2024, 11:16:55 AM »
Kaz, you are correct, I bought another variety, Buoi Bien Hoa, pretty tasteless to me. Next year, I should be able to purchase some pomelos from a Fallbrook nursery, I might have a chance to taste homegrown pomelos and make better assessment.
I already have Kishu, pretty tasty fruit, and I also have a Golden Nugget, but no fruit so far, my sister has one tree with 3 fruit. Maybe I will get to taste it eventually.
She also have a small Cara Cara Orange, I wonder should I graft this to my Valencia Orange or just graft another Sumo branch to it. Valencia Orange is very sour for some reason. My Washington Navel is much bigger and very sweet. What do you think of these varieties?
« Last Edit: December 04, 2024, 11:18:59 AM by SoCalGardenNut »

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #32 on: December 04, 2024, 01:20:40 PM »
Valencia is always acidic tasting, will not improve. But good thing is, it will fruit a long time, my tree gets ripe fruits 3-4 times during the year when other varieties are not ready to eat. Cara Cara is not very sweet, like a pink navel. Washington navel is always sweeter and juicier. But the pink flesh is nice.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #33 on: December 04, 2024, 01:23:03 PM »
Graft a Sumo.

SoCalGardenNut

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 86
    • Zone 10, Sunset 23
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #34 on: December 04, 2024, 01:33:39 PM »
Valencia is always acidic tasting, will not improve. But good thing is, it will fruit a long time, my tree gets ripe fruits 3-4 times during the year when other varieties are not ready to eat. Cara Cara is not very sweet, like a pink navel. Washington navel is always sweeter and juicier. But the pink flesh is nice.
Out of all my citrus trees, Valencia has the best shape, very nice green leaves. I agree with you, I will graft a Sumo, I hope it takes this time, lol. I bought 3 scions from UCR last time and only one graft took.

sc4001992

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4835
    • USA, CA, Fullerton
    • View Profile
Re: Satsuma Tree - SoCal fruits
« Reply #35 on: December 04, 2024, 07:16:41 PM »
I picked another 500-600 fruits from the same tree. I need to trim it back more, has too many fruits.



















« Last Edit: December 04, 2024, 07:33:14 PM by sc4001992 »

 

SMF spam blocked by CleanTalk