Satsuma Mandarins have always been my favorite citrus. This crop you grew looks amazing! And the tree looks so nice with all those Christmas ornaments and I can think of a better gift than a bunch of Mandarins.
That was a killer crop. I had one similar a few years ago in Hawaii. Every type of citrus has something in it's favor. The Satsuma has no seeds, easy to peel and sweet.
I grow several types of citrus here in middle Tennessee. Owari and Brown's select satsuma, Eureka lemon, Meiwa kumquat and Ponkan. I keep them in my heated greenhouse over winter. The Owari fruit is very good. We also really like the Meiwa kumquats. The Ponkan hasn't fruited yet, but I've heard they are also very good.
+Murdant Congratulations on the citrus in Tennessee. I lived in Paris Tennessee as a boy for a while, it is a long way from citrus country. My mother used to grow potted citrus in Chicago. I was running a commercial nursery in CA at the time and would ship her fresh trees if the squirrels ate the bark off of hers. Dad would carry them down to the basement every Oct and put them under grow lights for the winter. The Satsuma fruit improves in quality as the trees age. Twenty year old trees make outstanding fruit but 50 year old trees make fruit that is only served in the suburbs of paradise. Meiwa is also one of my favorite Kumquats. I happen to have Nagami in the garden but Meiwa is sweeter. I have seen Pokan sold in HI but I have never eaten one. It is the most tropical of all Mandarins and doesn't do well here in CA. Thanks for watching, stay tuned, Bill
That's awesome! I've wondered if it is possible to grow them in zone 5. When I lived in Florida we had one in the backyard that always had great fruit.
+The Self Sufficient Life My mother used to grow them in Chicago which is zone 5. They spent the summer on her patio in pots and moved to the basement in October and finished the winter under grow lights. Out doors in zone 5 the trees would be history by November. If you are a stones throw away from a citrus zone, 100 miles or so, you could probably raise these.
That is a well stocked mandarine tree. I don't know that mandarine variety, but I like mandarines as much as the navel orange. There is a Japanese blood plum of the same name, satsuma which happens to be my favourite blood plum. I did have a navel orange tree, but no one ate the oranges except myself, so I ended up planting a passionfruit, but it didn't produce any fruit after being in the ground for at least 4 years, so I ended up pulling that out. I put in a pink flowering macadamia lastly and that has been in the ground for 10 years this year. It produces a good tasting nut, just about as good as my Hawaiian 816 variety. The 816 might still be regarded as the best macadamia variety in the world. It's listed as the best variety in my Australian macadamia growers handbook. I don't know if you saw where recently some macadamia enthusiasts came across a rare plot of macadamia jansenii in the Qld bush. It produces smaller inedible nuts than the integrifolia or tetraphylla macadamia varieties which are the commercially grown macadamias. The Beaumont variety which you had was a hybrid variety which I have never come across in Australia. Commercially the macadamia nut industry is centred in NSW and QLD and 80% of the macadamia nut trees are Hawaiian varieties with the other 20% Australian A Series macadamias. Apparently the Beaumont is grown in South Africa and New Zealand. Like the Beaumont variety, my G6 variety I bought because it was a pink flowering variety. The pink flower seems more spectacular than the normal white flowering varieties. Changing the subject back to citrus, I think my favourite citrus is the tangor which I only fairly recently came across. It is a cross between the (navel) orange and tangerine (mandarine). Everyone has different taste, but if I eventually move to a bigger property I will definitely plant that citrus as well as Navel and Valencia. Just again changing the subject. I don't now have an almond tree, but I recently bought some almonds which were larger than the regular almond. I am quite familiar with almonds having a tree in our yard when I was a kid. And then where I currently live there was another almond tree in my yard. Both almonds were hard shell varieties. In Australia the varieties are identical to those grown in California. Sometimes they name the particular variety e.g. Carmel. Non pareil makes up over 50% of the Aussie crop. It's interesting that the variety in the supermarkets is definitely neither non pareil or Carmel variety and is considerably larger in size. The flavour isn't as good as the non pareil or Carmel variety, so I won't worry about buying them. I think the larger variety is a Johnson's or Johnston's prolific, but not really sure. Seems like splitting hairs, but if I am going to eat almonds and pay a rather high price, I will go for the better tasting nut.
I like Beaumont too. The nut is lower in oil but higher in sugar than most types. Mandarin aka Tangerines are some of my favorite citrus. I really enjoy the hybrids like Tangelos and Tangors too. I have a dozen varieties planted here. Most are a bit young but will fruit soon. Likely a pollination problem with the passion fruit. We had an issue last year in Hawaii with passion fruit failing. I believe the eruption effected pollinators.
You should try to plant shatang mandarin(沙糖桔) ....It's the most sweet mandarin in china,almoost the sweetest in this world. I have never seen any people in America have introduce it.........
The tree is not available in the USA but we do have hundreds of wonderful Mandarin's here to choose from. Perhaps you might enjoy some of the available varieties.
I got a small one from my mom for Xmas. I’m kind of excited now. It’s a semi dwarf says 6 to 8’ tall I think. I’m in so cal. I need to find a spot in my yard. Will it produce fruit in its young stages? It’s got a lot of blooms on it now which I’m assuming will drop off.
So I decided to taste my Owari mandarin today. It finally produced fruit this year and after finishing my last bite, I'm taking it out of the pot and putting it in the ground! I need more than the 3 mandarins it produced being in such a small container. 😋
Satsuma is the most fickle tree I have ever seen. In youth it never produces the same quality of fruit two years in a row. At 10 year things start to stabilize. At 20 years they are consistently excellent. At 50 they are incredible.
I have one of these satsumas growing in southern Mississippi. I planted it four years ago with a couple of fruit on it at the time. It has not made fruit since. Someone told me I need two of them so they can cross polinate. Would appreciate any info. Would love to have that tree!
+Joe Nolting Joe, Most fruit trees will produce heavier crops with cross pollination but the Satsuma is self fertile. It needs no other tree in order to set fruit, one will do. The Satsuma is planted next to my Minneola Tangelo which does use the Satsuma pollen to make it's Tangelos but not the other way around. There are other reasons why the tree hasn't produced lately. Has it flowered and failed to set fruit or just hasn't made blossoms?
+Joe Nolting If the flowers aren't being pruned off by accident or being frozen off by cold then we have to blame a nutrient deficiency for the issue. I would begin using an organic citrus food on the tree from spring through early fall about once per month. Best wishes in the garden, Bill
Sir, I bought a 2 years Owari Satsuma tree after watching your video this Spring. It comes with the leave much light than yours. It's Ok. I plan it in yard for more than 8 months. The problem is that it begin to lost its leave since November, before the weather is really cooling down. Currently, there is only one leave left. According to the description from the internet, it should keep its leave green all season. And another orange tree ( Page Mandarin )I bought at the same time seems Ok ( No leave lost )and began to bloom now. Do you have an idea for it? Thanks. PS. I live in Houston, Texas.
South Houston is 9A and good for citrus, North Houston is zone 8B and borderline due to cold. Satsuma is considered very hardy, more cold tolerant than Page so likely cold was not the issue here. New citrus trees defoliate in response to stressful moisture conditions. Since one tree is fine and the other isn't I would figure water is the issue. Too much water in dense soil causes the roots to rot and will make the leaves fall off. Too little water in fast draining soils cause drought and can make leaves fall away. Soil interface conditions can cause this issue. IF the sides of the planting hole are too smooth and slick then the roots can not enter the surrounding earth and spread naturally. Starvation for lack of nutrients can also defoliate a tree. Consider how and what the trees were fed during the summer. If a tree is staving when cold weather comes it will defoliate. I can't tell you more without inspecting the tree. Consider what I have said and see if anything matches the situation.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you for response quickly. I will try to upload some pictures if possible. I guess that maybe it is due to too much water. While I left my home for a two months' vacation, I set the irritation system to feed water 15 minutes every 2 days. I might be too much. Would you mind to give me your email address so that I can send some pictures to you?
@@AttilaNomad It depends on where you live, the type of soil and the size of the drip emitters. If you use a 1/2 gallon per hour emitter then your tree only received a pint of water every two days in the heat of summer. That isn't really enough water to dampen the soil so it is primed to receive water. Chances are surface tension let the water slide to the side and not penetrate. Us a moisture meter to determine whether a root ball is wet or not. Check to see if the original potting soil is actually moist in the center. If the tree continues to defoliate I would dig it up and inspect the root ball. This is the fastest way to tell if the water was excessive. The roots would be rotted and the soil would smell foul.
Thanks so much for this awesome video of your tree! I was debating whether to plant a clementine or Satsuma and you got me wanting the Satsuma!! Can I ask what part of the bay area this tree was in? I am in the bay area too and want mine to look like yours!! Would love to see videos about how you got so much fruit on it! Thanks for your video. Very inspiring.
This video was taken in Fremont California before we sold the property and moved to Hawaii. Fremont climate is very good for Satsuma but the tree grows almost as well here in Hawaii. It is quite adaptable. I have no secrets behind the trees production. Just good culture, proper irrigation, lots of organic matter as a mulch under the tree and organic fertilizer. Just the stuff anyone growing citrus in CA needs to do.
It is not common but Satsuma will produce seeds on occasion. My tree would make seed in two or three fruit every year. One year, after an extreme drought every fruit had seeds. The next year they were all seedless again. I have planted these seeds and they will grow. Sadly I have never been around one long enough to see what it produced.
I've never run across a properly grown tangerine that I would rate as tart but the ones that came to the USA through Africa, rather than directly from Asia tend to have stronger aromas and more pronounced flavor principles. The ones that came to California straight from Japan have less of these "tangerine'' characteristics.
In California this was one of my favorite trees. I planted one after moving to Hawaii. It grows well here but the birds peck holes in the soft skin and the fruit rots. I have switched to tougher skinned fruit. Aloha
There are owari satumas, and there are mandarins, and there are oranges. I never heard of an owari mandarin. I never plant owari, or any other variety of satsuma, because once you taste a mandarin, then satsumas can't come close. I choose the ponkin mandarin. The difference between satsumas and mandarins is mandarins are a lot bigger, not as smooth, darker orange, thicker and looser skin, and has seeds, whereas, satsumas are seed free. The seeds are well worth the trouble. Like Bill said, the mandarin get's eaten first, simply because of the extraordinary flavor. I eat my Louisiana sweet oranges only after the mandarin tree has been rendered bare. The flavor is so concentrated, it's like the flavor has been packed in them with a jack hammer. And if you do rather growing satsumas, never eat them before they are totally ripe and then some, otherwise they are still tart, but edible. I live in south Louisiana, and I see people selling and eating them when they still have some green on them. STOOOOOOOP !
You may be able to buy the Ponkan in Louisiana but on the west coast and Hawaii there are no growers producing it. Everyone has their favorites. This video was about the Satsuma though not the Ponkan. If I was to evaluate it the unavailability of the tree would be the first problem. The fact that Ponkan is alternate bearing and the Satsuma is annual bearing also reduces it desirability. Considering that Ponkan is the least hardy of all Mandarin oranges greatly reduces its adaptation over other choices. Everyone likes something though so more power to the Ponkan lovers. As far as Mandarin verses Tangerine is concerned there is no real difference. This is mostly nomenclature and exchanging the terms is totally acceptable. Originally all Tangerines or Mandarins were native to China and Japan. Most of the fruit that made it directly to the USA from Asia is usually called Mandarin. Other fruit made a stop in North Africa on the way to the USA. There they were selected by Catholic missionaries mostly in Tangiers hence the word Tangerine. Father Clemente was responsible for selecting the now famous Clementine Tangerine sold by the millions in boxes marked Cuties today. Whether you call them Clementine Tangerines or Clementine Mandarins you are correct, they are the same. The same goes for Satsuma but since it came here direct from Japan it is usually called Mandarin.
I'm pretty sure that any variation of mandarin will be just as good or better than the ponkan. Your description of your mandarin is spot on as to flavor. They just can't be beat. My mandarin is about 20 years old and even though I live in south Louisiana, it has been through the low 20's, and is on the north side of my house, so I wouldn't say that they aren't really hardy. But being in south Louisiana, the low 20's usually last only a few hours at most. The low temperatures just makes them sweeter. In fact, here, they aren't at peak sweetness until December, or after the 1st frost hits them. Many people here start eating satsumas, around the end of October, or sooner even though they still have lots of green on them. I just don't understand why. Most people here grow satsumas rather than mandarins because they just haven't been exposed to the intense flavor of a mandarin. When I let them taste one, they are shocked !
Well, glad you enjoy the Ponkan. For the rest of us we would have to find scion wood some place and graft our own tree. No one out west here propagates that plant. I grow 14 different types of Mandarin/Tangerines here and each has it's own special value. Bill
Desperate need for some knowledge. I’m looking to get a tangerine tree but there are so many types of mandarin. How do I positively identify a tangerine?
A few tangerines are distinctive enough that an expert, on site, in season, might make a good guess as to variety. The only positive way is DNA testing. The trees parentage would have to be very important for that to happen due to cost.
+smagh navinder singh I have one Kinnow tree in my orchard. It bears well here in California but never to the point that it needed support. Despite the load of fruit on my Satsuma the tree also manages to hold it's crop without my help. Different trees act different in different locations. As a rule I never support trees, instead I prune them so they are strong enough to support the crop. Nice to hear you have such a good crop too. Bill
Every major citrus grower in the state of CA grows and sells one strain or another of the Satsuma Mandarin. Since you live in northern CA you will have to get the tree from one of the N CA growers. S. CA growers are prohibited from shipping north with the exception of Monrovia. The 3 growers that come to mind are Four Winds of Fremont, CA, Menlo Growers of Gilroy, CA and Monrovia from the Visalia growing yard. The first two do direct business with the public but generally you go to your local retail nursery to buy their stuff. Check with your local retailer. If the tree is out of stock they may be able to order one. During the fruiting season and during Chinese New Year these trees get sold out. Mid to late summer is usually the best time to find one.
+Taniataslima Citrus are not drought tolerant so there must be moisture in the top 12" of soil at all times. How much water a person uses depends on the climate, the soil and the culture. You live in Texas where it is much warmer than in coastal California. You would use more water even on a similar soil as mine. In our climate i do not water from Nov. to March because it naturally rains here at that time. I begin to water in April and continue until Oct. I run overhead sprinklers for 30 minutes once per week in the mid summer and every other week in spring and fall. My water stays around because I have a foot deep mulch under the tree.
+GreenGardenGuy1 thank you so much. my husband keep telling me the tree will die of rotten roots asi water it lightly twice a day. it is really warm here.
+Taniataslima Never water anything other than tiny seedlings lightly. Trees need a good deep soaking. You can lay the hose under the tree and let it run for a 1/2 hour every week or two. Light sprinkling makes the trees grow shallow roots and trains them to need water daily.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Really !!!! I never knew that. So today is 81•f. Usually i water my satsuma almost everyday in the evening until the topsoil is wet and has small puddles. Is that ok? If it gets warmer should i water it in the morning too? Thanks again. You have been a blessing.
+Taniataslima Trees should never need water more than once per week no matter where they grow. Try using a mulch under your tree. Too much water can rot the tree out and will definitely wash all the nutrients out of the soil. You will have to increase your fertilizer levels if you water that much. It is the moisture in the soil you are worried about, not on the soil. Buy a moisture meter and read the water 6 inches down under the surface to judge when to water.
I assume you mean Owari Satsuma. Cuties are not a tangerine variety, they are a marketing trademark. What is in the bag could be a number of different tangerines. This is the reason they use the name, it allows for any fruit to be sold under the name. Most of the time it appears the "Cutie" is the Algerian or Clementine Tangerine. These are more aromatic, more sprightly in flavor and harder to peel than Satsuma.
My Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree died at last. :-( I pulled it out to check its root and found with surprise that there is almost nothing left in its root. And the soil contains a lot of small white linear stuff I guess that they are some kind of fungus which eaten the root. Unfortunately, I can't put a picture here. The company which sales the tree to me insisting on that it's due to cold weather in Houston but I don't think so. Did your area temperature in Winter reach 30 F or even lower? How did you do for protecting your Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree during frozen time?
Satsuma is a very cold hardy tree but what happens with the roots will depend on what sort of root stock your tree was grafted to. The autopsy of the dead tree is very important. Few gardeners study the damage hard enough. The white stuff is just mycellium from some mushroom growing in the compost or on the roots that had died. This is not the cause. My first impression is you had a gopher eat the roots off. Do you see any piles of dirt or tunnels in the yard? If there is no gopher sign then I would say the roots were decomposed due to a water mold like phytophora. This would be typical in a poorly drained soil with excessive irrigation. If cold was the issue it would be the top of the tree that was damaged, not the roots. First guess is gopher.
I just bought a satsuma tree yesterday. This morning after watching several YT videos about to where to plant etc., I've noticed your beautiful tree has no thorns. The one that I bought is loaded with thorns,is this a good tree to go ahead and plant? I paid sixty dollars for this tree and can't afford to plant it if it is a dud. Any help is much appreciated,ps my region is 8,beautiful east Texas.
+right.way.corrigan There are several strains of Satsuma but I have never seen one in California or Hawaii that produce a thorn. Many citrus when growing juvenile foliage will produce thorns that vanish when the tree ages. On the other hand, most citrus have a root stock that produces thorns. My first thought is the root stock has sprouted. Look to see if the thorny wood comes from below the graft line and if there is any wood above the graft that is thorn less.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Thanks so much for your reply. I called the nursery and we have about determined it is what you think. The root stock has taken over. The thorns even go all the way up the trunk. They are going to let me return it though. So hopefully I'll be growing some of these soon. Already have a Myer lemon tree and love that. Thanks again👍
+right.way.corrigan You're welcome glad I could help out. Nothing worse than checking on a clients citrus because the fruit is poor quality only to find out the tree has been over run by the root stock.
I just got a Satsuma tree because of this video! I'm hoyo love them as much as you do! Question do you live in the bay are or Hawaii? I'm in San Jose :)
At a time in the past I once lived in both locations. Since May we sold the California property and moved to Hawaii full time. We used to have Satsuma in both locations. Now I have only one tree in Hawaii. I have plans for putting in another dozen Satsuma this year.
We love the mandarin, only problem they come from either from China or Florida (3,000 to 13,000 miles from Calgary, Canada) I think I should take a root cutting from you and plant in our Las Vegas house.
+VOTE4TAJ Las Vegas is one zone outside of citrus country. It might be possible to grow Satsuma there is it was planted espalier against the south wall of a building with a good over hanging eave. It would be a challenge. I recall the days living in Northern Wisconsin when I would pack up citrus in Florida or Arizona and fly or truck it back home. Living in citrus country is a luxury I wish never to lose in the future. Bill
+GreenGardenGuy1 At my sister's house they are growing oranges with success, in August I help them supply 10 yards wood chips and till my last visit couple of weeks ago everything was flourishing very nicely. We even have a young mango tree, we will keep it at 8-10' high (covered for frost during winter) planted a guava and will plant a U of CA developed dwarf GEM avocado.
+VOTE4TAJ Well it is clear you are the experimental fruit explorer type of gardener. My hat goes off to you but only briefly because my bald spot gets cold. The Satsuma will handle more cold than any of the fruit you mention so I would definitely give it a try. Working with the unusual is really fun and can be profitable too.
That tree was in California. We had very few creatures there that feed on citrus. Mold from rain was the worst issue. Rats sometimes eat citrus but I kill off rats. I have Satsuma in Hawaii and there it is a lost cause because of the Japanese White Eye bird. They peck holes in the fruit and it all rots. The solution was to abandon the Satsuma and grow Mandarins with tougher skins.
Only a few days to a week depending on conditions. They have the softest skin of any citrus and rot easily. When they turn orange, you pick then and eat them.
How old is that tree? i wish I could get one but I think I'm just a bit cold here in Coastal SC. Some years it gets down to below freezing for 2-3 weeks. What do you think? I am having trouble seeing the vid after this one the video won't play. Thanks
+Bernard Schipano That tree is 18 years old. If the freezing weather is continuesly below 32 for 2-3 weeks then no the Satsuma will not grow. If the freezing is only at night but thawing in the day then the tree will survive. We get a short spell of weather where the temperatures can fall as low as 21 degrees for a few hours and mine is fine with that. I've checked all the videos and I can't find any problems. The issue has to be local. Sometimes internet connections slow down and these videos are in HD that takes a pretty good service to stream well. All I can think of is to try again later. Sorry, Bill
I do not think coastal SC is a problem. I have one about 8 years now in the central SC where temp can get down around 15 degrees. It died back but the next spring new growth will show up on the lower trunk. Since that incident, I'd put a tarp over it with a light bulb when temp is below 20 degrees. Otherwise, I do not cover it.
You certainly are more dedicated to raising a citrus tree than I would ever be. As long as you're persistent this will work for you. Miss the protection just one night and your work can be sent back by many years. I'd be building a greenhouse for the tree like King Louie of France.
Well, we do not have many cold nights here, and this tree is cold hardy for zone 8 that is why I chose it to plant here.. Now my tree has grown and established, but I keep it to manageable size. It is now bearing lots of fruits this year and bends the branches almost to the ground. Green house is something I do not want to do, especially at that location. I am betting global warming so that it is not necessary for a green house in the future. Any colder than this area, I'd plant it in a container, like my guava trees.
As long as you are enjoying the project and getting good fruit from it them it is worth the effort for you. I have people ask me questions about planting zones for citrus frequently and I never recommend planting them anywhere they require protection from weather. I'm not saying it can't be done I just stick to cultivating what will grow without shelter in the environments where i live. As far as global warming is concerned it may very well be occurring but I would not count on it to be to your advantage. For most of us what it will bring is more erratic and destructive weather rather than a more favorable climate. I have grown many plants over the years in environments where they were not known to grow previously. The ones that can't over winter on their own never hit my videos because I cut them down and try something else. People are different though. Like I said, my mother was a Chicago citrus grower. Enjoy your project and I really do hope you can pull off a nice crop of Satsuma. They are one of my favorite fruits.
+pauliewalnuts2007 I am glad to hear you have a good orchard even if you can't grow Satsuma's. I had to plant a second tree at the house in Hawaii so I still have this fruit after I retire and sell the CA house. Strange what is important to some people!
Yes, I see you know flavor and sweetness are not connected. Flavor actually has more to do with the nose. Satsuma is typical of Japanese oranges, very mild in flavor and aroma. They are nearly flat unless grown in a climate like CA with strong differences in temp from night to day. The mild flavor makes the sugar pop to the top so the fruit tastes sweet. Clementine is typical of tangerines that made a stop in North Africa before getting to the USA. They have strong aromas and higher acid content. I have never put a brix meter to the two but I suspect Clementine grown in the right climate may have a bit more sugar. Satsuma is seedless 99% of the time. Clementine is seedy as all get out if any other citrus are present.
@@KINGKHAN-zn2ed Taste is a subjective subject. My partner will not eat half of what I think is good. I am very hesitant to offer opinions on fruit for others. They are both good, I have eaten more Satsuma than Clementine over the years. The main point is they are both very different. I suppose if I had to chose between tangerines that came direct from Japan and the ones that made a short stop in Tangiers with Father Clemente' I would chose the Algerian Tangerine known as Clementine. The sprightly aroma is hard to beat. I find many people can't smell it though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Many fruit reviewer said that Satsuma is much sweeter than Clementine.And even they prefer Satsuma over Gold nugget.No one said me that clementine and gold nugget are better than Satsuma.Thanks for your information
@@KINGKHAN-zn2ed It appears you may have missed what I said before. Mandarins like satsuma with low acid and low aroma are sometimes called sweeter but that's because other principles are missing from the fruit. My best suggestion to you is to stop asking experts what they think, go out and buy or pick every tangerine type you can find and give them all a try. Remember an 50 old Satsuma produces fruit that is twice the quality of a 4 year old. Age is also a factor so I will stay out of this taste name game if you don't mind. Most of this data is generated by people who have a limited knowledge of the subject. Try checking with Lincove. They do research and have lists of tastings. Here you can find opinions collected from hundreds of tongues, not just mine. lrec.ucanr.edu/ What I learned about citrus was by eating and growing them. I really don't do a lot of research on them, most I eat them.
Not without a greenhouse. Commercially in the U.S., satsumas are grown in southern-most states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and parts of California, usually zones 9-11. If you don't live in these regions, you may succeed in growing satsuma mandarins indoors or overwintered in a heated greenhouse during the coldest months of the year.
I looked at it today. The crop is lighter than the last but passable. It is mostly green now but a few fruits have come to the kitchen. As things turn orange I shoot a video. I have less trouble with the White Eye birds pecking the fruit this year possibly due to Gray-C the cat and the rain is absent so no fruit is rotting from bird damage.
Size depends on how much time you have to wait. Satsuma grow upward slowly because their growth tends to be sideways rather than vertical. How tall one can actually grow isn't known to me because I tend to prune and keep the trees short for picking.
+Sonnie's Garden The issue has crossed my mind. The Satsuma has a mind of it's own. More than any other fruit tree they will show a new trick every year. This years trick is "I can make more oranges than you can pick." We eat a lot of the fruit, I sell some of it, and I have quite a few friends who like the fruit and will help pick the tree clean. I suppose I should have put Christmas Organic Satsuma gift boxes up for sale on Ebay. Bill
+Sonnie's Garden This will probably be my last year with this particular tree. I am painting the house for sale in CA and will be moving the the HI house soon. Luckily I planted a second Satsuma in Hawaii seven years ago. It is beginning to come into it's own. Might have to offer HI grown oranges instead. They are sweeter in HI anyway, warm nights make a difference in the fruit.
That would depend on your pruning practices and the planting system you use. I have spaced Semi Dwarf trees as close as 6 feet when I am planting hedges or as far apart as 16 if I want each tree to stand alone with out touching anything. You have asked this question on a citrus video. Just for information citrus do not come in semi-dwarf, only standard or dwarf.
we bought ours at Home Depot.. Lowes also sells friut trees so it's worth a shot to look there. I'm located a little bit north of the Bay area but so far in the last 2 years we have had no issues with our Satsumas, still waiting on friut but we know it will be well worth it!
The coldest climate zone I am aware of where Satsuma will reliably grow is zone 9A. The Satsuma is very hardy but i believe the "Changsa" mandarin is perhaps most cold-hardy of all sweet orange species. The “Changsa” orange yields sweet, but insipid and seedy oranges that are a brilliant orange-red. It has survived temperatures as low as 4 F in Arlington, Texas. "Changa" mandarins are most cold-hardy if they are grown from seed. Kumquats and their hybrids are even hardier.
That was one of the heaviest crops the tree ever produced. I sold the property the next year and moved to Hawaii. Last year my HI Satsuma made a crop almost as nice but it will be a while before it can compete with the CA tree.
Cuties don't really exist as a fruit. They are a market trade mark used to label a group of different tangerines. Most of the time they are actually Clementines but they use other similar tangerines. Since I never purchase tangerines I am not sure if they ever put Satsumas in a Cuties box. The best way to buy a Satsuma is in a carton labeled satsuma. Most of the commercial fruit is picked to early and is from trees too young to give a good representation of this excellent citrus.
@@bjschofied1 The Cuties box could hold either Clementine, aka Algerian or it could be W. Murcott. They are both sold under the confusing trade mark of Cuties. Sure wish they wouldn't play name games with this stuff.
@@bernardbaechler901 Impressive project. My mother lived in Chicago which got very cold in the winter. She used to have me ship her citrus trees from California to grow. She would grow them out doors for the summer then have dad take them down stairs to an artificial grow room for the winter. I doubt she ever got enough fruit to make it worth while but it made here happy.
+Liberty Garden Yes and no. The freezing of citrus fruit depends on a number of factors. The first is how long the cold lasts. You can hit 21 without freezing fruit if the time frame is very short. Citrus is loaded with sugar and sugar resists freezing. It's kind of like fruit antifreeze. If the freeze comes when the fruit is ripe it resists damage better than if it is green. It also depends on heat moving up the trunk of the tree from the ground. If the weather before the freeze was very warm and the freeze is short the ground heat will protect the tree if the soil is wet. The Satsuma has a loose and puffy skin. This skin freezes easily because there is air pockets between it and the flesh. After a good freeze I often see spots of skin on exposed fruit die. If I as in your situation I would cover the tree with Agribon 19 or higher and hang a string of Christmas tree lights on the branches under the Agibon. This will take you down pretty cold with little damage.
Help my Satsuma Mandarin Tree is losing leaves. We battled awful stink bugs last winter. The stink bugs are gone, but this summer - it has lost even more leaves. It is at a critical stage. I have been watering it regularly. I have fertilized it. How can I help my tree grow new leaf coverage? It should be blossoming right now. It's so sad. HELP! Any advice tips please. Thank you & God Bless.( My Tree is 10 years old. It is planted outdoors in the soil. It has been so successful until now. Advice Please)
There isn't a lot I can do from here other than tell you to look for general stuff. Since you believe it should be blooming then you must live in Australia or NZ? Bloom is long over in the northern hemisphere. First question, did you use any herbicide in the yard or near the tree? Do you use a mulch to conserve moisture? How often do you fertilize and with what? What sort of soil do you have and how often do you water? I am making a guess that the tree may be rotting at the roots. But drought stress looks similar. IF the tree had a root rot and you tried to increase the water that could be an issue. Ordinarialy ten year trees don't have this sort of defoliation unless something rather traumatic happened. Can you recall anything?
Yes, it had trama. In the winter we had an insane amount of Stink bugs/ Chinese beetles infest my Tree. I am against pesticides. I tried everything I could to kill them. I literally would stand outside for hours and pick them off and dump them in hot water with soap. I tried spraying natural dish soap with cayenne pepper. Nothing would kill these bugs. It was awful. My tree is Huge so I still had many decent fruit but half of the fruit was blackened by these beetles. During the winter there was frost but none so severe that would hurt my tree. I fertilize my tree twice a year. Usually with all purpose fertilizer 13-13-13. I water regularly. I will check for root rot. If this is the case, can anything be done to fix it?
My Tree use to get Full Sun. This year they built a house next door to my home. It was an empty wooden lot. It has blocked some of the sun. Also they have sprayed on that property. My Tree is so big it hangs over the fence. Now half the leaves are gone. In one day, I come to check and Half the leaves had fallen off.
It is not Rot Root. Thank God! I did find some leaves that have been eaten on. However, I have not found an insect or critter that is eating the leaves. I went out and bought Organic Monterey B.T. for critters.
+Passio Bellator Yes Seattle is out of the zone unless you drag the tree inside a winter greenhouse. To my knowledge Satsuma will grow about a 100 miles beyond the usual citrus zone. In California the most northern Satsuma's I know of are in Redding. My mother grew them in Chicago but had Dad drag the trees down to the basement every Oct. and put them under grow lights.
Holy cow, Bill! That's a ton of fruit! I just bought one of these, about 3-4 feet tall, because the tag said it grows up to 10 feet. Does that sound about right? I want to keep it under 10 feet, so it's more manageable. I'm looking to plant it in a pot if it will grow too large. Should I plant it in the ground or in a pot? I'm in Southern California.
It will grow much better and easier if you put it in the ground. Citrus container culture is for the pros only. Size figures on nursery stock usually take three categories: Some growers use the figure of 7 years growth because most American's don't live anyplace longer than that. Others use potential mature height, this is seldom seen. Others use the size that the plant can be trimmed to successfully. In your case the tag is giving you the average size with careful pruning by the gardener. Satsuma is a short tree, they grow side ways. I used to prune mine as I picked the fruit every year. Fruit would come off the tree branches and all then I would trim the fruit from the stems.
Make sure to feed frequently with a good organic citrus food and keep a nice deep mulch over the roots. Those are the two main reasons my tree looks good.
A nursery told me that this one should be picked green, but he didn't say why. That turned me off so I didn't get this variety. But they're definitely tree ripened in your yard so he must've been wrong!
There are a lot of people working in nurseries that believe they know a thing or two but are actually spreading disinformation. You seldom find a good education in a nursery worker because there isn't enough pay in the job. Really smart and educated folks find better work. A lot of the folks you find in nurseries pick up information from the web, a book or a sales person. The information may not be accurate. Very few of them have personal first hand experience with the subjects they discuss. Having run or owned nursery for decades I speak from personal experience. The only way I could stay in the business economically was to either own or run the business. I spent my nights in school and my days running the shop. Most nursery workers spend the night drinking beer and the day at work with a hang over. The only reason a person might pick a Satsuma green is because the birds destroy the soft skin when they are ripe. They do not taste right when green though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 That is all great information! Thank you greatly. I like tree-ripened, but protecting that many from birds would be a challenge. Hopefully they don't make it past the skin or the fruit can be harvested quickly enough if only very minor damage to the interior has been done.
@@jennifereverett6298 In California the birds didn't attack oranges and the weather was drier so Satsuma was good there. In Hawaii we have the Japanese White Eye. It drinks nectar and fruit juice. It pokes a hole in the skin, drinks so juice then leave the fruit to get infected in the rain.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I see. Here in Arizona, I've never had birds make more than a tiny dent in citrus peel. Even in the summer when they'll eat almost anything to survive.
+MsTokies Mostly I eat them fresh or juice them but the peel is good for candied citron because it is easy to remove in large sheets. I imagine it would make a decent marmalade too.
+Mirakel Spektakel I have 12 different types of citrus in my garden and I have tried most of the types we grow on earth over the years. A well grown tree ripe Owari Satsuma is one of my favorite. the trees will grow to the northern edge of citrus country but they also do well in the tropics. They bear huge crops every year. The fruit has no seeds and peels as easily as taking off your shirt. They are very juicy, low in acid but high in sugar. They are almost like junk food because they are so sweet and easy to eat. Luckily they are good for us. I am hoping you will have the pleasure of trying a really good one some day. My tree is for sale but only if you buy the house too.
GreenGardenGuy1 Sounds nice, how are they to maintain do they need any pruning to fruit so densly? I wish i could buy it! I would love to move to CA but i think i would go a bit more south than you are if i could choose. It aint so easy to move abroad anymore tho...
+Mirakel Spektakel Well, California is getting a bit too crowded anyway. Everyone wants to be here. It is a great place but the population density has grown exponentially in recent years. The population of the planet has increased 3 fold since I was born but the California population is closer to four fold. Hawaii is still on the empty side and the weather is warmer than Fremont. The Owari Satsuma requires very little work to get a good crop. The tree never needs pruning to fruit only to control plant size. In a conventional garden it will require feeding but in a permaculture setting like mine the tree yields well and hasn't been fertilized in 15 years. Because we only get rain in the winter so I need to water the tree in summer. The main pests are scale and white fly. Every few years I need to spray oil in spring to knock the population down.
I see. I can take a sandy spot in the south tho :). Hawaii is nice, but i dont know if i would wanna live so close to volcanos, but probably not too much to worry about... Interesting, easy to maintain plants that does most of the work for you i do like. I dont mind climbing on ladders or in trees either if necessary to reach the fruit! Perfect excuse to be abit childish again :) I like the way you are growing, natural is easy and very good in many ways.
+Mirakel Spektakel My tree climbing days are over although I once enjoyed this activity. These days i keep trees pruned and I use either cut and hold pickers or telescopic basket pickers to get my fruit while standing on the ground. We don't let this out much because I figure the volcanoes help keep Hawaii from being over populated but almost everything you know about volcanoes doesn't apply in Hawaii. It was in college geology class where I first learned the Hawaiian volcano of is a different breed. All volcanoes on earth are on the rim of tectonic plates and the volcanisum is cause by subduction of one plate under another. The Hawaiian volcano is the only example of a one that exists because of a permanent thin spot in the center of the Pacific plate. The hole has been there for millions of years and isn't subject to the intense pressure of other volcanoes. For the most part they do not blow their tops, no one ever dies from them unless you are a volcanologist who gets too close to the work or a virgin required for a sacrifice. The later has become difficult to locate lately so they use pigs as an offering. For us they are just one more natural wonder like lakes, rivers or sea shores. I guess you have to love them if you love Hawaii, they make the Islands.
I'm very sorry, I do not track time like most humans. It helps keep me young. Maybe 10 years or so? It takes at least 10 years on this variety for the fruit quality to stabilize and constant crops to develop. 15 year old Satsumas are even better, a 25 year old is heavenly and a 50 year produces fruit fit for royalty.
+Greg Heal Yes I can do that as long as you are willing to let me have $10 for the package and postage. I do checks or Paypal. Where are you located? If you are in a cold area best wait till spring so the branches will survive the mail.
Great. Thanks. I'm in Alabama and it does get pretty cold here so spring may be better. I can pay how ever you prefer. Since I will wait till spring, could you air layer me a couple of branches? it would be really awesome for me to have your trees growing in my yard. I love all your videos. I've learned a lot from you. I like the California and Hawaii videos. Just let me know how to pay and I'll get it done this week. Thanks again....
+Greg Heal Greg, I'll be glad to ship you some cuttings in spring. I don't want to get into air layers, nothing personal. I'll consider striking some cuttings but I am not sure how well they will root over the winter. My greenhouse is unheated. My Paypal account is William Merrill at merrill.w@sbcglobal.net. My address is Bill Merrill 37083 Holly St. Fremont, CA 94536. Lets just let it ride until next March when the weather settles down. Contact me then, I will wrap up some branches and you can pay me at the time I ship.
Satsuma is not true from seeds. It's parentage is too complicated, propagation is by grafting. Mine came from 4 Winds Citrus in Fremont, CA and they will ship trees. Menlo Growers in Gilroy also grow the tree and will ship. These growers cover Northern CA. If you are in Southern CA then La Verne Nursery, Piru, CA grow the tree. They are a wholesale grower so you need to find a retail nursery that does business with them. If you are in Hawaii then Plant it Hawaii grows the tree. Florida, AZ & TX probably have other growers. The tree is popular in northern FL so some one grows it.
Satsuma is one of the hardiest sweet oranges. I don't know much about citrus in Dallas but it is possible. I know TX has commercial farms but most are down near Brownsville. Lots of difference between there and Dallas. I would start checking the web for citrus growers that work in TX, I see you have a few.
U can find Owari Satsuma Mandarin and many other citrus at Lowes around March or April .Also Costco sell them early March $25 for a 5 gal pot .I also live North Texas and they can be easily grown in containers .you should check out uscitrus.com they well ship in Tx
Satsuma Mandarins have always been my favorite citrus. This crop you grew looks amazing! And the tree looks so nice with all those Christmas ornaments and I can think of a better gift than a bunch of Mandarins.
That was a killer crop. I had one similar a few years ago in Hawaii. Every type of citrus has something in it's favor. The Satsuma has no seeds, easy to peel and sweet.
I grow several types of citrus here in middle Tennessee. Owari and Brown's select satsuma, Eureka lemon, Meiwa kumquat and Ponkan. I keep them in my heated greenhouse over winter. The Owari fruit is very good. We also really like the Meiwa kumquats. The Ponkan hasn't fruited yet, but I've heard they are also very good.
+Murdant Congratulations on the citrus in Tennessee. I lived in Paris Tennessee as a boy for a while, it is a long way from citrus country. My mother used to grow potted citrus in Chicago. I was running a commercial nursery in CA at the time and would ship her fresh trees if the squirrels ate the bark off of hers. Dad would carry them down to the basement every Oct and put them under grow lights for the winter.
The Satsuma fruit improves in quality as the trees age. Twenty year old trees make outstanding fruit but 50 year old trees make fruit that is only served in the suburbs of paradise.
Meiwa is also one of my favorite Kumquats. I happen to have Nagami in the garden but Meiwa is sweeter.
I have seen Pokan sold in HI but I have never eaten one. It is the most tropical of all Mandarins and doesn't do well here in CA.
Thanks for watching, stay tuned, Bill
YAHOO Indeed! I really enjoyed your enthusiasm and what a TREE! Congrats and thanks for sharing! YAHOOOO!
That was one fine Satsuma tree. I sold the property a few years ago but I have a Satsuma in Hawaii that is doing almost as well.
That's awesome! I've wondered if it is possible to grow them in zone 5. When I lived in Florida we had one in the backyard that always had great fruit.
+The Self Sufficient Life My mother used to grow them in Chicago which is zone 5. They spent the summer on her patio in pots and moved to the basement in October and finished the winter under grow lights. Out doors in zone 5 the trees would be history by November. If you are a stones throw away from a citrus zone, 100 miles or so, you could probably raise these.
It seems very sensitive to cold weather. Mine died in the first Winter, despite of the fact that I have put it into a home made green house.
Great video very educational love it.
Satsuma is one of my favorite citrus trees. Thanks for watching.
That is a well stocked mandarine tree. I don't know that mandarine variety, but I like mandarines as much as the navel orange. There is a Japanese blood plum of the same name, satsuma which happens to be my favourite blood plum. I did have a navel orange tree, but no one ate the oranges except myself, so I ended up planting a passionfruit, but it didn't produce any fruit after being in the ground for at least 4 years, so I ended up pulling that out. I put in a pink flowering macadamia lastly and that has been in the ground for 10 years this year. It produces a good tasting nut, just about as good as my Hawaiian 816 variety. The 816 might still be regarded as the best macadamia variety in the world. It's listed as the best variety in my Australian macadamia growers handbook. I don't know if you saw where recently some macadamia enthusiasts came across a rare plot of macadamia jansenii in the Qld bush. It produces smaller inedible nuts than the integrifolia or tetraphylla macadamia varieties which are the commercially grown macadamias. The Beaumont variety which you had was a hybrid variety which I have never come across in Australia. Commercially the macadamia nut industry is centred in NSW and QLD and 80% of the macadamia nut trees are Hawaiian varieties with the other 20% Australian A Series macadamias. Apparently the Beaumont is grown in South Africa and New Zealand. Like the Beaumont variety, my G6 variety I bought because it was a pink flowering variety. The pink flower seems more spectacular than the normal white flowering varieties. Changing the subject back to citrus, I think my favourite citrus is the tangor which I only fairly recently came across. It is a cross between the (navel) orange and tangerine (mandarine). Everyone has different taste, but if I eventually move to a bigger property I will definitely plant that citrus as well as Navel and Valencia. Just again changing the subject. I don't now have an almond tree, but I recently bought some almonds which were larger than the regular almond. I am quite familiar with almonds having a tree in our yard when I was a kid. And then where I currently live there was another almond tree in my yard. Both almonds were hard shell varieties. In Australia the varieties are identical to those grown in California. Sometimes they name the particular variety e.g. Carmel. Non pareil makes up over 50% of the Aussie crop. It's interesting that the variety in the supermarkets is definitely neither non pareil or Carmel variety and is considerably larger in size. The flavour isn't as good as the non pareil or Carmel variety, so I won't worry about buying them. I think the larger variety is a Johnson's or Johnston's prolific, but not really sure. Seems like splitting hairs, but if I am going to eat almonds and pay a rather high price, I will go for the better tasting nut.
I like Beaumont too. The nut is lower in oil but higher in sugar than most types.
Mandarin aka Tangerines are some of my favorite citrus. I really enjoy the hybrids like Tangelos and Tangors too. I have a dozen varieties planted here. Most are a bit young but will fruit soon. Likely a pollination problem with the passion fruit. We had an issue last year in Hawaii with passion fruit failing. I believe the eruption effected pollinators.
You should try to plant shatang mandarin(沙糖桔) ....It's the most sweet mandarin in china,almoost the sweetest in this world. I have never seen any people in America have introduce it.........
The tree is not available in the USA but we do have hundreds of wonderful Mandarin's here to choose from. Perhaps you might enjoy some of the available varieties.
I got a small one from my mom for Xmas. I’m kind of excited now. It’s a semi dwarf says 6 to 8’ tall I think. I’m in so cal. I need to find a spot in my yard. Will it produce fruit in its young stages? It’s got a lot of blooms on it now which I’m assuming will drop off.
Satsuma will bear young but the fruit quality improves as the tree ages.
Hello sir omg I love your fruit trees! 🍓🍎🍏
Trees like this are easy to love. Aloha
So I decided to taste my Owari mandarin today. It finally produced fruit this year and after finishing my last bite, I'm taking it out of the pot and putting it in the ground! I need more than the 3 mandarins it produced being in such a small container. 😋
Satsuma is the most fickle tree I have ever seen. In youth it never produces the same quality of fruit two years in a row. At 10 year things start to stabilize. At 20 years they are consistently excellent. At 50 they are incredible.
I have one of these satsumas growing in southern Mississippi. I planted it four years ago with a couple of fruit on it at the time. It has not made fruit since. Someone told me I need two of them so they can cross polinate. Would appreciate any info. Would love to have that tree!
+Joe Nolting Joe, Most fruit trees will produce heavier crops with cross pollination but the Satsuma is self fertile. It needs no other tree in order to set fruit, one will do. The Satsuma is planted next to my Minneola Tangelo which does use the Satsuma pollen to make it's Tangelos but not the other way around. There are other reasons why the tree hasn't produced lately. Has it flowered and failed to set fruit or just hasn't made blossoms?
Has not made any blossums
+Joe Nolting If the flowers aren't being pruned off by accident or being frozen off by cold then we have to blame a nutrient deficiency for the issue. I would begin using an organic citrus food on the tree from spring through early fall about once per month. Best wishes in the garden, Bill
Thanks, I will try that
Sir, I bought a 2 years Owari Satsuma tree after watching your video this Spring. It comes with the leave much light than yours. It's Ok. I plan it in yard for more than 8 months. The problem is that it begin to lost its leave since November, before the weather is really cooling down. Currently, there is only one leave left. According to the description from the internet, it should keep its leave green all season. And another orange tree ( Page Mandarin )I bought at the same time seems Ok ( No leave lost )and began to bloom now.
Do you have an idea for it? Thanks.
PS. I live in Houston, Texas.
South Houston is 9A and good for citrus, North Houston is zone 8B and borderline due to cold. Satsuma is considered very hardy, more cold tolerant than Page so likely cold was not the issue here. New citrus trees defoliate in response to stressful moisture conditions. Since one tree is fine and the other isn't I would figure water is the issue. Too much water in dense soil causes the roots to rot and will make the leaves fall off. Too little water in fast draining soils cause drought and can make leaves fall away. Soil interface conditions can cause this issue. IF the sides of the planting hole are too smooth and slick then the roots can not enter the surrounding earth and spread naturally. Starvation for lack of nutrients can also defoliate a tree. Consider how and what the trees were fed during the summer. If a tree is staving when cold weather comes it will defoliate. I can't tell you more without inspecting the tree. Consider what I have said and see if anything matches the situation.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you for response quickly. I will try to upload some pictures if possible. I guess that maybe it is due to too much water. While I left my home for a two months' vacation, I set the irritation system to feed water 15 minutes every 2 days. I might be too much. Would you mind to give me your email address so that I can send some pictures to you?
@@AttilaNomad It depends on where you live, the type of soil and the size of the drip emitters. If you use a 1/2 gallon per hour emitter then your tree only received a pint of water every two days in the heat of summer. That isn't really enough water to dampen the soil so it is primed to receive water. Chances are surface tension let the water slide to the side and not penetrate. Us a moisture meter to determine whether a root ball is wet or not. Check to see if the original potting soil is actually moist in the center. If the tree continues to defoliate I would dig it up and inspect the root ball. This is the fastest way to tell if the water was excessive. The roots would be rotted and the soil would smell foul.
What types of fertilizer did you use
I use many different products. The Satsuma got chicken manure and Doctor Earth Organic Citrus food.
Thanks so much for this awesome video of your tree! I was debating whether to plant a clementine or Satsuma and you got me wanting the Satsuma!! Can I ask what part of the bay area this tree was in? I am in the bay area too and want mine to look like yours!! Would love to see videos about how you got so much fruit on it! Thanks for your video. Very inspiring.
This video was taken in Fremont California before we sold the property and moved to Hawaii. Fremont climate is very good for Satsuma but the tree grows almost as well here in Hawaii. It is quite adaptable. I have no secrets behind the trees production. Just good culture, proper irrigation, lots of organic matter as a mulch under the tree and organic fertilizer. Just the stuff anyone growing citrus in CA needs to do.
I found a seed in a Satsuma yesterday. =) No guarantee it'll grow true to type I suppose, but we're planting it!
It is not common but Satsuma will produce seeds on occasion. My tree would make seed in two or three fruit every year. One year, after an extreme drought every fruit had seeds. The next year they were all seedless again. I have planted these seeds and they will grow. Sadly I have never been around one long enough to see what it produced.
Does it have its tartness to it as well I have a nugget dancy was thinking Murcott and possibly satsuma???
Satsuma is one of the least tart tangerines. It is very delicious but compared to Clementine it is a bit flat due to the low acidity.
Thx bill I thought it was one of best but I like tartness thank you 🙏🏻 great video
I've never run across a properly grown tangerine that I would rate as tart but the ones that came to the USA through Africa, rather than directly from Asia tend to have stronger aromas and more pronounced flavor principles. The ones that came to California straight from Japan have less of these "tangerine'' characteristics.
Amazing
In California this was one of my favorite trees. I planted one after moving to Hawaii. It grows well here but the birds peck holes in the soft skin and the fruit rots. I have switched to tougher skinned fruit. Aloha
There are owari satumas, and there are mandarins, and there are oranges. I never heard of an owari mandarin. I never plant owari, or any other variety of satsuma, because once you taste a mandarin, then satsumas can't come close. I choose the ponkin mandarin. The difference between satsumas and mandarins is mandarins are a lot bigger, not as smooth, darker orange, thicker and looser skin, and has seeds, whereas, satsumas are seed free. The seeds are well worth the trouble. Like Bill said, the mandarin get's eaten first, simply because of the extraordinary flavor. I eat my Louisiana sweet oranges only after the mandarin tree has been rendered bare. The flavor is so concentrated, it's like the flavor has been packed in them with a jack hammer. And if you do rather growing satsumas, never eat them before they are totally ripe and then some, otherwise they are still tart, but edible. I live in south Louisiana, and I see people selling and eating them when they still have some green on them. STOOOOOOOP !
You may be able to buy the Ponkan in Louisiana but on the west coast and Hawaii there are no growers producing it. Everyone has their favorites. This video was about the Satsuma though not the Ponkan. If I was to evaluate it the unavailability of the tree would be the first problem. The fact that Ponkan is alternate bearing and the Satsuma is annual bearing also reduces it desirability. Considering that Ponkan is the least hardy of all Mandarin oranges greatly reduces its adaptation over other choices. Everyone likes something though so more power to the Ponkan lovers.
As far as Mandarin verses Tangerine is concerned there is no real difference. This is mostly nomenclature and exchanging the terms is totally acceptable. Originally all Tangerines or Mandarins were native to China and Japan. Most of the fruit that made it directly to the USA from Asia is usually called Mandarin. Other fruit made a stop in North Africa on the way to the USA. There they were selected by Catholic missionaries mostly in Tangiers hence the word Tangerine. Father Clemente was responsible for selecting the now famous Clementine Tangerine sold by the millions in boxes marked Cuties today. Whether you call them Clementine Tangerines or Clementine Mandarins you are correct, they are the same. The same goes for Satsuma but since it came here direct from Japan it is usually called Mandarin.
I'm pretty sure that any variation of mandarin will be just as good or better than the ponkan. Your description of your mandarin is spot on as to flavor. They just can't be beat. My mandarin is about 20 years old and even though I live in south Louisiana, it has been through the low 20's, and is on the north side of my house, so I wouldn't say that they aren't really hardy. But being in south Louisiana, the low 20's usually last only a few hours at most. The low temperatures just makes them sweeter. In fact, here, they aren't at peak sweetness until December, or after the 1st frost hits them. Many people here start eating satsumas, around the end of October, or sooner even though they still have lots of green on them. I just don't understand why. Most people here grow satsumas rather than mandarins because they just haven't been exposed to the intense flavor of a mandarin. When I let them taste one, they are shocked !
Well, glad you enjoy the Ponkan. For the rest of us we would have to find scion wood some place and graft our own tree. No one out west here propagates that plant. I grow 14 different types of Mandarin/Tangerines here and each has it's own special value. Bill
Desperate need for some knowledge. I’m looking to get a tangerine tree but there are so many types of mandarin. How do I positively identify a tangerine?
A few tangerines are distinctive enough that an expert, on site, in season, might make a good guess as to variety. The only positive way is DNA testing. The trees parentage would have to be very important for that to happen due to cost.
I have my Orchard in india punjab variety name is kinnow .we have to use supports of bamboos to protect the branches from breaking....
+smagh navinder singh I have one Kinnow tree in my orchard. It bears well here in California but never to the point that it needed support. Despite the load of fruit on my Satsuma the tree also manages to hold it's crop without my help. Different trees act different in different locations. As a rule I never support trees, instead I prune them so they are strong enough to support the crop. Nice to hear you have such a good crop too. Bill
when and where can I buy the tree. I live in the San Joaquin Valley. Please let me know, I have been looking for this tree for a long time. Thank you.
Every major citrus grower in the state of CA grows and sells one strain or another of the Satsuma Mandarin. Since you live in northern CA you will have to get the tree from one of the N CA growers. S. CA growers are prohibited from shipping north with the exception of Monrovia. The 3 growers that come to mind are Four Winds of Fremont, CA, Menlo Growers of Gilroy, CA and Monrovia from the Visalia growing yard. The first two do direct business with the public but generally you go to your local retail nursery to buy their stuff. Check with your local retailer. If the tree is out of stock they may be able to order one. During the fruiting season and during Chinese New Year these trees get sold out. Mid to late summer is usually the best time to find one.
Hi am Erick from kenya is there a way i can get the seedlings of this orange
The tree is seedless. The plant must be grafted to root stock. I don't do citrus grafting. Shipping out of the USA with plants is a nightmare. Sorry.
This is amazing
Thank you. Nothing expresses love like ripe mandarin tree.
can you pls tell me how much you water them pls? love your Owari. i live in Katy, TX. So hoping the tree will grow.
+Taniataslima Citrus are not drought tolerant so there must be moisture in the top 12" of soil at all times. How much water a person uses depends on the climate, the soil and the culture. You live in Texas where it is much warmer than in coastal California. You would use more water even on a similar soil as mine. In our climate i do not water from Nov. to March because it naturally rains here at that time. I begin to water in April and continue until Oct. I run overhead sprinklers for 30 minutes once per week in the mid summer and every other week in spring and fall. My water stays around because I have a foot deep mulch under the tree.
+GreenGardenGuy1 thank you so much. my husband keep telling me the tree will die of rotten roots asi water it lightly twice a day. it is really warm here.
+Taniataslima Never water anything other than tiny seedlings lightly. Trees need a good deep soaking. You can lay the hose under the tree and let it run for a 1/2 hour every week or two. Light sprinkling makes the trees grow shallow roots and trains them to need water daily.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Really !!!! I never knew that. So today is 81•f. Usually i water my satsuma almost everyday in the evening until the topsoil is wet and has small puddles. Is that ok? If it gets warmer should i water it in the morning too? Thanks again. You have been a blessing.
+Taniataslima Trees should never need water more than once per week no matter where they grow. Try using a mulch under your tree. Too much water can rot the tree out and will definitely wash all the nutrients out of the soil. You will have to increase your fertilizer levels if you water that much. It is the moisture in the soil you are worried about, not on the soil. Buy a moisture meter and read the water 6 inches down under the surface to judge when to water.
Awesome
Thank you.
I just bought a awari satsuma tree. How does it taste compared to a cutie?
I assume you mean Owari Satsuma. Cuties are not a tangerine variety, they are a marketing trademark. What is in the bag could be a number of different tangerines. This is the reason they use the name, it allows for any fruit to be sold under the name. Most of the time it appears the "Cutie" is the Algerian or Clementine Tangerine. These are more aromatic, more sprightly in flavor and harder to peel than Satsuma.
My Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree died at last. :-( I pulled it out to check its root and found with surprise that there is almost nothing left in its root. And the soil contains a lot of small white linear stuff I guess that they are some kind of fungus which eaten the root. Unfortunately, I can't put a picture here. The company which sales the tree to me insisting on that it's due to cold weather in Houston but I don't think so. Did your area temperature in Winter reach 30 F or even lower? How did you do for protecting your Owari Satsuma Mandarin tree during frozen time?
Satsuma is a very cold hardy tree but what happens with the roots will depend on what sort of root stock your tree was grafted to. The autopsy of the dead tree is very important. Few gardeners study the damage hard enough. The white stuff is just mycellium from some mushroom growing in the compost or on the roots that had died. This is not the cause. My first impression is you had a gopher eat the roots off. Do you see any piles of dirt or tunnels in the yard? If there is no gopher sign then I would say the roots were decomposed due to a water mold like phytophora. This would be typical in a poorly drained soil with excessive irrigation. If cold was the issue it would be the top of the tree that was damaged, not the roots. First guess is gopher.
I'm so sorry. I live in TX . I do not believe it is the Frost from last winter.
I just bought a satsuma tree yesterday. This morning after watching several YT videos about to where to plant etc., I've noticed your beautiful tree has no thorns. The one that I bought is loaded with thorns,is this a good tree to go ahead and plant? I paid sixty dollars for this tree and can't afford to plant it if it is a dud. Any help is much appreciated,ps my region is 8,beautiful east Texas.
+right.way.corrigan There are several strains of Satsuma but I have never seen one in California or Hawaii that produce a thorn. Many citrus when growing juvenile foliage will produce thorns that vanish when the tree ages. On the other hand, most citrus have a root stock that produces thorns. My first thought is the root stock has sprouted. Look to see if the thorny wood comes from below the graft line and if there is any wood above the graft that is thorn less.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Thanks so much for your reply. I called the nursery and we have about determined it is what you think. The root stock has taken over. The thorns even go all the way up the trunk. They are going to let me return it though. So hopefully I'll be growing some of these soon. Already have a Myer lemon tree and love that. Thanks again👍
+right.way.corrigan You're welcome glad I could help out. Nothing worse than checking on a clients citrus because the fruit is poor quality only to find out the tree has been over run by the root stock.
I just got a Satsuma tree because of this video! I'm hoyo love them as much as you do! Question do you live in the bay are or Hawaii? I'm in San Jose :)
At a time in the past I once lived in both locations. Since May we sold the California property and moved to Hawaii full time. We used to have Satsuma in both locations. Now I have only one tree in Hawaii. I have plans for putting in another dozen Satsuma this year.
We love the mandarin, only problem they come from either from China or Florida (3,000 to 13,000 miles from Calgary, Canada) I think I should take a root cutting from you and plant in our Las Vegas house.
+VOTE4TAJ Las Vegas is one zone outside of citrus country. It might be possible to grow Satsuma there is it was planted espalier against the south wall of a building with a good over hanging eave. It would be a challenge. I recall the days living in Northern Wisconsin when I would pack up citrus in Florida or Arizona and fly or truck it back home. Living in citrus country is a luxury I wish never to lose in the future. Bill
+GreenGardenGuy1 At my sister's house they are growing oranges with success, in August I help them supply 10 yards wood chips and till my last visit couple of weeks ago everything was flourishing very nicely.
We even have a young mango tree, we will keep it at 8-10' high (covered for frost during winter) planted a guava and will plant a U of CA developed dwarf GEM avocado.
+VOTE4TAJ Well it is clear you are the experimental fruit explorer type of gardener. My hat goes off to you but only briefly because my bald spot gets cold. The Satsuma will handle more cold than any of the fruit you mention so I would definitely give it a try. Working with the unusual is really fun and can be profitable too.
Satsumas are all over south AL. There is even a town called Satsuma, AL. Amazing fruit. The skin does not stick to the fruit. best orange BAR NONE!
A longer picking season is all I could ask for.
Does satsuma Mandarin tree has thorns?. thanks.
Almost any citrus can develop a thorn in the juvenile growth. I have never seen this happen with Satsuma. They are as smooth as any citrus.
How do you keep the animals away ??
That tree was in California. We had very few creatures there that feed on citrus. Mold from rain was the worst issue. Rats sometimes eat citrus but I kill off rats. I have Satsuma in Hawaii and there it is a lost cause because of the Japanese White Eye bird. They peck holes in the fruit and it all rots. The solution was to abandon the Satsuma and grow Mandarins with tougher skins.
How long do these fruits last on the tree?
Only a few days to a week depending on conditions. They have the softest skin of any citrus and rot easily. When they turn orange, you pick then and eat them.
How old is that tree? i wish I could get one but I think I'm just a bit cold here in Coastal SC. Some years it gets down to below freezing for 2-3 weeks. What do you think? I am having trouble seeing the vid after this one the video won't play. Thanks
+Bernard Schipano That tree is 18 years old. If the freezing weather is continuesly below 32 for 2-3 weeks then no the Satsuma will not grow. If the freezing is only at night but thawing in the day then the tree will survive. We get a short spell of weather where the temperatures can fall as low as 21 degrees for a few hours and mine is fine with that.
I've checked all the videos and I can't find any problems. The issue has to be local. Sometimes internet connections slow down and these videos are in HD that takes a pretty good service to stream well. All I can think of is to try again later. Sorry, Bill
I do not think coastal SC is a problem. I have one about 8 years now in the central SC where temp can get down around 15 degrees. It died back but the next spring new growth will show up on the lower trunk. Since that incident, I'd put a tarp over it with a light bulb when temp is below 20 degrees. Otherwise, I do not cover it.
You certainly are more dedicated to raising a citrus tree than I would ever be. As long as you're persistent this will work for you. Miss the protection just one night and your work can be sent back by many years. I'd be building a greenhouse for the tree like King Louie of France.
Well, we do not have many cold nights here, and this tree is cold hardy for zone 8 that is why I chose it to plant here.. Now my tree has grown and established, but I keep it to manageable size. It is now bearing lots of fruits this year and bends the branches almost to the ground. Green house is something I do not want to do, especially at that location. I am betting global warming so that it is not necessary for a green house in the future. Any colder than this area, I'd plant it in a container, like my guava trees.
As long as you are enjoying the project and getting good fruit from it them it is worth the effort for you. I have people ask me questions about planting zones for citrus frequently and I never recommend planting them anywhere they require protection from weather. I'm not saying it can't be done I just stick to cultivating what will grow without shelter in the environments where i live. As far as global warming is concerned it may very well be occurring but I would not count on it to be to your advantage. For most of us what it will bring is more erratic and destructive weather rather than a more favorable climate. I have grown many plants over the years in environments where they were not known to grow previously. The ones that can't over winter on their own never hit my videos because I cut them down and try something else. People are different though. Like I said, my mother was a Chicago citrus grower. Enjoy your project and I really do hope you can pull off a nice crop of Satsuma. They are one of my favorite fruits.
They are amazing brother, Enjoy
+pauliewalnuts2007 I can already feel that sore spot in the corner of my mouth from eating too many oranges. Vitamin C over load.
LoL. Still enjoy them, too bad I live in High desert in southern Cal. too cold to grow citrus, otherwise I would love to grow those.
Instead I grow a lot of Pomegranates, figs, and other fruits. But still would have loved to grow Satsumas.
+pauliewalnuts2007 I am glad to hear you have a good orchard even if you can't grow Satsuma's. I had to plant a second tree at the house in Hawaii so I still have this fruit after I retire and sell the CA house. Strange what is important to some people!
Which is better between Satsuma and Clementine for flavour and sweetness?
Yes, I see you know flavor and sweetness are not connected. Flavor actually has more to do with the nose. Satsuma is typical of Japanese oranges, very mild in flavor and aroma. They are nearly flat unless grown in a climate like CA with strong differences in temp from night to day. The mild flavor makes the sugar pop to the top so the fruit tastes sweet.
Clementine is typical of tangerines that made a stop in North Africa before getting to the USA. They have strong aromas and higher acid content. I have never put a brix meter to the two but I suspect Clementine grown in the right climate may have a bit more sugar. Satsuma is seedless 99% of the time. Clementine is seedy as all get out if any other citrus are present.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 From your opinion can I say that Satsuma is better than clementine?
@@KINGKHAN-zn2ed Taste is a subjective subject. My partner will not eat half of what I think is good. I am very hesitant to offer opinions on fruit for others. They are both good, I have eaten more Satsuma than Clementine over the years. The main point is they are both very different. I suppose if I had to chose between tangerines that came direct from Japan and the ones that made a short stop in Tangiers with Father Clemente' I would chose the Algerian Tangerine known as Clementine. The sprightly aroma is hard to beat. I find many people can't smell it though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 Many fruit reviewer said that Satsuma is much sweeter than Clementine.And even they prefer Satsuma over Gold nugget.No one said me that clementine and gold nugget are better than Satsuma.Thanks for your information
@@KINGKHAN-zn2ed It appears you may have missed what I said before. Mandarins like satsuma with low acid and low aroma are sometimes called sweeter but that's because other principles are missing from the fruit. My best suggestion to you is to stop asking experts what they think, go out and buy or pick every tangerine type you can find and give them all a try. Remember an 50 old Satsuma produces fruit that is twice the quality of a 4 year old. Age is also a factor so I will stay out of this taste name game if you don't mind. Most of this data is generated by people who have a limited knowledge of the subject. Try checking with Lincove. They do research and have lists of tastings. Here you can find opinions collected from hundreds of tongues, not just mine.
lrec.ucanr.edu/ What I learned about citrus was by eating and growing them. I really don't do a lot of research on them, most I eat them.
In japan they freeze them and then eat them as a healthy frozen treat
I do that here with bananas, pineapple and Jaboticaba juice
Can it grow in NY - Zone 7a?
Not without a greenhouse. Commercially in the U.S., satsumas are grown in southern-most states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and parts of California, usually zones 9-11. If you don't live in these regions, you may succeed in growing satsuma mandarins indoors or overwintered in a heated greenhouse during the coldest months of the year.
Hi there please update us on your owari satsuma tree in Hawaii
I looked at it today. The crop is lighter than the last but passable. It is mostly green now but a few fruits have come to the kitchen. As things turn orange I shoot a video. I have less trouble with the White Eye birds pecking the fruit this year possibly due to Gray-C the cat and the rain is absent so no fruit is rotting from bird damage.
How tall can someone get these trees to grow?
Size depends on how much time you have to wait. Satsuma grow upward slowly because their growth tends to be sideways rather than vertical. How tall one can actually grow isn't known to me because I tend to prune and keep the trees short for picking.
What are you going to do with all that fruit? That's awesome!
+Sonnie's Garden The issue has crossed my mind. The Satsuma has a mind of it's own. More than any other fruit tree they will show a new trick every year. This years trick is "I can make more oranges than you can pick." We eat a lot of the fruit, I sell some of it, and I have quite a few friends who like the fruit and will help pick the tree clean. I suppose I should have put Christmas Organic Satsuma gift boxes up for sale on Ebay. Bill
LOL! Yes that would be cool so your gardener TH-cam friends can buy some.
+Sonnie's Garden This will probably be my last year with this particular tree. I am painting the house for sale in CA and will be moving the the HI house soon. Luckily I planted a second Satsuma in Hawaii seven years ago. It is beginning to come into it's own. Might have to offer HI grown oranges instead. They are sweeter in HI anyway, warm nights make a difference in the fruit.
+GreenGardenGuy1 Wow! cool!
How much do u space semi dwarf trees?
That would depend on your pruning practices and the planting system you use. I have spaced Semi Dwarf trees as close as 6 feet when I am planting hedges or as far apart as 16 if I want each tree to stand alone with out touching anything. You have asked this question on a citrus video. Just for information citrus do not come in semi-dwarf, only standard or dwarf.
hello, I want to buy a satsuma mandarin orange tree like your too. where can I buy one in the bay area? I live near Novato, Ca
Satsuma is a very common citrus tree. Any nursery in your area that sells citrus will have them. If they do not ask them why.
Hello friends
we bought ours at Home Depot.. Lowes also sells friut trees so it's worth a shot to look there. I'm located a little bit north of the Bay area but so far in the last 2 years we have had no issues with our Satsumas, still waiting on friut but we know it will be well worth it!
can I grow them in zone 7b?
The coldest climate zone I am aware of where Satsuma will reliably grow is zone 9A. The Satsuma is very hardy but i believe the "Changsa" mandarin is perhaps most cold-hardy of all sweet orange species. The “Changsa” orange yields sweet, but insipid and seedy oranges that are a brilliant orange-red. It has survived temperatures as low as 4 F in Arlington, Texas. "Changa" mandarins are most cold-hardy if they are grown from seed. Kumquats and their hybrids are even hardier.
Wow!
That was one of the heaviest crops the tree ever produced. I sold the property the next year and moved to Hawaii. Last year my HI Satsuma made a crop almost as nice but it will be a while before it can compete with the CA tree.
I saw cuties mentioned in a previous comment. Are these equivalent to cuties?
Cuties don't really exist as a fruit. They are a market trade mark used to label a group of different tangerines. Most of the time they are actually Clementines but they use other similar tangerines. Since I never purchase tangerines I am not sure if they ever put Satsumas in a Cuties box. The best way to buy a Satsuma is in a carton labeled satsuma. Most of the commercial fruit is picked to early and is from trees too young to give a good representation of this excellent citrus.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 So if I want to grow a tree that produces fruit they sell in the store called Cuties it would be a Clementine. Thanks!
@@bjschofied1 The Cuties box could hold either Clementine, aka Algerian or it could be W. Murcott. They are both sold under the confusing trade mark of Cuties. Sure wish they wouldn't play name games with this stuff.
I just harvest 800 gr on one satsuma tree._._.Very good taste Impressive for swiss!
That is very special for a Swiss grown citrus fruit!
I'm just beggining but also have pomelos,green limes, meyer lemon and oranges ripe in a month._.so in real winter time, under greenhouse
@@bernardbaechler901 Impressive project. My mother lived in Chicago which got very cold in the winter. She used to have me ship her citrus trees from California to grow. She would grow them out doors for the summer then have dad take them down stairs to an artificial grow room for the winter. I doubt she ever got enough fruit to make it worth while but it made here happy.
How cold hardy? Nights in the low 20's?
+Liberty Garden My tree has seen night time temperatures down to 21 f. with no serious damage. They can probably survive a few hours in the lo 20's.
How about the fruit? Will it freeze on the branch?
+Liberty Garden Yes and no. The freezing of citrus fruit depends on a number of factors. The first is how long the cold lasts. You can hit 21 without freezing fruit if the time frame is very short. Citrus is loaded with sugar and sugar resists freezing. It's kind of like fruit antifreeze. If the freeze comes when the fruit is ripe it resists damage better than if it is green. It also depends on heat moving up the trunk of the tree from the ground. If the weather before the freeze was very warm and the freeze is short the ground heat will protect the tree if the soil is wet. The Satsuma has a loose and puffy skin. This skin freezes easily because there is air pockets between it and the flesh. After a good freeze I often see spots of skin on exposed fruit die. If I as in your situation I would cover the tree with Agribon 19 or higher and hang a string of Christmas tree lights on the branches under the Agibon. This will take you down pretty cold with little damage.
Help my Satsuma Mandarin Tree is losing leaves. We battled awful stink bugs last winter. The stink bugs are gone, but this summer - it has lost even more leaves. It is at a critical stage. I have been watering it regularly. I have fertilized it. How can I help my tree grow new leaf coverage? It should be blossoming right now. It's so sad. HELP! Any advice tips please. Thank you & God Bless.( My Tree is 10 years old. It is planted outdoors in the soil. It has been so successful until now. Advice Please)
There isn't a lot I can do from here other than tell you to look for general stuff. Since you believe it should be blooming then you must live in Australia or NZ? Bloom is long over in the northern hemisphere.
First question, did you use any herbicide in the yard or near the tree? Do you use a mulch to conserve moisture? How often do you fertilize and with what? What sort of soil do you have and how often do you water? I am making a guess that the tree may be rotting at the roots. But drought stress looks similar. IF the tree had a root rot and you tried to increase the water that could be an issue. Ordinarialy ten year trees don't have this sort of defoliation unless something rather traumatic happened. Can you recall anything?
Yes, it had trama. In the winter we had an insane amount of Stink bugs/ Chinese beetles infest my Tree. I am against pesticides. I tried everything I could to kill them. I literally would stand outside for hours and pick them off and dump them in hot water with soap. I tried spraying natural dish soap with cayenne pepper. Nothing would kill these bugs. It was awful. My tree is Huge so I still had many decent fruit but half of the fruit was blackened by these beetles. During the winter there was frost but none so severe that would hurt my tree. I fertilize my tree twice a year. Usually with all purpose fertilizer 13-13-13. I water regularly. I will check for root rot. If this is the case, can anything be done to fix it?
My Tree use to get Full Sun. This year they built a house next door to my home. It was an empty wooden lot. It has blocked some of the sun. Also they have sprayed on that property. My Tree is so big it hangs over the fence. Now half the leaves are gone. In one day, I come to check and Half the leaves had fallen off.
I do not know what has happened. I will check for root rot.
It is not Rot Root. Thank God! I did find some leaves that have been eaten on. However, I have not found an insect or critter that is eating the leaves. I went out and bought Organic Monterey B.T. for critters.
I imagine Seattle is too far out of the area to grow this tree?
+Passio Bellator Yes Seattle is out of the zone unless you drag the tree inside a winter greenhouse. To my knowledge Satsuma will grow about a 100 miles beyond the usual citrus zone. In California the most northern Satsuma's I know of are in Redding. My mother grew them in Chicago but had Dad drag the trees down to the basement every Oct. and put them under grow lights.
Holy cow, Bill! That's a ton of fruit! I just bought one of these, about 3-4 feet tall, because the tag said it grows up to 10 feet. Does that sound about right? I want to keep it under 10 feet, so it's more manageable. I'm looking to plant it in a pot if it will grow too large. Should I plant it in the ground or in a pot? I'm in Southern California.
It will grow much better and easier if you put it in the ground. Citrus container culture is for the pros only.
Size figures on nursery stock usually take three categories: Some growers use the figure of 7 years growth because most American's don't live anyplace longer than that. Others use potential mature height, this is seldom seen. Others use the size that the plant can be trimmed to successfully. In your case the tag is giving you the average size with careful pruning by the gardener. Satsuma is a short tree, they grow side ways. I used to prune mine as I picked the fruit every year. Fruit would come off the tree branches and all then I would trim the fruit from the stems.
Into the ground it goes tomorrow then!
Make sure to feed frequently with a good organic citrus food and keep a nice deep mulch over the roots. Those are the two main reasons my tree looks good.
A nursery told me that this one should be picked green, but he didn't say why. That turned me off so I didn't get this variety. But they're definitely tree ripened in your yard so he must've been wrong!
There are a lot of people working in nurseries that believe they know a thing or two but are actually spreading disinformation. You seldom find a good education in a nursery worker because there isn't enough pay in the job. Really smart and educated folks find better work. A lot of the folks you find in nurseries pick up information from the web, a book or a sales person. The information may not be accurate. Very few of them have personal first hand experience with the subjects they discuss. Having run or owned nursery for decades I speak from personal experience. The only way I could stay in the business economically was to either own or run the business. I spent my nights in school and my days running the shop. Most nursery workers spend the night drinking beer and the day at work with a hang over.
The only reason a person might pick a Satsuma green is because the birds destroy the soft skin when they are ripe. They do not taste right when green though.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 That is all great information! Thank you greatly. I like tree-ripened, but protecting that many from birds would be a challenge. Hopefully they don't make it past the skin or the fruit can be harvested quickly enough if only very minor damage to the interior has been done.
@@jennifereverett6298 In California the birds didn't attack oranges and the weather was drier so Satsuma was good there. In Hawaii we have the Japanese White Eye. It drinks nectar and fruit juice. It pokes a hole in the skin, drinks so juice then leave the fruit to get infected in the rain.
@@GreenGardenGuy1 I see. Here in Arizona, I've never had birds make more than a tiny dent in citrus peel. Even in the summer when they'll eat almost anything to survive.
@@jennifereverett6298 The white eye is an invasive species perfectly adapted to destroying farmers fruit crops.
We dont have one but I want one :) can you jar it? we like candy mandarin skins
+MsTokies Mostly I eat them fresh or juice them but the peel is good for candied citron because it is easy to remove in large sheets. I imagine it would make a decent marmalade too.
Thats an overloaded tree! Id like to try a sweet mature satsuma. Only ate imported ones and those are a real bummer, sour as lemons.
+Mirakel Spektakel I have 12 different types of citrus in my garden and I have tried most of the types we grow on earth over the years. A well grown tree ripe Owari Satsuma is one of my favorite. the trees will grow to the northern edge of citrus country but they also do well in the tropics. They bear huge crops every year. The fruit has no seeds and peels as easily as taking off your shirt. They are very juicy, low in acid but high in sugar. They are almost like junk food because they are so sweet and easy to eat. Luckily they are good for us. I am hoping you will have the pleasure of trying a really good one some day. My tree is for sale but only if you buy the house too.
GreenGardenGuy1
Sounds nice, how are they to maintain do they need any pruning to fruit so densly?
I wish i could buy it! I would love to move to CA but i think i would go a bit more south than you are if i could choose. It aint so easy to move abroad anymore tho...
+Mirakel Spektakel Well, California is getting a bit too crowded anyway. Everyone wants to be here. It is a great place but the population density has grown exponentially in recent years. The population of the planet has increased 3 fold since I was born but the California population is closer to four fold. Hawaii is still on the empty side and the weather is warmer than Fremont.
The Owari Satsuma requires very little work to get a good crop. The tree never needs pruning to fruit only to control plant size. In a conventional garden it will require feeding but in a permaculture setting like mine the tree yields well and hasn't been fertilized in 15 years. Because we only get rain in the winter so I need to water the tree in summer. The main pests are scale and white fly. Every few years I need to spray oil in spring to knock the population down.
I see. I can take a sandy spot in the south tho :). Hawaii is nice, but i dont know if i would wanna live so close to volcanos, but probably not too much to worry about...
Interesting, easy to maintain plants that does most of the work for you i do like. I dont mind climbing on ladders or in trees either if necessary to reach the fruit! Perfect excuse to be abit childish again :) I like the way you are growing, natural is easy and very good in many ways.
+Mirakel Spektakel My tree climbing days are over although I once enjoyed this activity. These days i keep trees pruned and I use either cut and hold pickers or telescopic basket pickers to get my fruit while standing on the ground.
We don't let this out much because I figure the volcanoes help keep Hawaii from being over populated but almost everything you know about volcanoes doesn't apply in Hawaii. It was in college geology class where I first learned the Hawaiian volcano of is a different breed. All volcanoes on earth are on the rim of tectonic plates and the volcanisum is cause by subduction of one plate under another. The Hawaiian volcano is the only example of a one that exists because of a permanent thin spot in the center of the Pacific plate. The hole has been there for millions of years and isn't subject to the intense pressure of other volcanoes. For the most part they do not blow their tops, no one ever dies from them unless you are a volcanologist who gets too close to the work or a virgin required for a sacrifice. The later has become difficult to locate lately so they use pigs as an offering. For us they are just one more natural wonder like lakes, rivers or sea shores. I guess you have to love them if you love Hawaii, they make the Islands.
How old is this tree?
I'm very sorry, I do not track time like most humans. It helps keep me young. Maybe 10 years or so? It takes at least 10 years on this variety for the fruit quality to stabilize and constant crops to develop. 15 year old Satsumas are even better, a 25 year old is heavenly and a 50 year produces fruit fit for royalty.
Thank you for your information. I have just ordered an Owari Satsuma citrus tree of 2 ~ 3 years and I want to know when it will produce the fruit.
Can you mail me some of the branches you prune off so I can try to roof them?
+Greg Heal Yes I can do that as long as you are willing to let me have $10 for the package and postage. I do checks or Paypal. Where are you located? If you are in a cold area best wait till spring so the branches will survive the mail.
Great. Thanks. I'm in Alabama and it does get pretty cold here so spring may be better. I can pay how ever you prefer. Since I will wait till spring, could you air layer me a couple of branches? it would be really awesome for me to have your trees growing in my yard. I love all your videos. I've learned a lot from you. I like the California and Hawaii videos. Just let me know how to pay and I'll get it done this week. Thanks again....
+Greg Heal Greg, I'll be glad to ship you some cuttings in spring. I don't want to get into air layers, nothing personal. I'll consider striking some cuttings but I am not sure how well they will root over the winter. My greenhouse is unheated. My Paypal account is William Merrill at merrill.w@sbcglobal.net. My address is Bill Merrill 37083 Holly St. Fremont, CA 94536. Lets just let it ride until next March when the weather settles down. Contact me then, I will wrap up some branches and you can pay me at the time I ship.
+Greg Heal I just struck a few cuttings, we will see how it goes. I believe my bench heater mat has crapped out so all I have is ambient temperature.
Thank you. I'll be in touch...
great fruit!
Can you mail me the cuttings to Nigeria?
Not with out ridiculous expense and red tape.
Did you grow from seed? Or buy the tree? If seed, where did you find them, it's impossible to find online.
Satsuma is not true from seeds. It's parentage is too complicated, propagation is by grafting. Mine came from 4 Winds Citrus in Fremont, CA and they will ship trees. Menlo Growers in Gilroy also grow the tree and will ship. These growers cover Northern CA. If you are in Southern CA then La Verne Nursery, Piru, CA grow the tree. They are a wholesale grower so you need to find a retail nursery that does business with them. If you are in Hawaii then Plant it Hawaii grows the tree. Florida, AZ & TX probably have other growers. The tree is popular in northern FL so some one grows it.
GreenGardenGuy1 Thank you very much. Keep up the videos! I live in North Texas(Dallas area) so hoping my mandarins can grow and flourish.
Satsuma is one of the hardiest sweet oranges. I don't know much about citrus in Dallas but it is possible. I know TX has commercial farms but most are down near Brownsville. Lots of difference between there and Dallas. I would start checking the web for citrus growers that work in TX, I see you have a few.
U can find Owari Satsuma Mandarin and many other citrus at Lowes around March or April .Also Costco sell them early March $25 for a 5 gal pot .I also live North Texas and they can be easily grown in containers .you should check out uscitrus.com they well ship in Tx
Can I buy some from you? 😋
I sold this property with the trees a few years ago and moved to Hawaii. I have Satsuma here too but the season is over for fruit.
blame it on organic fertilizer & love..
+Louis Hibbs I believe you have it. Bill
Can you provide an email address so that I can get in touch?
greengardenservice@yahoo.com