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goyo626

Looking to buy a Mardarin Tree

Which is the best tasting mandarin for southern california (20mi east of downtown LA)?

Taste, productivity, and hanging on tree for extended harvest are three qualities I find most important.

Thank you.

Comments (17)

  • bulb1776
    10 years ago

    Tango is a recent UCR inspired tree. Seedless Murcott. Nice looking, vigorous and hangs well on the tree. Of course if you are just into flavor you can't beat the satsumas.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    My top favorites (and many of my CFRG members and other citrus enthusiasts):

    Seedless Kishu
    Ponkan
    Clemenules
    Tango
    Gold Nugget
    Page
    California Honey (Seedless Murcott referred to above by Jon)
    Pixie

    I've probably missed a couple of cultivars, but those are the ones that pop to mind that I favor in my orchard. Not as much a fan of satsumas with the exception of Xie Shan, which is nearly impossible to find here in California . They take at least 5 years to mature into best flavor, and can be rather bland and unexciting until then. All above cultivars hang well on the tree, especially Seedless Kishu, Gold Nugget, Tango and Page. Satsumas will become puffy and bland if left too long on the tree.

    Patty S.

    This post was edited by hoosierquilt on Wed, Mar 12, 14 at 20:14

  • DocHollywood 9b Central Tucson
    10 years ago

    Container planted 2 tangos' this past week on our visit to Tucson. Looking forward to some "cuties"

  • goyo626 S.Cal.8b/SZ20
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you for all of the advice. I will keep my eyes peeled for Kishu and Murcott. It seems many of the nurseries in my neck of the woods have their citrus under quarantine. Any tips on where I could find these will be appreciated.

  • evdesert 9B Indio, CA
    10 years ago

    Just planted a tango mandarin in my back yard. It was from lowes and the nursery it came from was duarte and it's on carrizo root stock so I'm hoping it gets fairly large. I live in the desert so it should do ok here.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    Goyo, you'll probably have to buy from nurseries just in your area, then, if you're under quarantine. I would talk to all the larger nurseries and see who has citrus for sale right now.

    Patty S.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Dochollywood ,evdesert beautiful tango's . I Also bought a tango tree from home depot last year it also came from duarte , by far the most beautiful citrus tree I have in my collection

    Brian

  • evdesert 9B Indio, CA
    10 years ago

    Dochollywood, thanks, I can't wait to see what kind of fruit quality I get from this tree. I had my first tango mandarin a couple months ago and had been searching for one ever since. The picture posted sideways but was right side up when I loaded it on the post, weird.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    Eve, you probably have an iPhone. Apple photos "remember" their orientation. Take your photos in landscape with your phone, volume buttons facing down. Or, take them into a photo editing program, and re-set the orientation. Then you can upload them and they will retain the true orientation.

    Patty S.

  • goyo626 S.Cal.8b/SZ20
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    I ended up getting a seedless kishu. It was sourced from a local nursery. The thing is it didn't have a rootstock tag. The supplier is duarte nursery and it says semi-dwarf on the tag.

  • johnorange
    10 years ago

    Patty mentioned satsumas getting puffy and bland. While I like them dead ripe, they do seem to be better while there is still a touch of green on the skin.They grow lots of satsumas here in SE Texas. I think they are good for us here because we are getting far enough north to catch some hard freezes now and then. They are pretty cold-hardy after they get a few years thickness to the trunk. My Ponderosa lemons lost about half of their leaves due to cold this winter, and all of the leaves dropped off a lime, but the satsumas didn't noticeably loose leaves. They seem to do about as well in the cold as my meiwa kumquats.

  • hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
    10 years ago

    Most likely C35, Goyo. They use C35 quite a bit. If not, then it's Troyer/Carrizo. You can always contact them and ask. If the rootstock or scion has a paint splotch on it, then share that color with them. Growers often color-code their rootstock as well as the scion.

    Patty S.

  • goyo626 S.Cal.8b/SZ20
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks. Come to think of it the tree had a green plastic where the rootstock and potting material. Do you think this could be a rootstock identifier?

  • tcamp30144(7B N.ATLANTA)
    10 years ago

    Any pics goyo

  • evdesert 9B Indio, CA
    10 years ago

    Goyo, when I bought my Duarte farms Tango mandarin it had 2 tags on it. One tag was the citrus quarantine tag (yellow) and the other tag had the date the tree was grafted onto its root stock and the type of root stock on it as well. Thought I'd share a pic of my new Gold Nugget that is going to get put into the ground today too!
    Evan

  • goyo626 S.Cal.8b/SZ20
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Sorry for the late response but here are some pics.

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    Bonus

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  • susanne42
    9 years ago

    that last picture really made me smile big time. thank you :)
    i have two big ones and eight little ones just three weeks old. probably will be happy when the first one leave and cry when the last one is gone