Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
aslan89_gw

Looking For Tango Mandarin In Texas

aslan89
10 years ago

I've asked this question before but it's been a very long time so I figured why not give it another try :)

Because of the quarantines I don't have access to citrus in other states, however, varieties like Tango still show up in other quarantined states like Arizona so my question is has anyone seen Tango mandarin trees in Texas? I love all my trees but I have just had this fixation with having a Tango mandarin for a couple years now and hopefully one day I will finally be able to track one down!

I know it's not impossible because even under quarantine, citrus can be shipped into states from other countries that the USDA approves of (they have a list on their website) but only for commercial consignments which means I can't just look up a mail order nursery from another country and buy one plant. Thats just one example though, if I'm not mistaken (and I surely could be) I believe I had once read that quarantined material could be transferred across state lines with special permits from the USDA.

Anyway, any thoughts, sitings, or help welcome.

Again, in case you missed it above, I already know about the citrus quarantines so no need to explain that to me lol. For some reason, whenever I ask this question people just jump in and say "ARGH!!!! CITRUS IS QUARANTINED! SHAME SHAME SHAME!" Ok... not quite like that but seriously, I already know ;)

Thanks

Comments (21)

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

    Well, you'd have to find a grower who is propagating Tango that is NOT is a quarantined state (like Florida, California, AZ, etc.), as they cannot ship into another quarantined state. That's the challenge, aslan. Or, a grower who is actually propagating Tango in Texas. Here in California, all growers now must propagate under screen since January 2013. That severely limits the number of citrus growers, now, as not all can afford the millions of dollars it takes to put their propagation facilities under screen. Clausen's, for example, one of the largest wholesale citrus growers in California cannot afford to do this, so they eventually will simply fade away, which is very sad to me. So, even though you "know about the citrus quarantines", you may not realize that there are now even further restrictions with regard to citrus propagation. So, your best bet - contact Texas A&M and see if they have Tango in their budwood collection, and if they do, you might see if you can order budwood yourself, and graft up some trees on your own. Or, if they know of any growers in your state that are grafting up Tango.

    Patty S.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Aslan I here your frustration. I know what it's
    like to really want something and can't get it
    .For 25 years I wanted a minneola tangelo,
    searched every garden nursery between
    Montreal and Toronto and could not find it,
    every gardening website in Canada nothing.
    Until a month ago on the way to the Cottage,
    stopped at subway in Carleton place a small
    town just outside of Ottawa where I live and there
    was a home Home Depot right across from the
    restaurant.Well something told me to go in and
    VoilÃÂ there it was, instant tears it felt like I just
    Won the lottery.So keep the faith it will show up
    least when you think.Maybe we can hear from other
    members if they ever wanted a citrus plant so bad
    and they couldn't find, then did or still looking.
    .

  • aslan89
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well on the bright side I was finally able to track down a Kishu Mandarin this past spring which was just as exciting to me.

    Patty, Yes I had heard about the screening. I actually got to go tour the facility in Weslaco that has them installed now. They don't have Tango budwood but it has been a long time since I bothered them about it so I could always ask again if they have any interest in Tango.

    Orangelime1: congrats on the find :) I can't tell you how excited I was to get my hands on the Kishu when I finally tracked it down. Took me two years to find a grower and locate one. Totally worth it though btw, I just love those super sweet mini fruits.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Aslan 89. I find it so bazaar that you cannot
    get your hands on a tango where here in Canada
    you can. I thought Texas was a major citrus
    growing state.I guess maybe they know people
    can't grow them in the ground here.I just hope people
    here know that.I just did a major trim on my citrus, I
    hate that !!! I always feel I am hurting them but no
    choice if I'm going to fit them in the greenhouse.Glad you where able to find a kishu,ah maybe one day I will
    find one not like I have alot of room in the greenhouse.
    I just moved my 4 new citrus from the pool area
    closer to the greenhouse.

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

    orangelime, it's not bizarre at all, if you understand how and why our citrus states are quarantined. You, however, are not in a quarantined area, so you can get all kinds of things that those of us in the "citrus belt" cannot. We have to rely on what is available from within our own state, and not all cultivars we chat about here on the forum are available in our states. For example, you can get the famous Shiranui (Dekopon) in Florida, and there is even one grower in Florida who is now legally allowed to ship outside of Florida, but NOT To other citrus states. So, if you live in Florida (or in Canada) you can enjoy the Shiranui. I, however, living in California, cannot get one. And, our CCPP does not have clean budwood available yet, so no one here in the state of California can propagate them. This is what aslan is dealing with, with the Tango. Texas does not have budwood (yet). So, he's just not going to find one legally in his state. But, patience is a virture, and the various ag depts between states do share clean budwood, so hopefully Texas will have a chat with the folks at the UC Riverside CCPP, and will be able to procure clean budwood for those in Texas who would like to propagate and grow the wonderful Tango mandarin. Aslan, while you're waiting, do you have Gold Nugget? Boy, it sure was nice to still have mandarins on my tree in July :-) I enjoyed them until the very end of July, and they held of the tree so very well. Very impressed with this extremely late mandarin, if you have the climate for it, it is a must have to extend your mandarin season.

    Patty S.

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

    There is a place in Colorado that has seedlings they are very small but are tanglos. You can email him and see.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Hi Patty honoured talking to you.I kind
    of figured when I posted that message
    I would get a response from you.I am
    new to the forum and I think I do very
    well on the growing of citrus but on
    the why and why nots of some states
    can't receive certain types of clean
    budwood left field.Please be patient.
    So the budwood that is now used for
    California would not meet certain
    Enviromental issue's in Texas , Florida
    And other citrus producing states.So if a
    tango from California was shipped to
    Texas it would run into problems with
    pests and diseases not common in
    California I'm guessing.Could the clean tango

    budwood from California bring a disease to
    other citrus states.So isn't citrus growing a hooooot.
    I really love the challenge and I am well
    rewarded.Patty here is my tango I got back in
    May.The leafs on it are so cool, kind of looks
    like across between a gardenia and a citrus.
    The leafs are extremely green. Beautiful!!!!
    Just now beginning to grow flower buds

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

    Not quite, orangelime :-) It's not the budwood that other citrus states are concerned about. Clean, certified budwood gets shared between state ag agencies all the time. If it's clean and certified, it will not carry infection. It's when a grower propagates citrus trees from clean budwood that the citrus states are concerned about. Lots can happen if you propagate outside, (such as a tree becoming infected with HLB). Here is the state of California, no one is allowed now to propate and grow citrus for resale, unless the entire process is done under screen. Now, that may not sound like much, but you have to understand that some of our larger commercial citrus growers have ACRES of trees growing that now had to be brought under screen. Florida has had their propagation under screen for several years now, and many growers as well, which is why Bucks Record has been allow to ship out of state (just not to other citrus states). So, it's not the budwood, but how growers grow their budded trees with that clean & certified budwood that cause other citrus states' concern.

    Patty S.

    (whose family is Canadian by way of Scotland, and grew up off and on in Vancouver, BC)

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Patty hi.Now I completely understand thanks
    to you thx.My 4 new citrus tango,shasta,minneola,
    Moro blood came from California,Duarte trees.
    Thankyou California!!!!!.I heard they have a great
    Reputation.

    PS.I dont know who lives in Vancouver 3000 miles
    from here.But I am Scottish

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Hey Patty does a nules clementine taste like
    a kishu or gold nugget .I have never seen the
    fruit sold in our grocery stores.THX

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

    Hmm, probably more like Kishu. Clemnules is probably my all time favorite mandarin. Neck and neck with Kishu. It is just so declious and sweet. I have a soft spot for the Nules clementine because I got one every Christmas in my stocking. It was always in the toe. I would leave all the candy set aside to get to that mandarin. Just wish my little Nules would grow faster. It's from Four Winds, and it still is tiny (on Cuban Shaddock). Tempted to go buy one on C35 somewhere ;-)

    And my family moved from Cape Breton (no big surprise, eh??) to Edmonton to Vancouver. Just kept marching west. And Scottish on both sides (Fraser & Fleming).

    Patty S.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago


    Goody gum drops my nules is coated
    in fruit.I always hear people saying kishu is the
    best ,making me want one.So if I all ready have
    one of the best tasting mandarins I will not have to
    try to search for one.Gess this
    citrus thing is addictive.By the way Patty my mom
    was born on Cape Breton island.

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

    Clemenules and other mandarins can be strongly alternate bearing, so you'll have a heavy crop followed by a lighter crop, but the can really be covered. My California Honey mandarin is loaded right now, ridiculously so. I'll have to take a photo of it, because it's from Four Winds, if it's 2 feet tall I'd be shocked, and there's probaby 40 fruit on it. It is strongly alternate bearing, so I'll probably have just a handful next year. And yes, the Seedless Kishu is worth having because it probably has the richest, most complex and sweet flavor of any mandarin I've had. I love them.

    And, I have the very good fortunate a few years ago, to be able to cruise up to Halifax, NS. It was so beautiful, I could easily live there. Really enjoyed myself, it was a wonderful cruise. Just sad that I did not get to make up to Cape Breton, I would really have enjoyed that.

    Patty S.

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    So your honey will look like a Charlie brown
    CHristmas tree around Christmas.Do you remember
    the tree when they put th 1 christmas ball on it.
    You will have to put a blanket around the bottom
    of your honey to support it.Just came in from
    watering what a job!I think I am missing 1 leg
    And a arm,eaten by mosquito's ,little buggers.
    Yes Nova Scotia is beautiful.We use to summer
    In Prince Edward Island , Loved it.My best childhood
    memories are from there.Patty did you ever go
    Swimming in the ocean there? Do you remember
    how cold the water was and all the the jellyfish
    yuk!!!.You could walk across the water on them
    yuk!!!.Patty do you know anything about lychee
    tree's?I have a 5 year old tree it's huge , never
    flowered . Frustrating.

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

    Yes, poor wee little thing, lol!! And yes, the water was startlingly cold! We kayaked there, and I stuck my hand in the water. That was as far as I got, lol!! I kept thinking, "don't fall in, don't fall in!" And no, I sure don't know anything about Lychee trees. I think maybe they really need a tropical environment to produce? They are challenging even here in S. California coastal San Diego county area. Try posting over on the Tropical Fruits Forum and see if they can help you out over there. My neighbor grows them, I haven't put one in, yet. Or, you can check with this person who grows lychees commercially.

    Patty S.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lychees Online

  • orangelime1
    10 years ago

    Patty we should make a new post called
    come on show off your Charlie Brown
    citrus tree picks.Your going to have to show
    us your honey before Christmas.Patty is it
    a honey honey or a Murcott honey?I remember
    my first citrus (valencia), 3 ft twig with a
    lot of beautiful smelling flowers. Didn't a fruit
    take off at the very top,one fruit.Well I didn't
    have the heart to pull it off no actually I wanted
    to taste it .So it stayed in our bedroom window
    fruit resting against the window , thank goodness
    the fruit didn't slip because it would have snapped
    it in half. I really should of taken a picture , darn.
    Kayaking you are brave, I don't think I would
    have tried that.With my luck Moby Dick would
    have come along and swallowed me. Thankyou
    very much for the link on lychee's , I will definitely
    check that out tonight.

  • Anthony Nguyen
    10 years ago

    @Aslan

    Where did you find your Kishu mandarin here in Texas? I live in Austin and tried the big store(Costco, lowes, hd) and tried 3 local nurseries and couldn't find a Kishu. Perhaps because its late March and they're all already taken. I've had a late start in my gardening adventures this year.

    I also can't find a Gold Nugget either. My 3 citrus trees in ground died this past winter (Miho, Blood Orange, and N-33 Naval) from the extreme freezes Austin had. Got down to 16 degrees in about 3 or 4 different nights throughout the winter.

    So if anyone has found Gold Nugget or Kishu in Austin area it'd be great if you could share!

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

    Gold Nugget is an excellent choice. Out at the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection, Gold Nugget actually withstood freezing temps better than all the various satsuma varieties they had. I also heard this in a separate conversation from one of our local citrus wholesale growers in Vista, that one of their N. Calif. customers had the identical same experience, and just put in a order for several hundred Gold Nugget trees. Hopefully you can find Gold Nugget in Texas, it is an outstanding mandarin, as well.

    Patty S.

  • kingwood
    10 years ago

    You can find kishu in Houston. I have 2, but the nurseries that carry them do not ship. My 2 have yet to fruit. Hoping they will this year. Have tango and gold nugget on Louisiana property. Don't think they are available in Texas yet. They may be coming because I remember when Kishu wasn't available here.

  • Anthony Nguyen
    10 years ago

    Thanks kingwood. I called 5 nurseries here in Austin and natural gardener carries Kishu but they are out of stock so I'll have to wait. None of the nurseries I called had heard of tango or gold nugget so I suppose theyre not available in Texas yet. Boo!

  • aslan89
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Is the Natural Gardener going to get any more trees in? Thats where I got my Kishu mandarin last year, best plant purchase I've ever made!