Love Trovita oranges. Very sweet. Good juicer. Had this one in the ground for about 3 years now. Fair sized, but not a real rapid grower.

I'm excited about it and glad to see a fellow desert dweller has had success growing it dochollywood. Everything I read has said that it does well in the desert so I'm hoping to get lots of fruit eventually.
Evan

It's interesting that I'm growing Trovita in just about the most different conditions you could get from Arizona desert. In a pot, in cool, damp, low-light England. Yet Trovita reliably produces acceptably sweet oranges. I haven't found another orange variety that can match it.

You haven't found another variety that matches it? Can you name the ones you tried? I'm in Michigan which is in a colder USDA zone than England so your experience would be helpful.

This post was edited by pip313 on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 9:13

Good choice for your climate, Evan.

Patty S.

I'm hesitant to put it in the ground this week. We hit 31 degrees last night and are forecasted to hit the mid 30's all this week. I've been putting it out during the day and bringing it into the garage where it only drops down to about 50 at night. Next week our lows are forecasted to be around the mid 40's, a little more favorable.
Evan

pip313 "Can you name the ones you tried?"
Washington Navel, several Valencia types, Silver (an old English variety), Salustiana (Spanish), Tarocco, Maltaise de Tunisie, Vaniglia, and a couple just labelled as 'orange'.
I've been collecting citrus for over 30 years. My 'Trovita' came from Four Winds in California before there were any restrictions on importing from the US to the UK. At that time - before the internet - it was very difficult to find named varieties here, and Trovita was always described as being good in cooler regions. That's why I ordered it, and I think it has proved to be true.

Mike, Trovita is also recommended for our S. California desert regions. It is a wonderful orange. Evan, I would most definitely wait until we're clear of any freezing temps. We're going to have some temps hovering around 32 here next week, so not thrilled about having to pull out the frost cloth :-(

Patty S.

Mine survived those cold temps of the winter 2 years ago just fine. Last year, I don't think we even had a frost...could be wrong.

I don't think we had more than a handful of nights last winter below 45 degrees at night. Very mild winter last year, I think it's going to be a lot wetter this year, we've already had a lot more rain than we had last year which is good for us in SoCal, we need the water for our drought problems.
Evan

I live in Europe, in north coast of Spain, and like Citrange my climate is oceanic, very cloudy and rainy, mild temps along the year, both in summer and winter. Not the best climate for citrus, but better than Citrange's because I am in a lower latitude.
Because of this I searched citrus with low heat requirement, and Trovita is one of the varieties I thought that would be good for my climate. I haven't it, it is not easy to find it in Europe.
Until I read the opinion of one expert fruit grower of Santa Cruz in California (Climate Zone: sunset 15/USDA 9b) with a similar climate as mine.
He is not a windbag, he is one of the gurus of Cloudforest forums, so I took his opinion in account.

He has gotten much better results with Navel oranges, Lane Late for example.

Here you can see some abstracts of his opinion about Trovita:

- "I have a list of favorites, and I've also discovered that 90% of the citrus varieties promoted in old Bay area gardening circles are bogus. So I should start first with what to avoid. Two varieties are a case in point: trovita orange and oro blanco grapefruit, both are horrible citrus that I would never, ever recommend for anyone living in Central or Northern California, yet they are promoted by all sorts of ols literature."

- "My trovitas are hands down the worst orange I've ever grown and I've heard several simillar reports from others around Santa Cruz County.

I can imagine both oro blanco and trovita to be decent in the South Bay where it's a lot warmer."

- "I never said climate doesn't affect taste. I said trovita and oro blanco are terrible in our climate. People erroneously conclude that their climate can't support any citrus because they grow two varieties that are inappropriate for a cool climate. Trovita and oro blanco are great varieties for the desert, but not the coast.

- "What's with this thread and so many people arguing with me. All I am saying is that both trovita and oro blanco are terrible varieties in cool climates, and I speak from direct experience."

Very interesting, axier. That is very surprising to me, especially this person's comment about Oroblanco grapefruit hybrid, which is recommended for cooler coastal climates. It does very well in my yard, very sweet, juicy and delicious, but, I'm 7 miles from the ocean, so we get a bit more heat than right at the coast.

We seem to have folks who have had very good success with Trovita in very similar climates to this person's Central/N. California climates. From my S. California experience, Trovita is grown quite a bit in our S. California desert areas with really excellent results. It will be the sweet orange most recommended for our inland areas, where the influence from the coast is much diminished, and summer temps are much higher, as well as our low desert areas (Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Indio). So, I say, if you're having success with this cultivar where ever you live, then keep growing it.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection: Trovita Orange

For any reason, I am suspecting that, in climates like mine, the late navel oranges perform better than Washington navel or Trovita.
It apparently goes against logic, because usually the best fruits for little sunny climates are the earliest ones.
But new late navel oranges have an extraordinary hanging on tree capacity, covering in some cases two springs and summers, accumulating many heat units including in cloudy climates.
Usually, most of fruits like apples, figs, etc... only have one season for ripening.
Maybe this is the reason why he has obtained better results with late navels than with Trovita.
I will know it soon, because I have planted many different navel varieties, from early Navelina to late Chislett, going through Washington.
On the other hand, according to UC Riverside description, Washington is better than Trovita, is it right?

This post was edited by axier on Mon, Dec 29, 14 at 15:33

Well, axier, I think it really depends on where you live, again. Washington can be a little finicky with location. It will not do as well in our hotter desert areas, so, for places like where Evan lives, he will do much better with Trovita. So, the answer would be "possibly, but not necessarily".

Patty S.

Yes, Patty, that is exactly why I chose it for my yard. It is supposed to do well in MY climate, may not be the right tree for others in cooler climates, Washington's do ok, but probably not as well in the heat.
Evan

I finally plopped my Trovita in the ground, it has put on a ton of growth the last 2 weeks since we've been in the mid to upper 80's daily now. I had a plumeria that met its demise during our cold snap last month so it opened up a spot in my yard, here it is in its new home in the ground along my south facing wall.

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Evan

Wow Evan, your Trovita is off to a terrific start! They are tough. I have them in multiple locations and they survived through the December 2013 stretch of 10 nights of low 20's and one dip to 16F. Damaged, ...but did spring back with new growth. Those same locations get late day - HOT sun.
great choice!

Looks very good, Evan, and perfect spot for it. It will benefit from the radiant warmth of the cinder block in the winter. Looks so great!

Patty S.

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to this cultivar for fresh squeezed OJ, hopefully in a couple years it'll be producing.
Evan

It certainly looks to have adjusted really well Evan, how're those new leaves doing now?

I see Trovita is rated as a very sweet orange. Is it better than Cara Cara Navel?

Hey bahamadan, the tree and its new leaves are doing well. The trunk has doubled in thickness in one growing season. I went out and took a couple pics to show how it is progressing as of today. I am not sure how it is going to compare to the Cara Cara navel, I mostly bought this tree because it was on sale for some reason and it was still in really good shape AND I wanted it for fresh squeezed OJ. Being on C35 I'm hoping it produces really sweet oranges.

Evan

This pandemic is a terrible thing but it’s allowing me time in the yard because I can’t go anywhere. I trimmed up my Trovita Orange that I planted a few years back.

its still holding onto some fruit.

Trovita orange on C-35 · More Info

Trovita orange on C-35 · More Info

Trovita orange on C-35 · More Info

Evan

Love the shape of your tree Evan!

Thanks Amy, I need to work on it’s shape a little more over the next couple seasons, this is the first real trim the tree has had since I planted it.

I am curious Evan, hiw tall is the tree? It looks very dwarf compare to the other trees. I like the idea, fruits are easier to pick!

Amy, for reference the wall behind the tree is 6’ tall. So i guess the tree is maybe 5’ tall?

Evan it’s so lush and beautiful! Ah how I wish I could grow in ground! Hope you’re staying safe Evan :)

Very nice tree. I to wish I too could grow simply in ground.

Thanks Steve, I always enjoy seeing your ingenuity with mini grow houses surrounding your in ground trees that are several grow zones to the north.