The lemons will turn from green to yellow. Ok to pick when at least 50% yellow.

Not sure about the oranges.

Thanks, Rick, my lemons are almost ready then. The oranges are getting to be a bright orange, so probably they are as sweet as they are going to get. I had hoped to harvest them before I put the trees up for winter.

We are in the process of harvesting lemons, at the moment, also. I would imagine the Satsuma orange would also be about ready.

Looks like they can stay out at least through this week, on the lemon anyway, as it will be ok till the first frost, on the fruit, and we usually won't bring it in, until the night temps hit 25 degs.

I am going to try to get everything in over the next two weeks ...... they will get sunshine in the plant room, but would be hard to harvest the fruit once there are other plants around them.

I know that when I lived in Florida, the colder the nights the sweeter the fruits :)

Satsuma tangelo usually ripen in late November thru Dec. Hold out as long as you can. Pick inside if possible.
Happy Growing David

My satsuma tree is loaded this year. I had to prop up the limbs to keep them from breaking and to keep the fruit off of the ground. A couple hundred on it, I guess...

Some are just now starting to turn yellow, which eventually becomes orange.

In the past, I have left them on the tree through Winter and they remain edible. Temps have gotten below 20F but for only short periods.

Generally, I pick my first fruits a week or two before Thanksgiving.

I've heard that the older the tree is, the sweeter the fruit becomes, and so far seems to be holding true.

Others have told me to fertilize lightly with epsom salt once or twice during friut development. I'm sure that soil type has something to do with sweetness also, along with the genetics of that particular satsuma.

Kt

Thanks, everyone, I will leave them on as long as possible. BTW, KT, my little tree with only 15 oranges on it has one small limb with 5 large ones on it. I did not prop the limb as the oranges are resting on the side of the container.

Satsumas are ripe a while before they turn color. My experience is that if you leave them on the tree till they completely turn orange, they'll get very dry, and somewhat tasteless.(don't keep long either) I agree with the other folks on the meyer lemons. anytime they are 50% yellow or greater, they are ready to use. Best way to tell if the satsumas are ready to pick, is to give them a light squeeze, if there is give, their ready.

Satsumas ripened early this year. I had one that was kind if tart, but all the rest have been sweet. I've picked 95 so far.

Kt

Oh my gosh, Kentuck! Those trees are loaded! Surely that's not a single tree? What a lovely harvest!

Pam

Thank for the tip Jerry! And Ken, thanks for the pictures! Wow -- it's amazing how much fruit they will produce. I see you propped the limbs up. How tall and wide is your tree?

You both are in zone 8B. Do you give your trees winter protection?

I'm in San Antonio and still don't know where I'm going to plant the Satsuma I recently bought at Lowes. I moved it to a much larger pot, but want to put it in the ground next spring.

Yes, Pam, that is one tree.

Roselee, the tree is about 15 X 12 wide and about 14 feet tall.

It's planted close to the porch, so the tree grows mostly to one side, away from the porch.

I trimmed it early in the year, thinking that since we are/were in a drought, that it won't produce much fruit anyway. I had it where I could walk under the limbs by just ducking a little bit, but as you can see, I can't even get a mower over there any more to mow the grass since the limbs are touching the ground.

This years growth is what the fruit will be produced on next year which is why you don't want to trim early in the year. Also, like other fruit trees and nut trees, they have heavy producing years followed by low producing years where energy goes into roots and plant growth.

Yes, I had the limbs tied up but most of the ropes broke so I used 2X4's to prop up the limbs.

I covered mine when it was young and put a heat lamp under the cover, but it soon got too big to cover.

I never do anything to it at all, other than water if we have a dry Winter. It has rarely suffered leaf burn from frost even down to 15F. Planting it on the south side of my house probably helps...it gets heat from the house and full sunlight.

I like being able to walk out on my front porch in the morning, and even during yesterday's rain, and pick a couple to each, in my socks...you can't beat that.

Kt

Thanks KT for all that good information, and thanks Carrie for starting this thread.

I'm considering planting the satsuma between the SE wall of the garage and the cedar swing. It would be close to an electrical outlet to put a light under it for warmth while it's young and I could attach a cover from the swing to the garage overhang.

Then when fruiting age the limbs could hang over the swing and we could sit on the swing, smell the flowers and eat the fruit! :-) How does that sound?

sounds idyllic, Roselee :-)

I moved into this home over 2 years ago. The first year we only got about 50 satsuma, last year about 300 and the same again this year even with our drought. I didn't expect to have this much fruit again but now I am waiting to see what next year brings me. I see why you have to prop up that branch. Mine are loaded but the branches aren't as long but some are still on the ground. The only problem I have found are those footed stink bugs, but even with some ugly looking skins the fruit isn't harmed at all this year. Some of the fruit looks like it needs to come off the tree, those we pick as soon as possible. I do remember way back when they use to "color" the fruit, now they just gas them to get them to turn. I have eaten ones that are still almost all green with great taste.

Carrie, I would be happy to come over and test those Satsumas for you. I guess I forgot to mention that I work for the official Texas Homegrown Orange Tasters Commission. We go around the state performing public service to home growers, and taste their oranges to make sure they are ripe and sweet. Sometimes I have to taste two or three of them before I'm absolutely sure they're ready for owners consumption. I could perform this service for you at your convenience absolutely free of charge! Cheryl ;)

Cheryl, such a generous offer, and I did not know you were with the THOTC ...... boring job, but I suppose SOMEONE has to do it !!! Unfortunately, my DH performed this troublesome job for you, and reported they were ripe enough for ambrosia.

HAHAHA, excellent try tho Cheryl

Roselee: You might get better winter protection on SW side so the early sun doesn't hit the leaves on those rare sub 20 degree mornings. Kentuck: is your located true south or SE or SW? I generally see more freeze damage from East locations as opposed to West locations. Hit 29 degrees just a few days ago and the east stuff was toast but the more southerly to southwest side fared better with only some moderate freeze damage. (I am speaking in general terms not just citrus).
Happy Growing David

Thanks for the tip David! I trust your words and will certainly take them into consideration when placing the tree (the idea brings the interesting possibility of placing it along the walk on the side of the house), but wonder why that would be the case? Seems like the sun warming things up sooner would be good.

If the sun hits frozen foliage then the ice crystals inside the plant may warm too quickly and burst. The other factor is the warmth of the setting sun in the west keeps the plant warmer longer than the east side which are cooler and shaded already and radiates this back out thus protecting from marginal freezes. At least in general that is how it has been described by an ol timer avocado and citrus grove manager from Southern California that was a mentor of mine many years ago. I have seen it play out much like this over the 14 years that I have been in Texas. Didn't ever think I would use that info when I was living in Hawaii:). Which is where I met this mentor. Happy Growing David

My house faces true south and it is planted about 2 feet from my front porch, which is why it leans outward.

There is an elm tree about 20 feet due east, but I keep it trimmed back quite a bit and it loses it's leaves in the Winter. However, a creek runs along the east side of my house, and there are numerous tall trees which prevent early morning sun from hitting the satsuma tree and the same goes for late evening where a huge live oak prevents late direct sun from hitting the tree.

It's in a happy spot.

Kt