No, Barb, the Chandler pummelo is extremely easy to grow, and grows very well in my area. They are huge - almost the size of a volleyball sometimes - very sweet, has that really nice grapefruit flavor without all the sour/bitterness. The downsides with pummelos - tough core and membranes and a LOT of seeds. This has made pummelos less attractive to customers so commercial growers over the decades decided grapefruits were a better commercial deal. I grow many grapefruits, grapefruit hybrids, pummelos and pummelo hybrids, and Chandler is near the top, up there with the Valentine pummelo hybrid.

Patty S.

Interesting. Glad to know they're easy to grow, I got one a couple months ago, a Valentine.

The one fruit I got from the fruit store didn't have any seeds. It was pink and not as large as a volley ball, maybe about 7" diameter. Do you think it was a seedless variety, or maybe they grew it in isolation from other citrus. I know they do that with some seedy mandarins, and they'll have very few seeds then.

With the rain we had earlier in the week, I think the soil is dried out enough to start planting all my citrus. I'm betting we'll not have any more frost this year, at least not severe frost. I just want to get them in a while before the heat sets in.

Barb, they do grow well in Northern Calif. but cannot handle the freezes (in my area). I had a Tahitian P. in the ground and it lost 95% of the foliage in the Jan. 2013 freeze, came back nicely - then was killed by the Dec. 2013 freeze. If you plant one, its got to get a well protected site and extra TLC during the freeze nights. Grapefruits are hardier. - George

Yeah, I figured they'd be one of the more tender trees along with the Key limes. I'm going to plant them and the limes on the higher side of a slope, protected from the north wind by an Oleander hedge. I'm hoping the cold air will slide past them and keep going on down the hill. My hardier mandarins will be at lower end of the hill, which keeps on going downwards to the neighbor. If it does get too cold that's the side of the field closest to an outdoor plug.I'll rig up some Christmas lights on those really frosty nights. We usually get no less than 38*-34*F mostly low 40*s, but once in a while it can get below 32*, but usually only for one or two nights.

Dang!! This site's typing is really lagging! Like a couple seconds for each word! So annoying!

Barb you ask a really good question. Pummelo > Grapefruit all day every day.

I wonder if it's possible the irradiate some seeds or budwood to try and made a seedless version? I think they did that with the Kinnow mandarin maybe?

@George, how low a temperature will start to damage a pummelo? I am getting a couple of Tahitians and want to take good care of them.

Hi Serge, bummer about the MBN citrus pullback. i suppose its due to all the new regulations that are making it more expensive to propagate.

With regard to the TP, - i'd say the temperature sensitivity is similar to or perhaps a bit more than the Variegated Pink Lemon - that is, anything below 32F can cause issues and damage. In my specific case, a few nights of (January 2013) dips to the low 20's caused 90% foliage loss. And the 10 night stretch (December 2013) where the dips were again low 20's and one night high teens (19F) caused severe trunk/branch splitting - and eventual death. The TP was covered most but not all nights with a frost blanket (dang business travel).

I'd love to grow the TP in my areas, but the night temperature dips are just too severe. - George

How would a bloomsweet grapefruit taste as far as no bitter. They can drop down to 15F or lower and survive. The fruit would have to be kept above 28F, but if you couldn't you would just loose the fruit and not the tree.

Steve

i don't have any experience with Bloomsweet... The grapefruits (Flame, Red Blush, Melogold) came through those stretches just fine (other than lots of foliage loss). The exception was a Oroblanco.... damaged to 1" above graft.

That's interesting, the Oroblanco is a re-cross, (one could say a cross-back I guess), of grapefruit and pomelo. Perhaps with the sweeter flavor, the pomelo parent also gave back some winter tenderness.

So; Pomelos, easy to grow, but more tender to frost. Sweet but seedy. Larger rind to fruit ration, a lot of space for less "fruit".

Grapefruit; easy to grow, more frost hardy. Not as sweet, but seedless. Better fruit to rind ratio.

I could see how these three qualities would make pomelo less desirable than grapefruit from a grower and marketer perspective. Understandable.

Commercial grapefruit growing areas in the USA, Desert CA, Arizona, Texas and Florida all have occasional freezes down to citrus damaging degrees, every few years. Loosing some of your crop in those years is hard enough, but losing all the crop and a lot of the trees instead would be a deal breaker.

Well, I'm going to try them even though I'm probably on the absolute north edge of a growing area. I'm gonna bet on micro-climate and frost protection. Should be fun and interesting!

Sadly, Americans (with much of the world following) have been seduced into liking sweeter and sweeter products. Sugar is being added to pretty much every manufactured food and the more sugar you eat the more you expect a sweet taste.

Grapefruits are naturally bitter, and people enjoyed the bitterness. That wake-up zing for breakfast was much appreciated - and still is by many people. I bet if you did a survey you'd find more people over 50 or 60 enjoy bitter grapefruit, while younger people don't.

I'm old and I like the old grapefruit taste. I also like pummelos. Different fruit, different taste.

Citrange2

I find it hard to eat the sweet stuff, I don't mind a touch of bitter but I have a real problem with any thing with more that a touch of sour. I like ripe grapefruits but most grapefruits are picked before they are ripe. The best way I can explain this is letting you all know that my favorite apple is the Arkansas Blacking. It is not sweet. It is not bitter. It is not sour. yet it is packed full of flavor.

Steve

PS Just try to find an ark-black at a store

I have two Bloomsweet grapefruits. They have a very, very distinctive taste. Very lemony. They are good, but very different that what you would expect from a regular grapefruit or pummelo (such as Rio Red or Chandler), or even grapefruit or pummelo hybrids (such as Valentine, Oroblanco or Melogold). So, if you're wanting a grapefruit and one that can stand some of the cold dips up your way, I would recommend Rio Red or Oroblanco/Melogold. If you're after a classic pummelo taste, then Chandler. If you want a real treat - Valentine. If you want something odd and unusual, although good, then Bloomsweet.

Mike, us Americans actually do NOT like our citrus super sweet. If you're going to make a cultural generalization, then we could more safely say the Japanese really have a hankering for super sweet citrus. I would say almost an obsession for developing super sweet cultivars, in fact. And, of course, certain Mediterranean cultures just love that super sweet-inspid flavor, which just about no American cares for. In general we Americans (as supported by commercial research) like our citrus with a bit of a zing :-) My husband LOVES the zing of grapefruit, and has a grapefruit every single morning. We have 4 different grapefruit or grapefruit hybrids for him. I personally don't care for the extreme zing of a straight grapefruit, but do like a slightly less bitter taste of the Oroblanco or Melogold. And, I am proud of myself for developing a taste for the vaniglia sanguigno blood orange, which are very flavorful, although have almost zero acidity. It is the only sub-acid citrus I like. Which is why grapefruits are one of the best selling of all commercial citrus cultivars in our supermarkets, and the "Sumo" (Dekopon/Shiranui) with all it's novelty, has not really taken off like growers had hoped. Just too sweet and not interesting enough.

Patty S.

I only grow the Chandler pomelo; it is large, very sweet, pink, and seedless.

One thing to keep in mind is the sugar / freeze capability. I am fairly certain that higher level of sugars / sweetness in the fruit yields greater freeze capability. The sugar acts like an anti-freeze.

- George

I'm amazed at the premise that grapefruits are bitter. The Texas Rio Star Ruby Red grapefruit is anything but... a perfect mix of sweet and tart. If you've not tried one, I highly recommend it. I crave them.

I shouldn't comment on Pommelos as I have only had one and my impression wasn't positive, so I should probably try again.

Fascinating discussion. I"ve learned tons. Parker, I really enjoyed your historical synopsis!

I spent a summer in Phoenix and helped my Aunt and Uncle pick and juice many fruit from their grapefruit trees. Oh my goodness. Bitter? Hardly! Of course they had plenty of heat for ripening. Nectar of the gods, I say!