Software
Houzz Logo Print
laura_larosa

My first kishu!

Although the plant is far from vigorous, it did manage to grow a nice little kishu. It was almost totally orange, so I picked it. It was delicious!! I like the fact that it was sweet, but not sickly sweet. It also had a great texture. I am used to the store mandarins that are often a bit on the soft side. It is hard to explain, but it was almost crispy, but juicy at the same time. My daughter and I shared it ;-)

Oh, and very easy to peel!

Comments (27)

  • 8 years ago

    I am happy to hear you like it! The texture sounds fascinating, I can't wait until next year to get fruit on mine!

  • 8 years ago

    How exciting Laura! There are lots of fruits on my kishu but they haven't grown much in the last month. Still green and marble size. At least I now know what a ripe one looks like ;-)

  • 8 years ago

    I hope you guys enjoy your kishus as much as I did. I was actually not perfectly sure it was ripe, but I guessed correctly. It really was better than I expected.

  • 8 years ago

    Very nice, Laura! I am assuming it is seedless. As I see it in the pictures, I think I have tried it before, but the stores almost never tell the variety name.

  • 8 years ago

    Lucky Laura. Looks delicious. My Kishu trees have no fruit this year, so I wonder if they are alternate bearing, at least in Florida. Ponkan took a break last year, but is back in production this year. Love the sweet Ponkan.

  • 8 years ago

    Looks wonderful and made my mouth watery. Nope, not looking at this delicious fruit. Nope, not till next year :)

  • 8 years ago

    Thank you sunshine, jade, and Susanne. Sunshine, yes it was seedless. Jade, I have heard great things about the ponkan and it was on my list, but I'm not sure anymore. How does its flavor compare to the kishu? Susanne, it does not take much to egg you on ;-)

  • 8 years ago

    Nope, and the proof is in the pudding as two grapefruit trees are coming this way. So I really need to look away. But boy does this little fruit looks cute.

  • 8 years ago

    Laura, was your Kishu grafted? Ideas on why it's not vigorous? Just didn't get off to a good start? Would you recommend it for pot culture? How long do the fruit hang on the plant?


  • 8 years ago

    Jadegarden where are you located? Please stay safe and all others in Florida. Don't be brave, get out as long as you still can.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I have an in ground Ponkan mandarin tree. Ponkan produces one of the largest sized fruits n the mandarin class,seedless, juicy and sweet. Ponkan is an alternate bearing variety, so a large crop is every other year, or if the on year crop is thinned, then a crop can be had every year. It is a great tree and a great tasting fruit.

  • 8 years ago

    Mouth watering Laura lucky you, the fruit's on my Kishu are so small .

    Brian

  • 8 years ago

    Jade, I have family in Miami and grew up there (and Cuba). You guys are all in my prayers. We lost our home to Andrew so I know what it's like. Where are you located in FL? Dave, my kishu is from FW but I don't know the rootstock. I moved it to a better spot today to see if that makes a difference. Silica, I have had my eye on a ponkan for a long time. Please don't tempt me to add to my list of trees for the year ;-)

  • 8 years ago

    Thanks Brian!! You will be enjoying yours in no time!

  • 8 years ago

    Laura was it tart at all? Seems a bit early for kishu. I thought they were not ready until november. Mine got a late start, so I hope they can get enough sun to grow bigger. They will probably not be ready until jan-feb or later. Did yours have a hint of tartness?

  • 8 years ago

    Junk, it did have a hint of tartness, but I liked it. I prefer a bit of tartness and also am not sure what a kishu should taste like....I have no point of reference.

  • 8 years ago

    Yummmy! What a cute, little Kishu, Laura! How exciting is it to be able to finally pick that first fruit off of the tree after nurturing it, watching it bud, flower, fruit and grow until it is ripe and ready to pick.. Glad you and your daughter liked the taste. It will get better as the fruit and tree matures. :)

  • 8 years ago

    Laura how old is your tree? Size? (I really should not ask such questions)

  • 8 years ago

    Susanne, I got that kishu last year towards the end of the summer from FW. It was a premium (3+) year old tree then, so I guess 4+. It is NOT big at all...frankly, it is quite pathetic and has not grown much since I got it. It was not in great shape when I got it from them. As we have all experienced, FW can be hit or miss lately. However, it is still alive and will hopefully slowly grow. I'll take a pic for you ;-)

  • 8 years ago

    Here ya go:

    See...it's puny :-)

    Compared to the sunquat (lemomquat), it is tiny.
    And the tree right by my door is the villafranca lemon I got earlier this year. It is already way way bigger than the kishu and has almost doubled in height since I have had it. I do not know why that tree is so slow to grow. On the bright side, it does appear to be flushing out leaves at the end of at least one of the branches...

  • 8 years ago

    Not looking (oh so beautiful even if not the size you want it to be) nope not looking. Have to check for availability, nope, i should not do it.

  • 8 years ago

    Susanne and Laura, sorry I didn't get back to answer your questions. I am on the west coast of Florida north of Tampa. Unfortunately, Irma's track has moved to the center of the state, so almost the entire state will experience high winds and heavy rainfall. Mandatory evacuations along the water for almost every county. Sunday will be a long day. I have decided to buy hurricane shutters. Not many homes have them, but they will stop projectiles from flying into the house.

    Laura, go for the Ponkan. I can't wait to eat these after no fruit last year. I don't know if it will be too sweet for your taste. Briteleaf sells dwarf Ponkan for $30 and standard rootstock for $20 Their trees are very high quality.

    The Shiranui fruit is about half size and loaded. I had to brace some of the branches to keep them from splitting. Wondering if the wind will blow them off!

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Jade, first I hope you make it through safely and after you, your trees. It has got to be so scary not knowing how badly you will be affected. Its so sad between Harvey and Irma the devastation that has/will happen. I am thankful that in Oregon we don't have hurricanes unfortunately the whole state is being effected by the forest fires that are burning, ash has been coming down in Portland for the last week with no end in sight. The sky looks like winter, but its in the 80's and 90's temp wise and the sun and moon are in a red haze. Between the BC fires, fires in the surrounding states and the local ones the last two months have had terrible air quality and this week in particular with the ash falling heavier its hard to breathe outside. Then add that 8.2 earthquake in the Pacific and it appears mother nature (and kids with fireworks) seems to be kicking this part of the globe. I wish peace and safety for everyone effected and a quick end to this destruction.

    The side note of all of this is that you've convinced me to add a Ponkan to my list for 2018. As i am partial to sweet fruit it sounds amazing.

  • 8 years ago

    Thank you, Sammers, for your kind words. I have seen the photos of the fires on tv and my heart goes out to everyone. Mother Nature can be so frightening. My daughter sent me a photo of a friend's home close to LA. The fires were very close to her home, but it was saved. The firefighters are truly heroes.

    You will love the Ponkan if you like sweet fruit. The blossoms are known to be especially fragrant and attract swallowtail butterflies (at least here). Swallowtails leave big gifts of orange dogs (very stinky caterpillars) that voraciously eat citrus foliage. They are easy to spot since they are big and ugly with distinctive markings.

    Xie Shan is supposed to be a super sweet satsuma and very early. I have two fruits on my tallest Xie Shan. Hope they are good since I couldn't resist planting 3 trees! The reviews were fantastic and I had a tiny bit of impulse buying that day!

  • 8 years ago

    Jade, I hope you guys will be ok. Please check in when you can to tell us how you are doing. We will be thinking and praying that things do not end up as bad as they appear. Stay safe! Sammers, I am sorry to hear about the fires. Living with poor air quality has to be difficult. Based on what Silica said, I may need to bite the bullet and add a ponkan to my collection. I have been wanting one for a long time. I found one on lemoncitrustree.com, but I doubt they will be able to ship anytime soon as they are located in GA.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Laura, that's gook to know they have them in stock, i'll likely wait as well. I went to the Briteleaf website over my lunch and planned on ordering the Australian round lime and the Giant finger lime from them and then realized they were in Florida and figured that they would either sustain damage from Irma or if they didn't shipping would likely be chaos in SE part of the country for the next few weeks at least.

0