My First Mandarins Are Ripening!

8 years ago

My first successful citrus--so exciting! My Kishu is about 3 years old; I brought it home about a year and a half ago from Golden Nursery in San Mateo. I think it came from Generation Growers in Modesto. Golden had a huge citrus selection and I couldn't help carting it home with me.

A month or two ago, I wasn't sure these fruits would ripen, but they're looking really good, and we're having an extra-warm (and sunny) winter here in my frequently sunless part of San Francisco. The tree has been in 5-1-1 mix and has looked healthy and beautiful all along -- not at all like my poor sad near-leafless Meyer, which I've posted about in the past.

The Kishu are coloring up nicely. There are about 30 of them. I've read here that they hold very well on the tree, so I'll probably give them some extra time for sweetness, since they're not getting heat (temps are mostly in the 53F-63F range here now).

In the foreground of the lower pic, you can also see my young calamansi, which has some tiny fruits developing now, which will be my first, if they hang on and ripen.

I'm so jazzed about the Kishu. Even without the fruits, it's a beautiful tree year-round, but now it's really a joy to behold.

Sheba

Featured Answer

junk4us

8 years ago

wait about 2-3 months after they color up before you try them. the longer you wait, the better. Mine started to color up around sep-oct. some were still not ready around mid Dec. Yesterday, my daughter and her friends picked one each. She said they were super good. I had about 40-50. lost a few to animals.

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Comments (10)

sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)
8 years ago
Amazing, enjoy the fruit, congratulations!
shebabee thanked sunshine (zone 6a, Ontario,Canada)
Amy (montreal, canada)
8 years ago
Wow! Congratulations!
shebabee thanked Amy (montreal, canada)
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Laura LaRosa (7b)
8 years ago
Congratulations! Enjoy the yummy fruit!
shebabee thanked Laura LaRosa (7b)
Saltysea (Oz)
8 years ago
Beautiful looking citrus trees there and very exciting about your first kishus ripening :).
shebabee thanked Saltysea (Oz)
Meo(Southern Cali, z10)
8 years ago
beautiful! congrats! love the foliage...
shebabee thanked Meo(Southern Cali, z10)
jenny_in_se_pa
8 years ago
Yay for your Kishu! :-D The one I got this past Oct. from OGW (that came with 3 fruit on it) is just starting to show the barest signs of growth on the tips of some of the branches since I potted it back then (i.e., what looks like tiny flower buds). All up and down the branches are obvious remains of flowers/fruits that it apparently had before it was shipped to me. I am hoping that I can get some flowers/fruit forming in spring along with some good foliage growth over the summer, so I can hopefully get a nice little crop for next winter.
shebabee thanked jenny_in_se_pa
shebabee
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks, everyone! It's nice to have a (thus far, anyway) success! Junk, good to hear. My tree is somewhat late, per what I've seen, because we really have insufficient sun/poor exposure much of the year. But I'll hold off and will taste one after a few more weeks. Now I really want a Golden Nugget and am fighting the desire to head back to San Mateo--but I have so little space.

Jenny, good luck with your new tree! Mine flowered the first year I brought it home but it didn't hold fruit. Still, it's a beautiful tree all year round. I love all the healthy foliage and it flowers profusely and they smell heavenly.

I have my citrus in containers in 5-1-1 mix, and I do give Foliage Pro regularly and a dash of white vinegar every so often. I'm amazed and very pleased that my citrus have had zero pests or blights; only my poor Meyer doesn't leaf out. However, I'm finally going to prune it back a good deal as Sammers and others suggested awhile ago when I posted about it. Apparently it doesn't have adequate root development to support the canopy. It's hard to hack it back, but I'm finally gonna bite the bullet.

Regards to all and your beautiful citrus trees, which I envy!

Sheba
hibiscus909
8 years ago
Wow, gorgeous!
ocpilot
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
I love the Kishu. So much I have three in the ground (part of hedge) and 3 in pots. I and my 3 boys love the fruit. We had our last sweet Kishu around Thanksgiving. I'm sure they could have sweetened up more but these boys don't wait. We probably had 200 pieces of fruit off of 1 year in ground or pot plants. Next ripening are loads of Gold Nugget on 3 trees!