Great Bob! I have one lonely Shiranui fruit on my Friendship tree, which I bud grafted in October 20, 2018 (budwood from Amy). It had more flowers, but I removed them earlier except for this one:

Sunshine, now you can make more Shiranui tree’s from your own stock, need a couple more at least. My prediction. I bought bigger containers last week, come January the second Shiranui going in a bigger container, it’s growing in a 5 gl rootmaker, so, it’s an easy transfer.

Give the shiranui time Bob. I think it will improve. I really like them!

I also cleft grafted a Shiranui twig on mandarin seedling at the same time last year, didn't want to waste/loose precious buds :) The tree looks like this now ( the picture was taken couple months ago) :

This tree has not grown much since I brought it indoors, I think it's taking a break.

By the way I can post only one picture at a time :\

Thanks Bob! I keep the feeding to the minimum at winter time, Osmocote is great!

As is typical with most mandarins, flavor is supposed to improve with age of tree. Someone mentioned their very best mandarins were on a tree over 20 years old (!). Also, Shiranui might possibly be harder to grow than some other mandarins -- which might explain why they command such a high price in Japan. Not sure why though.

It’s probably true, I am experiencing it just now. Pick several varieties of mandarins, tested each one, none has the wow factor I was expecting , a couple just a little sharper, some were bigger, some have a few seeds, it didn’t made my day, they all were sweet, the Lee/Nova was the sharpest tasting. Most were big, Shiranui the thickest peel. Will try it a few weeks later

Pomelo’s were better, enjoy them, have a few of them to try again

As far as growing a Shiranui tree, they are a vigorous grower, no problem. If you are growing a multi varieties tree, the Shiranui tree will outpace the others.

Btw, any Osmocote Plus is almost a requirement with growing Citrus because a combination with Peters h/p 25/5/15, you really can’t do any better. I call it a “ continuous feed”, no up and downs. Cause my way of fertilizing is always open to debate. A bag of Peters usely last a few years. The bag I bought is probably 3years old, still have half left, keep it in a sealed container.

you can buy this stuff on line, free shipping.

My outlay(money) for my “hobby” is kept around $ 200. a year, sometime just $100. I am cheap!!! It’s just a sport, staying busy.

Buy my Espoma and Osmocote fertilizers in the fall, source? Walmart, anywhere between $3, 5, 9 bucks for the big bags, they like me because I clean up for them so that make room for Christmas stuff.

Use this stuff for anything, tropicals, you name it.

My oldest satsuma is my Armstrong. At least 10 year old plant. Fruit were exceptionally good this year. Sweet, with full flavor and a bit of tang. I've heard Armstrong get low marks for taste, but mine is sure fantastic this year. My Owari was OK, but nothing to write home about. Much younger plant.

Thing is you KNOW that Shiranui can have a great taste. I think it's more a matter of time and maturity.