I'd buy a tree from Harris if you can. I was lucky and found one seed in a fruit. It germinated last spring. So far it is taking it sweet time in growing. Its only about 3 inches tall. I have no idea why its grow in so slow.

Yay I plan to just wondering care of them do u have pics of yours.

Any update on this? I cant find the dang tree or seeds anywhere.

My tree is supost to ship march 24 from Harris Citrus from Florida will post pics when I get it.

i took a look on their site, but didn't see anything that said these were for sale. do you have a link?

http://www.harriscitrus.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=275

I am trying to grow from seed up here in northern CA. I bought a bunch of the Sumos from Whole Foods and of three fruit, only one seed. We'll see if it sprouts.

Although the reviews say they are very sweet, i have found them to be not that sweet at all...am not impressed. Perhaps its just the three so far, but, they were consistent and so i do not like the trend.

I'd love to find a tree up here, if anyone knows of a source.... please advise!

No source in California, Becauseican, Northern or Southern.

Patty S.

Not that I know of patty Florida is the only place I know and its no ship to California sadly.

That is correct, tcamp, that's what I was explaining to Becauseican. UC Riverside's CCPP is trying to source clean budwood, and hopefully, they've been able to get some from Florida (Shiranui) that is not patented, as the Dekopon is here in California. It will take several years, though, for the budwood to make it through the CCPP's cleaning process, then be grafted and grow, and have clean budwood made available through the CCPP. So, we'll just have to be patient, here in California.

Patty S.

I came across a bunch of sumo seeds what would be the best way to store them? When would be the best time to try and germinate and maybe plant some of these seeds?

Tcamp..Still waiting for mine!

Although, the first Dekopon they send me that broke down to about one inch above the graft line is coming bacl nice and full.. Yahoo...

Yahoo...Now I will have two once they ship in the month of April for us.

They said mine is my shipping out Monday the 24th but we'll see

Ray, citrus seeds do not store well. Plant them.

Patty S.

Dekopon is sold by Citrus Tree Source Nursery in Exeter, CA. This is a commercial nursery and they do not generally welcome sales of small numbers of trees. Additionally, I believe that this variety is patented to Sumo Citrus in Lindsay, CA. They may be unwilling to sell them for that reason. Of course growing a hybrid from a seed is a crap shoot. It is a five to seven year investment in the unknown. Plant several and hope!

Ditsch, this is correct. The Dekopon is patented to a particular company, and not available to retailers for hobbyist growing. The Dekopon is polyembryonic, so you would be most likely growing a clone of the mother tree, just be sure to choose the first and largest seedling that sprouts (it will be the clone seedling). UC Riverside's CCPP is searching out clean, un-patented budwood for the Shiranui (that is the Dekopon), but as far as I know, either they haven't produred a source yet, or have, and are in process of cleaning up the budwood, grafting then growing. So, several years, yet, before we'll see this cultivar available in Calif. for the dooryard orchardist.

Patty S.

There are a lot of funny things about this variety in California. I am not sure how they were awarded a patent, as this is a standard Japanese variety. It is one of many Kiyomi crosses. Kiyomi is also a large, seedless mandarain that has been available here off and on for years. It has never gained any popularity. I ate a Sumo from the grocery store. It was about 2 or 3 weeks under-ripe. It was large and peeled easily. The distinctive part is the flavor- very strong mandarin specific flavor character. Kind of like a Dancy, but x10. It tastes like those mandarins in the can. It will certainly be just the ticket for some people, but I think many will not like it for the same reason. IMO it does not compete with the best of the Spring mandarins in California for flavor, although the size certainly is impressive. Yosemite Gold is nearly as large and tastes better. Careful with Yosemite Gold in that it ripens quite late; in May, it is as good as Tahoe Gold in March. All of this is by way of consolation. Unless you are going to drive to Lindsay with pocket knife, I don't think you can get Dekopon here in California.

Got tree today

ditsch, they sell Sumo mandarins in the store, but if you're referring to budwood, yes, not going to happen. If you search for Dekopon or Sumo in a Google search, you should pull up David Karp's Los Angeles Times article back in 2011 that talks a little bit about how the patent was procured. Very interesting story, and to add to that story, there were two Dekopons growing at the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection (one has died, so they're down to one). The Griffith family, who own Suntreat and Citrus TreeSource actually own the patent rights to the Dekopon, asked that the one lone Dekopon at the UC Citrus Variety Collection be removed. Dr. Tracy Kahn was able to pursuade the Griffiths to leave their tree standing, as it was the only source outside of the Griffiths for clean budwood options. So, it still stands. I've had fresh fruit from that tree, and it was really outstanding. Much better than what I was able to buy from the store. I do have a Kiyomi tangor (it is only fair, but has desirable qualities for crossing, one of which is that it is monoembryonic) and a couple of Ponkan mandarins (which, btw, I think are superior to the Dekopon), and I agree with you about the "Golds". They are all better than the Dekopon, as is the California Honey mandarin, Seedless Kishu, and Clemenules. It's a novelty fruit, and hobbyists are clamoring after it due to all the mystery and hype. It does have some very nice characteristics: It has a zipper skin, it is nearly seedless, thin membranes and decent tasting. And, it is really large.

We have SO many great mandarin options here, that I'll bide my time. To give Dr. Tracy Kahn more snaps, she introduced me to a couple of those excellent cultivars, and I have them now growing well and happily in my small orchard. In fact, one of the other really great options that has a good commercial appeal is the Lee x Nova 88-2 mandarin (that poor mandarin really needs a name for goodness' sake). Again, Dr. Kahn pointed this lovely mandarin out during a tour, and it is also sitting happily in my orchard. It was excellent - very juicy, sweet and complex. Best qualities of both parents plus some.

Patty S.

Patty I agree with what your saying I just wanted it for the differentness and the larger fruit. It has very good fruit but its not perfect but nice very good looking tree. But your right californa has a million others to choise from but if u get the chance should try one.

Trace

As the season fizzled out, the last dekepons were smaller, not as juicy, as not as sweet. They did, however, deliver quite a few seeds. I have some seedlings just now coming up and if they survive I should have a few small starters in Nor Cal.

A couple of things about this variety.

It is reported to be a very finicky grower. So much so, that the Japanese originally gave up on commercial production until some lone farmer stole a tree or some budwood (?) and figured out how to properly grow them. I think it has a lot to do with thinning, but don't know for sure. There might be water/fertilizer/other issues.

Having had the fruit in Japan (including just recently) I can say the the best examples of California Sumo have tasted *better* than even the 'gift class' of Dekopon I'd had in Japan. Perhaps I didn't get it at the right times or from the right purveyor, but I think the CA growers are doing a fine job.

I have a few more seeds that may or may not germinate after being accidentally forgetten in some water (oops) - I am guessing they're toast. Still, with luck, I should have 3-5 seedlings if they survive any damping off.

Being easy to peel, sweet, juicy, BIG, and tasting like life savers tangerine candies did the trick for me. I hope they aren't *too* difficult to grow. We'll all know in a few years :)

I heard Yosemite gold taste better than shiranui then I end up two more tree!

Tuan, I checked into ordering budwood and it was going to cost over $80 for 6 buds! Yikes! That included shipping and phytosanitary certificate. -- to Virginia. Crazy. I could buy a whole plant for much less.

Dave I agree with you 1000%. I can get great trees for low $ that are already successfully grafted. I am running at a grafting success of 0.07%. However I could get buds that I could not buy tree of. So I can see why grafting looks quite attractive.

6b Steve

Tuan, that looks great! I just placed an order with CCPP for Shiranui and a few other citrus scions. I live not to far from you, what rootstocks would you suggest for compatibility with Socal and mandarins? This will be my first grafting experience, I plan to try patch and chip budding, a splice with the uppermost scion bud, and side graft to an existing tree to maximize my chances of success. Got any tips specific to our locale?

It were my first time too but it went well! It seem pretty easy and mainly wrap tight! Not so sure where are you at but I am from Granada hill 91344. If you are close by then maybe you can stop by my place one day and have a look yourself. My email hatuan88@yahoo.com

Ordered my budwood and waiting for delivery. I can't find the USDA 88-2 that was mentioned above. I see USDA 88-3 on the CCPP order form. Is the USDA 88-2 listed under a different name?

No, this was delisted. Looks like lemonade was too. probably temporary.

the "vi" code is 501

dekopon was moved to the early release form for some reason.

Does anyone have a Daisy tangerine tree they could sell? I dont want to graft