I'd buy 2 of the 5 gallon trees - your choice of variety. That way you'll get 2 out of the three that you want. When you get the trees check the roots to see if they are ready to pot up to a larger size. They usually are because growers try to keep them in smaller pots to keep shipping charges low. If you can pot them up you'll then have a plant in a 10 or 15 gallon pot that will grow rapidly.

Cath

I would select 2, five-gallon plants. My personal choice would be the Nagami kumquat and the Bearss Lime. Just keep in mind the lime is more cold tender, so if this is a concern, go with either of the mandarins as they are much hardier. I'm not familiar with those varieties of mandarins (I have the really cold hardy variety Satsuma--think that's the Japanese name). Why the lime then? I would just tend to use its fruits more regularly than I would the mandarin. As for the kumquat--nothing beats then in terms of their cold hardiness, they hold their fruit a long time, offer superior resistance to bugs, and they're small.

well here is what I would do but I like to try and get a good bargain. I would offer the nursery the amount of the 15 and try and get 3 5 gallons. They probably wont go for it so if not get as many trees as you can afford. In my state the limes and kumquats are easy to find. I have yet to find any type of mandarin or grapefruit so those 2 would be my choice.

mike

I would also buy two of the smaller trees, but pick out the healthiest and largest from that size.

I get the most pleasure from my limes - Key Lime and Bearss. They produce more fruit than any of the others and the fruit tastes and smells better than anything I can buy in the store. But they aren't sweet and you say you like sweet fruit.

I will never live without a Kumquat again - the fruit is one of my all time favorites but my plant stays small and always has some sort of health problem. If I ever see a larger tree for sale I will pay whatever it costs and get rid of the one I have. The fruit taste better fresh than from the store.

My lemons produce well but not as well as the limes and their fruit is nice but it tastes just like store bought fruit.

My oranges and tangerines are handy to have around and they look great on the patio but the fruit tastes just like store bought (though the blood oranges are better than store bought but they aren't all that productive).

Oroblanco gets rave reviews but due to pills I have to take I can't eat grapefruit any more so I don't grow it. (waaaaaa!).

Whatever I buy will be planted in the ground. If it gets cold I protect my trees so cold hardiness is not an issue. You all have given me something to think about. I was kind of expecting Mike to chime in. Where are you Mike?

trianglejohn no limes are not sweet. However I make salsa and Key Lime added to water and crushed ice is so refreshing when its 110 degrees in the shade. I stopped eating grapefruit because of all my heart meds. Then it turned out in a later study that its not just grapefruit but all fruit and fruit juices should be avoided 2hrs before and 2hrs after you take your meds. At this point they don't know why but it affects the absorption rates of some meds. Even grapefruit can eaten so long as you do not eat it within 2hrs before or after you take your meds.

Nagami kumquat and Key Lime produce fruit year round which is a plus. Part of me would like to have an Oroblanco outside my bedroom window because I know my wife would like the smell.

mksmth if it were my locally owned nursery I think they would go that if it were late in the season but not this time of year. But these trees are at Lowe's. I don't usually trust things to be labeled properly at any of the big box stores but these trees were grown and labeled by Four Winds so they should all be done right.

njoasis If I go with two trees it would either be a Kumquat and Key Lime or a Gold Nugget and Key Lime. If I only get one tree I'm leaning toward the Oroblanco mostly because of how much Mike loves his.

Go for the Gold Nugget and the Mexican Lime in 5 gallons. They take off if planted in the ground. I love the Gold nugget fruit and I use Mexican Lime in my cooking all the time. I have 2 Gold Nuggets at home and one Key Lime and I enjoy them both and so will you. Remember GN is a summer bearing tree with sweet juicy fruit.
In my opinion, other varieties can wait for a later year :)

My choice would be two five gal trees of your preference.

I would love to have a Murcott, but they ripen too late here. I got rid of mine when it became obvious that our winters were reverting back to what we had before the nineties. The chances loosing fruit is almost 100%. If your fruit will not freeze, Murcott is fantastic. Sweet, good flavor, peels easily, and not too many seeds.

Besides the Mexican lime, I either don't know about those others or they don't do well here. I quit growing Mexican limes when the local grocery started selling them for 5 cents. My tree space is way too valuable for me to grow my own.

Well I'm so swamped with my garden I won't get over there to buy anything until at least Monday. Depending on whats left my choice may have already been made for me before I get there.

In terms of flavor, I'm with Ashley on Gold Nugget. This is our first harvest, and we like it so much we are considering planting a second one. Here is a link on the description, which turned out to be very true in my So Cal garden.
As for kumquat, Meiwa is so much better in taste. But it only bears very few fruit.

Here is a link that might be useful: UC Riverside Gold Nugget description

thisisme, I have nothing to add to the above suggestions, but would you care to share the varieties of mandarin that you have that you don't like and why? Just curious as to what maybe to avoid. I'm down in Tucson. Where are you in AZ? Thx.

thisisme, you could call your nursery and set aside the trees you want and pay over the phone. You can pick them up when it's convenient for you! I do this with my local nurseries all the time, since all of them close during the weekdays before I finish up my workday. So, I'm relegated to Saturdays and Sundays. Which is probably a good thing for my pocketbook, lol!

Patty S.

sorry off subject...but i didnt know four winds had larger trees?

Uncle_Dirt I have two. One is an Algerian Clementine Mandarin. The fruit is sweet and delicious just how I like it as far as taste goes. However the fruit is so seedy it takes all the pleasure out of eating it. It also attracts Citrus Leafminers like you would not believe. My other citrus which surrounding it have very minor infestations but it's always a mess. I lost the tree tag to the other one a couple of years ago and don't remember the variety. Its seedless but the fruit is a little bitter and I prefer sweet.

Patty S. thank you for your post. The descriptions you gave are very helpful. I know I will use Key Lime so it has to stay on my list.

I went there today and they were out of everything except for a 15 gallon Gold Nugget that was just beautiful. I spoke with the department manager. He said they have another citrus shipment arriving Wednesday afternoon. He called the supplier to see what was going to be delivered but no answer. He gave me his number and told me to call him back for a list tomorrow.

The five gallon trees are $ 21.99 and the 15 gallon trees are $ 49.99. If I was not tapped out paying for things for my new raised bed vegetable garden (540sqft) I would buy three 15 gallon trees. One OroBlanco one Gold Nugget and one Key Lime. I probably won't make up my mind until I see them all Thursday Morning.

jcbrownacu, FourWinds also produces "Standard" and "SemiDwarf" trees in addition to laarger (15g, 30g etc) dwarf trees. They are available in nurseries in California and neighboring states (as well as big box stores seasonally), but they do not offer those for sale on their website. Which is why many people have never heard of the larger FourWinds trees. Interesting side note: FourWinds propogates lot of tropical fruit trees too - I have a bunch of blueberries, guavas, pomegranates and olives from them.

thisisme, sorry for hijacking the thread. In my opinion, you do not need to spend on 15 gallon trees at all - in your arizona weather, the 5gallon tree will grow to be like a 15 gallon tree in no time at all!!

ashleysf you did not hijack my thread. I always look forward to your posts here and in the Fruit & Orchard Forum because we seam to have similar tastes in fruit. That and I know you are passionate about your trees and always do your research.

I called today and they said their shipment will be late. Likely late Thursday or Friday but they will have Key Limes and a good selection of other citrus. If they have them I will take the Key Lime and Gold Nugget in 5 gallon pots for sure. If they have a nice looking 5 gallon Oroblanco I just may come home with one too.

thisisme, I look forward to your posts too because I am also building my collection just like you, and yes, we have similar tastes in fruit and I have bought some of the fruit trees that you are growing after seeing your posts on the Fruit Forum!
Do you have a Costco near you? If you check there, they are selling tons of citrus trees from Willits and Newcomb (seasonal for a weeks only) for $18 each. Mostly semi dwarf and some dwarf. Mine has Oro Blanco and Key Lime (both almost 4.5 ft tall) and with tons of blooms on them.

ashleysf there are two Costco's not far from where I live but I am not a member.

Excellent choices, thisisme, and I totally agree with ashleysf. I'm in Vista, and a 5 gal tree will catch up to a 15 gal in about 6 to 12 mos. The only thing you might sacrifice is fruit this year. So, if you can wait one season, you can get all 3 (totally my vote)! Heck, you have to have a lime tree. What would you do for your margaritas?? My Bearss is sitting quietly right now - no flush, no blossoms, so I've pinched it back to force growth and bloom. Fortunately for me, down our back street is a row of very old Key lime trees, so I have access to about a gazillion limes :-) Just have to walk a little farther than my back yard. Let us know what you end up with.

Patty S.

I suggest that you call the costcos near you. If they have the citrus trees, you can go there and get a free day pass (once a year, I guess) and shop for a day! You can ask them about the day pass too as I do not know the details.

ashleysf I don't think Costco has free one day shopping passes anymore unless its at a new store. They just give free one day passes to look around. I will call to make sure though.

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

ashleysf I called one of my local Costco's yesterday and spoke to the powers that be. They said no go.

I went to Lowe's after calling to make sure the trees had arrived. I got there before any had been sold. Selection was limited. What they had was not as nice as their last shipment. The trunks and branches were much smaller. They only had two 5 gallon Key Limes to choose from. There were no Oroblanco at all. There were no 5 gallon Gold Nuggets and there were only two 15 gallon trees to choose from.

I ended up with...

1) 15 gallon Gold Nugget Mandarin. The tree is roughly 4.5' tall. The trunk is roughly 1.5" in diameter and its well branched.

1) 5 gallon Key Lime. The tree is roughly 3' tall with a .5" trunk with a hand full of very small branches.

I guess if I were a business I would send out the biggest trees first too. Saves all the work of having to trim them again and then send out the smaller trees when all the big ones are gone. Not saying I'm not happy but I wish I had purchased the trees I saw in the first shipment.

Well gosh, thisisme. Sorry you missed out on the Oro Blanco! Maybe you can leave your name with Costco, Home Depot or Lowe's to be called if they get a new shipment. I find my limes to be slower to get going out here in Vista, Calif for some odd reason. You'd think they'd grow like lemons (which grow like mad out here.) But not so much. For me, it has been my grapefruits first, which are going nuts, then any lemon tree (even the one that was completely unrecognizable it was in such bad shape when I moved in), then some of my mandarins, with my limes & Moro pulling up the rear. I am mad for grapefruit, so I can't imagine not having at least one in my yard. Plus, there are absoultely gorgeous ornamental trees and can become THE specimen tree for you. They have a very lovely growth habit, and, since all their fruit are born at the ends of their branches, when in blossom, they look like they're covered with popcorn, and when the fruit develops, it is all very beautifully on display. I am crossing my fingers for a nice grapefruit for you - an Oro Blanco, Melogold or Cocktail!

Patty S.

Thank you Patty S. Thats a good idea. If they have some kind of list I will ask to be called. Would really like to have an Oroblanco.

As nice as the others may be. I have to be picky because I'm out of room. I will be digging up a 7' Algerian Clementine Mandarin to make room for the Gold Nugget Mandarin as it is. Anything I buy from now on will necessitate the removal of something else already planted. At this point I'm only going for the best of the best.