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satsumas

18 years ago

I am growing 2 owari satsumas in my yard. I have already tasted fruit from each one (they are just riping) They do not taste very sweet at all. I was wondering if there is something that can be added to the soil to help the fruit taste sweeter. I am fairly new to this area. I have brought fruit that is so much sweeter than mine. I do not know if the 5 hurricanes that we have had in the past year possibly affected the fruit or not. Any help is appreciated.

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Comments (5)

AnotherAlterEgo
18 years ago
Shellseeker - Your Satsuma fruit may not be mature, but many citrus producers go heavy on the magnesim sulfate (Epsom Salt) for fruit quality. There are others here who are much more knowledgable than I when it comes to fruit quality. I think Malcom Manners lives in Florida and teaches. Perhaps he will chime in. Good luck.
mrtexas
18 years ago
The fruit won't be any good for at least 3-4 years. It's best to pick it off so the tree can grow. 10 years makes good fruit, 25 years fabulous fruit.
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Hmm, interesting. It's hard to tell from the picture but the leaves don't really look too similar to any of the Yuzu seedlings I have grown. My Yuzu seedlings seem to be able to survive outside pretty good in zone 8a, Olympia, WA. I don't know, it might be able to grow outside where you are, in 7b, if you have it close against a wall. But a Clementine-Yuzu hybrid I had was not able to do so well. It slowly declined after 3 years and finally died after only a mild winter. I might have had more luck with yuzuquat.
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Thanks Dave. No there was not any fruit at the time of the hail storm. I have found the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension site, but not yet reached out. As you say, backyard issues may not be what they do but I will still see what happens. I will try to get a photo of the cut fruit up. I harvested all of the fruit from the tree a couple of days before posting the above photos and did not think of cutting the browned fruit. A few of the fruit that I harvested did later show some discoloration on the skin so I cut one. It looked and smelled ok but I did not eat it because I still don't know what the issue is, I will look into that Stylar End Rot and Black Core Rot and compare, as well as see what the inside if one of the more browned one looks like. Again thanks for your suggestions.
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This article lists varieties and has good info: https://www.texasgardener.com/sweet-satisfying-satsumas/ I’d like to try one (D/FW) and will just plan on overwintering it in my garage.
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I'll second Dave's suggestion. I'm also in your general area, Beaumont, Texas area and I have learned to make a mound about a foot high (actually build it a little higher if you have the dirt handy so it can pack and slump some) and up to as bug around as you expect the tree to grow. I do have a nice Satsuma which I planted many years back just on level ground and it has done well so the mound concept is good but not always required, The other issue you may have as your tree reaches fruiting maturity is with fruit splitting from dry spells followed by our monsoons. If you have space, time, and a place to get some river sand or other loamy soil, build you a big raised bed. Mine is 10'X10', about 12" high and is a great place to grow citrus and lots of other things around the perimeter.
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lashellseeker
Original Author
18 years ago
I really appreciate your imput. The trees have been planted for 3 years and this is their first real fruit. I did not realize that they needed to be much older to have good fruit. I will pick some of fruit off since it does not taste good. I will also get some epsom salts. any other suggestions are welcomed. Thanks
Millet
18 years ago
You do not say how old your trees are. As Mr. Texas said, the age of Satsuma trees has a lot to do with the quality of the fruit that the tree produces. Mr. Texas judges a Satsuma must reach the age of 3-4 years to produce fruit that is any good. I would say at least 5 years before the tree produces a good out of hand fruit. I also think it is to early in the season, usually Satsumas are ready between Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas. - Millet
mrtexas
18 years ago
Satsumas are great for eating here in SE Texas right now. I just bought a full bushel(60 pounds) from a friend for $18 and he threw in an extra peck and 6 meyer lemons! There are early and late season varieties: early - armstrong early, big early, miho late - owari
The stink bugs ruined my fruit this year except for the sweet lemons. They cause it to spoil inside.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

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