It's going to take about 2 to 4 weeks to start noticing new flush, Mansoor. Roots look good. You never want to amend your soil. Plant in native soil, then fill the well with compost, and top with mulch if you're in a dry climate (like I am in S. Calif.). You don't say where in Calif. you are, and climates and soils can be vastly different depending upon where you are - north, south, coastal, inland, desert. So, I would continue applying a balanced micronutrient application to your leaves, and maybe another application of Epsom Salts in about a month. One of the best foliar micronutrient products out there is Grow Power Citrus Growers Blend. This is recommended for our area by Vince Lazaneo, our Agricultural Adviser for the San Diego Master Gardener's Program, as it has the right combinations of micronutrients for our particular soils. You can buy it at just about any good garden center, or you can get it on amazon.com. Patience, Grasshopper :-) Patty S.

My grandparents had a pair of excellent tasting tangerine trees, no one could tell me what variety they were. Their appearance was very much like Satsuma, but the average fruit size was just a tiny bit smaller. The trees were very old, well over 30 years, and I could tell the trees were beginning to reach towards the end of their productive life. Years later, I finally found locally-sourced Satsuma tangerines being sold at the health food store. They reminded me very much of my grandparent's tangerines, but the flavor was not quite as perfect. Recently I was able to try Kishu tangerines for the first time. It was the same type of tart flavorful taste that my grandparent's trees had (but of course Kishu tangerines are a lot smaller). The tangerines from my grandparent's trees were mostly seedless, but maybe 1 out of 4 of the tangerines had 1 or 2 seeds in it. I remember the tangerines had a very flattened shape, and for the most part did not have that bulging bump on the top where the stem attaches. I also remember the color of the fruit tended to be more of a yellowish shade of orange. The skin was often so loose it was almost like the inside fruit was not attached to the rind, nearly effortless to peel open. This was in Southern California so the trees got a lot of sun. From various pictures I have seen, I think the shape and exact color of Satsuma tangerines can be very variable depending on the environmental conditions. I don't know if my grandparent's trees might have been another variety of Satsuma (other than 'Owari'), but I do not believe there were other varieties around (at least commonly available in America) when those trees were planted so long ago (this would have been in the late 50's or 60's probably). I suspect it might take many years for Satsuma to reach its optimal flavor. I have tasted fruit from a very young Satsuma tree and it was very watery and bland tasting. Again I think my grandparent's trees were Satsuma (I have researched all the other tangerine varieties and do not know what else they could be). Those were the best tangerines I have ever had, I could eat a whole little paper bag full of them in one sitting. They had a nice fragrant aroma too. I think even grapefruit lovers would have a hard time deciding between those tangerines and a grapefruit, in terms of their favorite.

You are going to need patience with a Satsuma, but that patience will definitely pay off. The flavor of the fruit can take several years to fully develop. It is an excellent variety to have in the yard. Mandarins taste so much better picked right off your tree than at the supermarket. The Satsuma variety is almost seedless, but occasionally you will find a seed or two in one of the fruits. Maybe every 1 out of 4 fruits. I hold the little segments up to the sunlight to see if they have a seed in them.

Hmm I haven't grown to many in pots but the larger size pot you have the better yet the harder to move. I wouldn't go crazy with depth on a pot but would shoot for wider and maybe a 5ft tree vs the standard 2-3 feet ones as you'll get more satsumas that way. Owari can be fairly cold hardy as well, I would "I am crazy" plant it outdoors on a SE facing wall like an espaliered wall like the french used to do and put pipe tape with thermostat that is used to keep city drains from freezing myself and mulch the crap out of it/cover during snow/frost. My rule of thumb is pinch all production on EVERY fruit tree for the first 3 years... yep you'll generally on any kind of fruit get much better production in the long haul due to increased growth.