Chandler pomelo stem grafted onto an Oroblanco grapefruit. They both share a same parent, Siamese Sweet, so should be extremely compatible. graft was made a little over a month ago

Pomelo contains about 25% less nootkatone than grapefruit. Nootkatone is the primary chemical constituent that gives grapefruit their distinctive aroma. Grapefruit also has a higher neohesperidin content, which is the main reason for the bitter taste. The one grapefruit variety that does not have bitterness is Oroblanco, which is (not surprisingly) a grapefruit-pomelo cross. Grapefruit originally spread wild in the forests of Jamaica, having resulted from a cross between pomelo and orange. At that time, the size of these grapefruits were small and grew in clusters on the branches like a bunch of grapes, hence the original name. The orange is believed to have originally resulted from ancient repeated crossing between mandarin and pomelo, probably in China, but some people believe it could also have descended from the Wild Orange (Citrus indica) that can still be found growing in the wild in Northeastern India. Genetic testing shows that orange is about 75% mandarin and 25% pomelo, but the mitochondrial DNA is most closely related to pomelo, meaning that going back on the female side, orange originally descended from a pomelo ancestor. The reason why it was the Orange rather than other citrus that became so popular in Europe is probably because they had a better cold tolerance than pumelo, but had a substantially longer shelf life than mandarins. Most Europeans would never have familiarity with mandarins because a fresh mandarin fruit never reached them. The Orange was thus faster to disseminate culturally over great distances. Tangerines, which are closer to mandarins, were grown in North Africa however. Pumelos also require a warmer climate for their fruit to ripen than grapefruit or orange; even in Southern California pumelos do not ripen as well as they do in Southeast Asia. The history of citrus is intimately tied to geography and climate. Oroblanco grown in Southern California is reputed to taste just as good as the best pomelo varieties that are grown in Southeast Asia. The fruit size is smaller and that's probably a large part of the reason they ripen more easily. Despite the bitterness, grapefruits do have a noticeably greater amount of flavor and aroma than Oroblanco or pomelo, though it's not a huge difference. Grapefruits were first commercially grown in Florida. In 1894 and 1895 there were very cold winters that killed off many of the trees and devastated the citrus industry. They then switched to the more cold hardy grapefruit varieties Walters and Duncan. If grapefruit did not exist, the pumelo growing would probably be confined to the Southernmost part of Florida, a much more limited area, and a long time ago it would not have been prime farmland because of all the swamps, intense heat and humidity.

Brian and Dev, thanks for the welcome. I've been lurking a while and have learned so much from all the experts here. Discovered I was doing everything wrong so maybe I'll finally get some fruit now after years of lots of blooms but no fruit ;-) And yes the Costcos here started selling citrus about five years ago for about half of what the garden centers were charging. Unfortunately they haven't really added different varieties although 2 years ago they brought in olive trees. Don't like olives so I passed but they were beautiful looking. Haven't seen them again.

Steve! It’s beautiful!!! ive been wanting a valnetine tree forever! Can you tell me if your leaves have winged petioles? I think I got a valentine pumelo tree but I might have gotten a eustis limequat instead. mine definitely do not have winged petioles. Have you had fruit from this tree Steve?