I have a Midknight Valencia nearing harvest; my Son in Sacramento says it is great for eating out of hand. He hasn't used one for juice yet; although it is reputed to be the finest juice orange on the planet today. Good job, Steve on your Moros

Dave, I'm sorry to hear that. My Moro sets so many little fruits, but usually drops them. Last year I had three fruit, so this is a very pleasant surprise. I kept my tree in the greenhouse until I was sure that the fruit were set solid, then I brought it out to the garden. I really pushed the fertilizer hard, too, going at 2.5 strength Foliage Pro, along with multiple applications of Osmocote.

John, indeed the Valencia is the best for juicing. My brother lives in Sacramento....it seems like every house has at least one citrus tree growing. It's great. Lemons and mandarins across the street, a Meyer hanging over the side fence, and a massive grapefruit hanging over the back fence. Citrus heaven!

Josh

That's great Josh! I have a reasonable harvest myself for my moro tree. I've had two so far but am giving them a little longer to sweeten up.

Hey, Laura!

Yeah, it's still early for Moros, I think.

Mine aren't fully orange yet.

Josh

I purchased my Moro during summer 2018 predominantly as a host plant for Giant Swallowtail butterflies, and I've got bonus fruits this year! :) Wondering when they can be harvested - TIA.

ETA: SW Houston, TX - zone 9a.

Wow, looks great. You must have had some cooler weather to color up those Moros! How'd it taste? My moro didn't flower this year, only my limes.

DD in SF harvested their MBOs in mid-December, and they were a gorgeous dark maroon inside (left pic). I harvested one of mine the same day, but you can barely detect a red tinge (right pic). Presumably, we don't receive enough cold days to turn our oranges red.

We've had chillier nights since the first harvest and are seeing more color:

Very juicy with a terrific orange flavor, but only slightly sweet. There are 10-12 more oranges dangling on branches, and I'll leave them there to ripen further.

Thanks, Fruity!

It's been such a mild Winter that I'm amazed that even this much color has developed. We haven't even had a hard freeze yet, if you can believe it!

Javiwa, mine are the same...really juicy, great orange flavor, but still on the tart/acidic side of the spectrum. I'm going to give mine a few more weeks, then sample again. I happened to bump this one and knock it off the tree, so of course I had to try it!

Josh

Bumped/knocked off the tree exactly describe's DD's 1st (unintentional) 'harvest'! ;)

Josh, nice buddy!!! I remember that tree when you first acquired it))

Mike

Hey, Mike!

Yeah, it was just a wee little thing back then!

Just pulled a few more oranges....and the color is even better!

Josh that’s so beautiful! wow I can’t believe it’s the same tree it was so tiny back then :) you must be doing something right! My Moro I’ve had for a couple years and no fruit yet so far it’ll blossom and fruit then just fall off smaller than golf ball size sigh maybe this year!

Thanks, Jan!

Lots of water and fertilizer, and a good place in the garden for the Summer.

Well, the Moro harvest did, indeed, turn out to be spectacular. I estimated around 20 oranges back in November, but there were actually 29 on the tree! Here are the final 25 I picked today. The color and flavor is excellent.

Wow, awesome picture Josh. That's a really dark moro.

Thanks, Dave!

I think I was harvesting them too early in year's past. The last month really deepened the pigmentation.

Josh

Can’t get any better than that, you did an excellent job there, now you need To load up sooooon With more tree’s.

Josh, I learned a lot from you on this tree considering I have two and keep picking the fruit off.lol I can't believe that many came off that tree that was once that tiny!

Now with that color and the description, I think I will let mine mature and share them. Beautiful buddy! I remember when it as that small. How is the the one we have in common with? Ponderosa or Meyer? I can't remember)

Mike

What a sweet harvest. Do you think that the tree can support more fruit or do you expect to upsize the pot soon?

Thank you, Mike! YOU are the one who encouraged me to start growing citrus in the first place. This Moro was my first citrus, 10 years ago in March! I have learned so much in this past decade. I feel that I'm finally getting it. Moro blood oranges are really the only oranges that I enjoy. I will be making Blood orange curd from this crop, along with delicious cocktails!

As for the Meyer lemon that we both grow...oh, brother, it was a great crop as well! On my tiny tree, I harvested 28 lemons! The first thing I did was make some decaf iced tea...and sliced up a lemon to throw in! My next step will be candying a sh*tload of lemons for my girlfriend! She loves them!

Great harvest Josh! My Moros are nowhere near as dark as yours. Maybe the difference in climate? Congrats on such a nice bounty.

Evan

Thanks, Evan!

It probably is the difference in climate, since it is definitely colder up here in the foothills. I leave my Moro outside as long as possible so that it gets as much time in the 30F's as I feel it can tolerate. This season, it actually got a light snow. Also, I've held off harvesting them for as long as possible.

Josh

Enjoying a few Moro's with breakfast this morning....

Down here in so cal, my moros only recently colored up. Yours look darker, earlier...nice!

here are a few I juiced with my navels..

I mix the two juices and its an amazing cranberry-raspberry/orange flavor with a deep coral red color.

-s

That looks great!

I think the darker earlier color is due to my colder conditions up here in northern California.

Josh

So jealous of your great harvests, my Moro gave me serious side-eye this past year and so far hasn't pushed any flower buds.

Ken, my Moro isn't flowering yet, either, so I wouldn't worry.

Hit it with some heavy nutrients, and you should see flowers in the next month or so.

Josh

You talking about some nutritious, serious drinking, got it in spades. Nice going!

Thanks, Josh. I've been doing my normal fert with dyna and osmo+. The rest of my citrus have been busting flower buds like crazy, just my Moro giving me stink eye. I'll try to be patient.

My blood orange (sanguinelli) is doing it all indoors.... Holding onto a couple fruit from December/January, blooming, and pushing out new leaves and branches. It's looking very promising for this year.

Well, I'm down to my last two blood oranges, and damn have they been good! This one was so sweet and complex. I shared it with my brother in law, and he said it was the best orange he'd ever had.

Perfect in a cocktail with variegated pink lemons. Tasted like an Italian soda.