Growing Satsuma orange??

I recently bought a Satsuma orange. My "late" neighbor had 2 growing in his yard, and they were full of fruit. He had planted them 2 years ago......I'd like to plant mine into the soil, but will consider planting it in a huge container....I'm just wondering if anyone has grown one, and how they do in Texas. What's everyone's thoughts on the Satsuma?? Anyone grow any other citrus?? Give me some pointers please~ I live in SE Texas, where it's hot and humid during the summer months~ Thanks Debra~

Hi, Debra. I have a tangerine and a Meyer lemon - both planted in ground and both very productive. I don't have any experience with the Satsuma orange but odds are yours should do well. I wrapped the trees during freezes for the first two years but they have had no protection since (going into seventh year). Just finished harvesting...some of the last fruits were on the trees during the freezes but tasted just fine. I froze a lot of juice because I couldn't use them all even after giving about third of the crop away. The trees are full of buds and will be blooming soon (wonderful fragrance!) The fruits develop over a long period and begin ripening in late November. Fruits can be "stored" on the tree for a month or more. A real treasure and nice in the landscape, too.

satsuma orange is a variety considered to be one of the most successful for TX. In ground will be fine. I have navel orange and var. meyer lemons both doing fine. have had less than 1 yr have not produced fruit but it's just a matter of time. Enjoy

Debra,

You're in the right place, Satsumas grow great in SE Texas! I remember early last yr there were all kinds of articles about them. Here are some links you might find helpful:
http://www.plantanswers.com/researchmiho_seto.htm
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/features/huber/2357688
http://www.urbanharvest.org/gardening/fruitsnuts/fruitvarieties.html#tangerine

Debra, I remember reading a number articles recommending Sataumas fo Texas, too. I have a Meyer lemon and a Rangapor Lime in 24" fiberglass pots. I keep a Valencia orange(Don't remember the variety right now), a Texas Star Ruby grapefruit, a Eureka Lemon and a CaraCara Navel Orange in 30" pots and move all of them into the greenhouse for the winter. I've lived here for only 3-1/2 years and still don't feel comfortable planting them in the ground. Eventually, I'll have to put them in the ground, but by then, I hope to be able to provide them with some protection from the cold north winds. Right now the fragrant citrus flowers are overpowering.

BettyDee

One of my gardening friends has mangos, Satsuma oranges and other fruit trees in his yard. They are quite large now and all are doing well. He said that he had been advised to pile dirt in a mound as high as he could around the trunks of the young trees for several winters until the trunks' diameters enlarged. He also, wrapped the trunks above the mounds of dirt. I have seen several growing in different locations here in San Antonio.

I live in zone 9, in southeast Texas and satsumas do very well here. Just give them a little citrus fertilizer in the spring.

Mangos? Wow! Even I (known as a "crowd-your-luck" gardener) would not have thought to try mangos...this calls for investigation. Thanks, htop.

Yuska - I would love to grow my own mango, too It would be really pushing the zone for mangos. This is what I found by TAMU:

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/mango/mango.html

htop, Can you get more information from your friend? Is the mango in a protected site? Mangos are evergreen and having to produce a whote new set of leaves would put stress on the tree. Has it produced fruit yet?

They are growing right next to a fence inside his yard on the southeast side of his house. I drove by on Sunday while giving my dogs for a ride and slowed down to see if the leaves were green. They weren't. I saw many large mangos on them last year. The branches were maybe 3 to 4 feet above the top of a six foot privacy fence. I will check with him when I am able to go by there again. I recall that last year he had told me that he has many plants that are not supposed to be able to survive in the ground here and how he protected them until the trunks were large enough to survive hard freezes. Maybe the fruit weren't mangos, but they sure looked like it to me.

Thanks to everyone for sharing all your experience, and the links about the Satsuma...I'm so happy to hear that other citrus do well here in Texas! I planted my lemon into the ground last spring...I protected it during the colder months...it seems to be fine....What type of fertilizer do citrus need? I read that cottonseed meal was good for them...anyone has anything special they find useful?? Midsgarden, I'm not far from you at all.....I'm very familiar with Port Neches...and Conroe as well.....
I will look into adding other citrus to my yard, I'll see how the satsuma, and lemon do first~ thanks again everyone!! Debra~

There are several citrus fertilizer products available that contain all of the elements that citris plants need. Fertilize in March, May, August and early October. You could also use a well balanced 18-6-6 fertilizer containing iron, zinc and manganese. To control insects, spray it with a light oil insecticide in the middle of June to early July.

I have never used insecticide on mine, but I do spray it with baking soda and water several times in the spring and early summer. When I first moved into this house a couple of years ago, the tree was full of black mold. I was told that baking soda would take care of it and so it did.

midsgarden,

When you sprayed with the baking, was the tree blooming? I need to spray my citrus trees with something, but I don't want to damage the flowers and tiny fruit. What is the proportion of baking soda to water? Do you add anything else? My trees are in need of something.
BettyDee

I use about a tablespoon per gallon of water on it now, but when it was covered in mold, I used 2 tablespoons of baking soda to the gallon. I have sprayed with flowers and small fruit and have had no problems, and always have lots of fruit. I spray now just to keep mold from forming. This tree is between my house and a carport, and there is a wooden fence near it, so there is not a lot of air circulation. When I bought this house a couple of years ago, this satsuma tree was covered in black mold. It is all gone now.

This message was edited Mar 17, 2005 9:03 AM

Midsgarden I also have used the baking soda and water spray on fungus and molds...I have a weeping Mulberry that keeps me busy every year with some kind of mold. I also use the same ratio 2 tablespoons to a gallon of water~ for aphids or other annoying insects I use a dishsoap, oil, and sometimes I add cayenne powder, to water...Htop I'll look for a citrus fertilizer...thanks for the fertilizer ratio~ I'll keep an eye out for pesty insects, I can only imagine they love any kind of fruit tree! thanks! Debra~

Great topic! I tried to buy a "Satsuma" from an online certified Florida nursery, but was sadly informed that they could not ship them to Texas! I was so disapointed:( Does anyone know of a place in Houston to purchase a "Satsuma" orange?
My neighbors where I used to live had a mango tree planted in the ground, and for the two years I lived there it always produced fruit. I really love the trunks on the mango tree as they age.

Randy

http://www.crfg.org/pubs/frtfacts.html

Here's a good information source for growing instructions. I was a member of California Rare Fruit Growers when I lived there. We grew citrus, avocados, bananas and macadamias and a good many other lesser known specialties. Wish we could get some macadamias shipped in - they do well anywhere citrus does and are beautiful trees.

Plumeriagod, the nurseries in my area sell them......

Plumeriagod,

I think most large, independent nurseries in the Houston area carry the Satsuma oranges. I know that early in the year many of the area master gardeners have fruit tree sales and Satsumas are among the ones offered. You might try calling Heidi Sheesley w/Treesearch Farms, a local wholesale grower, to see who sells their Satsumas: 713-937-9811.

Maas in Houston sells Satsuma trees for $30 or 35 for a 3 gal. We just purchased 6 from a nursery in Bay City for our property that we purchased not long ago. They had the best price of all the nurseries that we called and went to and they had better looking plants than some of nurseries. I am not sure but I think they were around $22 for a 3 gal. There are two types of Satsumas and I now don't recall the name of the one that was recommended. It was the bigger one with just a seed or two or no seeds at all. The other Satsuma is full of seeds and smaller. I love these oranges and have bought them for many years from others with orchards.

Also, always purchase a grafted one. Most are ,but I have found that I have assumed wrong some times.

Randy a Satsuma shouldn't be too hard to find in Houston...try a local nursery. I bought mine through the internet from a nursery in Texas...only to find out that the small nursery 15 miles from me, sells them....I'll be buying a couple more from them~
I have grown several mangos from seed with ease....I wish I knew there might be a chance they'd do well here, as I traded mine off....time for a trip to the grocery store produce section..lol~ Debra~