Found a mandarin orange tree at Lowe's today. Label reads: 'Okitsu Wase' mandarin 5 gal.
In searching in plant files I find this "match" as it may be (???) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/150526/
I don't dare assume its the same plant because I don't want to waste my time grooming a citrus with poor flavor? The one in plantfiles seems to be a good one. What would you suggest I do?
Box Store Labels not always a match for Plantfiles....
From the seasonal chef:
Quoting:
So far, the satsumas are winning the all-important race to get fruit to market before the end of September. The earliest variety is called the okitsu wase. It achieves a respectable 10:1 sugar-acid ratio by September, though it takes a dose of post-harvest ethylene gas to get the peel to turn orange. In taste it is a pale shadow of later satsuma varieties, like the oware, the most common satsuma variety in California. "Fortunately when the okitsu wase comes in, you don’t have an Oware to compare it with. All you have to compare it with is another okitsu wase," says Ray Copeland, a retired cooperative extension adviser in Tulare County and a mandarin expert, explaining why the early but tasteless satsuma can attract any buyers at all.
Apparently the okitsu wase is a very early maturing new cultivar, that mostly has earliness going for it. It is a Satsuma type http://www.seasonalchef.com/mandarins.htm
http://www.growit.com/plants/growers/SN/39457.htm
Apparently it has not yet made it to plant files.
Oh thank you farmer dill!
Just read your post again---so poor flavor but I can have it early---lol sounds like the perfect grocery store variety but not for the backyard gardener. SO glad to know this. Almost not worth the effort to add to plantfiles other than to warn others. So sad when you see this type of plant sold in your area because you know your neighbors will be buying it. :(
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