I know its hard for many people to drop everything and attend a 2 day conference, but, this years Expo in the Orlando area was the best Ive ever been to. I have enjoyed them all but this was outstanding! I plan on posting some pictures later on but one of the great tours was of the Fla. Development Station where they develop new varieties. The Sugar Belle that they had for sampling was just out of this world. It has already been released to some growers in Fla. The staff that did the presentation stated that Sugar Belle survived a 14 F freeze there in central Fla sometime back. Does any of you citruholics have any source for Sugar Belle?

Never heard of it. Any photos ?

Laaz, I think AT Hagan posted an article about Sugar Belle a year or so back.



EDIT: Yes, he did:


link

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Part of the " FEAST" that was prepared for us at the Florida Citrus Experiment Station. This is where we got our first taste of " Sugar Belle" Best mandarin on earth!

I called and left a message for Fred Gmitter asking for some pointers on locating trees for sale. He has called me back with answers in the past so we'll just wait and see.

Fred Gmitter called me back today and the Sugar Belle is being propagated by four nurseries:

Southern Citrus Nursery
Phil Rucks Nursery
Nick Rasnake Nursery
Harris Nursery

I do not know if any of these has stock for residential purchase.

Presently I believe all of these are Florida nurseries and can not ship out of state. I will be trying to obtain four of these.

Fred said that the Sugar Belle crop in central Florida this year was not as good as last years. He said that these should do much better in areas that have cooler Winters than he does. He mentioned that you may be required to sign a non-propagation form which I have no problem signing.

UPDATE:

I spoke with Ruth at Harris Citrus and she does have them although she would wait till spring to ship them. She confirmaed the non-propagation agreemnet signing requirement. I have purchased from them and the plants I received were top notch.

This was published in very early 2009 or late 2008 as an invitation to be a licensed propagator. It has some good information on the Sugar Belle.

http://ffsp.net/resources/itn0829.pdf

And a more recent 2010 article with comments by Fred Gmitter.

http://news.ufl.edu/2010/02/02/sugar-belle-2/

I agree- this year's citrus expo was the best! The sugarbelle tasted great and it sounds as if it will do well for colder areas than central FL. I look forward to sugarbelle being more widely grown in FL- it's a winner.