I want to know how many years it usually takes for a tree to produce QUALITY fruit. I don't care about quantity, at least not at first, just taste. Things like seeded or not and appearance I will control with plant selection. Please when answering consider I live in 8b/9a and have a full sun location with plenty of water. The trees will be fertilized and medicated as needed. Here is the list I want to be evaluated:

Satsumas - Xie Shan, Kimbrough, Early St. Ann, Browns Select
Sweet Orange - Hamlin, Louisiana Select
Blood Orange - Moro
Mandarian/Tangerine - Page, Dancy, Ponkon, Clementine
Lemon - Improved Meyer
Tangelo - Orlando

If the varieties don't matter that much just evaluate the categories.

Thanks,

Satsuma mandarins are the only citrus I know of where the age of the tree absolutely affects the taste of the fruit. However, ideally one would not allow any in-ground citrus tree to fruit for 2-3 years after planting, so the satsuma age is not as much of an inhibiting factor as one would think.

Allowing fruit to set and develop takes a lot of the energy for the tree to do, and the young tree develops fruit at the expense of canopy growth, root growth, and overall vigor of the tree.

So my absolute best advise is to be patient and resist the temptation to allow fruit to develop in the first 3 years after planting the trees. I personally have seen the difference. I originally got into citrus at a previous house, planted a few different varieties (mostly Satsumas), and allowed the trees to fruit as many as it would hold. At my current house, I have not let the newly planted in-ground trees fruit, and their health and vegetative growth is exponentially greater!

You could always do some trees in pots for now as you wait for the in-ground trees to be ready.

Thanks for the replies.

I guess I need to plant the Satsumas first for sure. I am hoping to get them all planted at least by next spring but hopefully this fall. I will cull all the fruit for at least two years maybe three. Hopefully we will all still be here when I proudly proclaim that I have edible fruit far superior to the supermaket crap.

Thanks,