Citrus stumper?
Hi,
I am new to the forum. I have a question about my tangelo tree/fruit. I live in Gainesville, FL (Zone . I have an Orlando Tangelo that is 5 years old. The problem is that the fruit has no taste. Every year the tree is loaded with fruit. The fruit just plain doesn't have any taste. The tree is probably upwards of 8' tall. Came as a gift from Home Depot. I had plenty of wild bees this year. Next to it, I have a 10' Ambersweet that does really well - fruit is great. The trees are in my backyard. I keep them pretty much disease and pest free. I water with drip irrigation but I don't over water. I use a 10-10-10 citrus fertilizer with micros. I limed them this year for the the first time with dolomite. The soil is builders sand - my lot was on a slope and was leveled with about 6' of sand. The tangelo is loaded to the ground this year so I must be doing something right. Do I need a different cross pollinator perhaps? I haven't tasted the fruit yet this year, it is not ripe. But my guess is it will not have any flavor again. Any ideas or suggestions? Last year I waited to pick a few of them just before they dropped off. They had no flavor either.

Thanks!!
Mark

Now that you have plenty of fruits, sample them twice a week. the moment they changed color to until they start dropping. One of those week, it would be great tasting, that is the moment to harvest them.

My tangelo has a narrow window of good flavor, based on my own taste tracking. Just about two weeks only. Before the peak flavor, they're sour, and after the peak flavor, they're bland.

another thing is that your rootstock may be a lemon or grapefruit type or something that gives nice yield but poor fruit quality. You can try multiple rootstock technique if this is the problem on this one, using trifoliate or citrange types and bridge them into the main trunk.

But I'd prefer the multiple sampling. I wish I can say with certainty as to the timing, but we have different climate patterns. Our tangelos develop very dark deep orange color, and still they are not ready, until around 3rd week of January in my yard. FLorida's warm nights on the other hand, you can have ripe fruits that are still partially green.

question on multiple rootstock technique:

Seems to me that the ratio between original rootstock and the grafted in rootstock would favor the original for quite some time. Grafting in different rootstock is suppose to improve the quality of the fruit. Does it matter that the new rootstock is or could be smaller? Does it only take a little for the improvement?

Gainesville is north of where they're normally grown, but 'Orlando' normally is mature in early November in central Florida. So I'd start sampling them in the next couple weeks.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I will start sampling them 2-3 times a week when they start turning. If that ends in a bust, I might try a bridge graft. That or a chainsaw!