No Tangelos

[David E. Ross]

I have four dwarf or semi-dwarf citrus in my garden: 'Eureka' lemon, 'Robertson' navel orange, kumquat, and 'Mineola' tangelo. The all get the same care (fertilizer, pest control, etc). The lemon, orange, and kumquat are in 22-inch terra cotta pots. The tangelo is in a raised bed.

The lemon, orange, and kumquat all bear fruit. The tangelo has flowers but never sets any fruit. I have had it for about 6 years now. How can I get it to bear fruit?

I am in Oak Park, California, in the hills between Thousand Oaks and the San Fernando Valley. This is Sunset zone 21, very near Sunset zone 19. The National Weather Service (NWS) places Oak Park in forecast zone CAZ045 (Ventura County Coastal Valleys); we are very close to forecast zones CAZ046 (Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area) and CAZ547 (Los Angeles County San Fernando Valley).

[Kay Lancaster]

Some tangelo cultivars like Minneola are self-unfruitful. What's around for a pollen parent?

[David E. Ross]

Sunset says nothing about pollinators. Citrus tends to be apomictic, which means it forms fruit and even viable seeds without any pollination at all, not even self-pollination.

The only sources of citrus pollen when the tangelo is in bloom is the 'Robertson' navel orange and possibly the 'Eureka' lemon.

If it needs a source of tangelo or mandarin pollen, I'll have to remove the tangelo and plant something self-pollinating. I just don't have room for more citrus. Is the 'Orlando' tangelo self-pollinating?

[Kay Lancaster]

Minneola is one that is not self-fruitful... I'm not sure any of the tangelos are. How about espaliering a mandarin, not Satsuma? Grafting? Bribing the neighbors???

Grafting would be my first choice... looks like UCR's mandarins are on the same rootstock as their Minneolas.

If it needs a source of tangelo or mandarin pollen, I'll have to remove

To the best of my knowledge, no. But:

Kay

>

[Jeff Layman]

Since it has never born fruit, how do you know it is a tangelo (other than the label that it had when you bought it)?

[David E. Ross]

I depended on the nursery's label. I have been doing business with this particular nursery since 1966 and have always found it reliable.

[Jeff Layman]

I bought a Camellia from a guy who grows several varieties. It was with several pots, all labelled as one variety, but it didn't have a label itself. He assured me it was what other pots said. It wasn't, or course, although it grows and flowers so well I kept it. There is also the perennial problem of nursery visitors removing labels to read them and putting them back in the wrong pots. And that can be a real problem with citrus plants which generally all look the same when not in fruit (a bit like camellias not in flower, really)!

Out of interest, are all your plants grafted or on their own roots?

What does the nursery have to say about this reluctant plant?

[David E. Ross]

The label was a tag wrapped around the trunk. All my dwarf citrus are grafted onto dwarfing root stocks.

I haven't visited the nursery since I started asking about this. With other activities in my life, it might be a month or so before I go there again. It's a great nursery, but the traffic between my house and there is daunting.