Late December Mandarins

 I tasted 5 different mandarins today.  In the pictures, they are in the following order, left to right:

Daisy SL

Lee x Nova (Supernova)

Page

Shirokolistvenyi Satsuma

Algerian Clementine

Daisy SL is an excellent sweet and complex mandarin but a week or two past its prime time

Lee x Nova (Supernova) is very sweet and at its peak flavor now

Page is getting ready, sweet and complex, but it will get even better later

Shirokolistvenyi Satsuma very juicy but mild in flavor and the membranes are hard.  This is the first fruiting of this graft on my Algerian Clementine. 

Algerian Clementine is still sour and needs couple more weeks on the tree

Early Satsuma mandarins

Okitsu wase satsuma is ready in October, and it is my first mandarin.  It is followed by Miyagawa satsuma, and Miho wase is just starting now.  My Miho wase is grafted onto a Navel orange tree, and the fruits probably would be better if grafted on a regular rootstock or another mandarin.

In the pictures below, left to right are Miho wase, Miyagawa, and Okitsu wase satsumas. 

Okitsu wase is very good starting from October, and it is still the best one out of these three satsumas in November. The outer color of these mandarins are often green and does not reflect the fruit ripeness. 

October mandarins

In October 2019 three varieties were ready, Okitsu Wase Satsuma, Corsica #2 and Miho Wase Satsuma.

Left to right: Okitsu Wase Satsuma, Corsica #2 and Miho Wase Satsuma

My Corsica #2 is grafted onto a Red Grapefruit.  This is the reason for it being dry.  It's still sweet and tastes OK, but dry. This was my third or fourth year tasting Corsica #2 from this graft. My hopes that it will grow out of this problem, and the fruits will become normal fell short.  This graft has to go.  I'll need to re-graft it onto a mandarin or tangelo.

Both Okitsu Wase Satsuma and Miho Wase Satsuma are very good. Miho Wase is sweeter with more intense flavor.