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Started By
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Satsuma Trees--How Are Yours Doing?
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:08 pm
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:08 pm
I'm kind of new to the satsuma thing. Bought a house in 2014 with three trees. There were buckets full of them when I moved in. Juicy. Sweet. Plentiful.
In 2015, there were half as many as the year before, but still a lot. Was still able to eat my fill and have friends come over and get as many as they wanted.
In 2016, there were so many, I had to prop up the branches on my tree to prevent them from breaking. I gave them away by the bushel, it seems.
On May 30, 2017, I should have three trees full of golf ball sized baby oranges. I have seen less than 5 little green oranges.
Is this just the tree taking a natural break after a very plentiful year, or do I have something to worry about? The trees look pretty healthy. I don't know.
How are the rest of the satsuma trees in town doing?
In 2015, there were half as many as the year before, but still a lot. Was still able to eat my fill and have friends come over and get as many as they wanted.
In 2016, there were so many, I had to prop up the branches on my tree to prevent them from breaking. I gave them away by the bushel, it seems.
On May 30, 2017, I should have three trees full of golf ball sized baby oranges. I have seen less than 5 little green oranges.
Is this just the tree taking a natural break after a very plentiful year, or do I have something to worry about? The trees look pretty healthy. I don't know.
How are the rest of the satsuma trees in town doing?
11
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:09 pm to LuckySo-n-So
Same here...record last year and no flowers / fruit this year either. I was told that every other year would be a nice crop but this year ...nothing
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:09 pm to LuckySo-n-So
I assume they're cyclical like pecans
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:10 pm to LuckySo-n-So
Some years tress just don't make. This year my loquats didn't make at all. It just happens. Just check the foliage of the tree. If it looks healthy you are ok. However, phosphates help your trees make flowers and this fruit. A soil sample from the dirt around your tree will help you determine what you need.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:12 pm to LuckySo-n-So
quote:
In 2016, there were so many, I had to prop up the branches on my tree to prevent them from breaking. I gave them away by the bushel, it seems.
This was true of my satsumas, oranges and lemons. 2016 was a banner year. However, we had a hard freeze for a few days and they took a hit. I have one satsuma that's loaded and one that has a very few fruits. None of my other trees have a single piece of fruit. I just went outside to look at them and it's so depressing. Same thing happened about 3 or so years ago after a freeze except that both my satsumas kept producing, but the other trees gave nothing and it took several years for them to come back. 2016 was the first year I had more fruit than I could deal with. I'm praying they all come back.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:14 pm to Gris Gris
Not to hijack but I just bought a house with a satsuma , any tips? When do you harvest?
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:14 pm to Crow Pie
quote:
no flowers / fruit this year either.
Not a cold enough winter. Not enough chilling hours. Satsumas need at least 350 hours below 50 degrees to set good fruit. That's why they can't grow them in S FL.
Basically the tree never goes dormant during a warm winter. It grows and grows and doesn't have energy to put on fruit.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:17 pm to LSU5508
quote:You can leave them on the tree for a LONG time after they are ripened. It is amazing how long they will keep on the tree.
Not to hijack but I just bought a house with a satsuma , any tips? When do you harvest?
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:21 pm to LuckySo-n-So
In ready for satsumas. I have a few trees and my favorite is my mire lemons
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:21 pm to No Colors
Satsumas sometimes take a year off so to speak. I have 5 trees and have been growing them for years. I fertilize every year in late January to early February using 888 fertilizer. 1.5 pounds for every year old the tree is up to 12 years which would be 18 pounds of fertilizer per tree spread at the drip line as you would feeding chickens. One of our trees is taking the year off this year. It was fertilized as was the others. Growing them in EBR is harder for any parish north of Lake Pontchartrain. I grow mine in St. Charles Parish.
When to harvest, usually around Halloween. You have to sample periodically.
When to harvest, usually around Halloween. You have to sample periodically.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:21 pm to LSU5508
quote:
When do you harvest?
Once they are about just under baseball sized, which should be October or so, you can actually start eating them. They will still be green and not as sweet as they will ultimately be.
Mid-November is when I usually start picking them. They are fully orange and really sweet.
Best time to pick them is after the first cold snap, which used to be late October/early November but is now, well, NEVER.
As long as they are on the tree, you can pick them until damn near March.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:27 pm to LuckySo-n-So
No satsumas, no blood oranges, no grapefruit, no navel oranges, and 1 pear. Im going to starve this year.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:40 pm to LuckySo-n-So
Have three satsuma bushes. The August floods made the fruit uneatable. Hopefully this Fall will bring a fresh edible crop with no black spores in them.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:43 pm to LuckySo-n-So
mine didn't bloom this spring for the first time in 15 yrs
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:44 pm to cgrand
Don't they usually not start producing until the mid fall / early winter?
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:45 pm to LuckySo-n-So
We have a really young tree (got it last year). Still had more satsumas on it last year than this year. This year we have a measly TWO satsumas! 
Posted on 5/30/17 at 7:58 pm to LuckySo-n-So
A friend of mine who worked for LSU Ag Center and knows citrus said satsumas alternate between big harvest and small harvest years.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 8:02 pm to Geauxtiga
quote:
You can leave them on the tree for a LONG time after they are ripened. It is amazing how long they will keep on the tree.
Yes and as many as I'd picked and let other people pick, I still had tons of fruit when the freeze hit. Lost it all and I'm still lamenting not picking as much as possible before the freeze. I was dog sick and picked 3 huge bags, but that nearly put me in the hospital.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 8:05 pm to Gris Gris
@ Gris Gris I can never eat enough of them things.
Posted on 5/30/17 at 8:06 pm to LuckySo-n-So
I have one large tree, it cycles every few years, last year hardly any, right now, flowers everywhere
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