Which Orange tree is best in the Phoenix area? (Sun City: house, store)

[observer53]

Originally Posted by stevek64

Is your tangelo tree on the younger side? Like ours which is younger, it does produce much more in alternate years but this article says that levels out as the tree matures. Also mentions having a pollinator somewhere in the vicinity.

The Desert Garden: Citrus Month: Minneola Tangelo

Make sure the fruit matures fully...otherwise, I found them to be very tart though taste buds of course vary. I have taste buds sensitive to sour and Minneola Tangelo's register very sweet off our tree.

It's almost 28 years since it was planted, and it was a big tree in a big box then. I remember it doing an alternate year pattern in the past, but not over recent years. I'm never in a hurry to pick them, (and they are often a bit high so they are some trouble to get to) so that's not the problem. I wish I had grapefruit and orange, frankly, but I'm not changing anything.

[LBTRS]

I have a meyer lemon already and only have room for one more tree (after removing the sissoo) so I've been tossing around grapefruit and orange. I think we'd get more use out of oranges so I'm going to go that way once I figure out which tree. I don't think we would get enough use out of tangelo's.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

I have a meyer lemon already and only have room for one more tree (after removing the sissoo) so I've been tossing around grapefruit and orange. I think we'd get more use out of oranges so I'm going to go that way once I figure out which tree. I don't think we would get enough use out of tangelo's.

I'll let you know what I find out.. the comment about the root stock is interesting, too, I'll talk to them about that while I'm at it!

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by observer53

It's almost 28 years since it was planted, and it was a big tree in a big box then. I remember it doing an alternate year pattern in the past, but not over recent years. I'm never in a hurry to pick them, (and they are often a bit high so they are some trouble to get to) so that's not the problem. I wish I had grapefruit and orange, frankly, but I'm not changing anything.

Wow, that must be a good size tree/certainly older.

Wonder if it's just age, ready for medicare for citrus trees maybe.

[pbenjamin]

In a previous home we planted Navel, Arizona Sweet, Ruby Red Grapefruit and Tangelo. After a few years all except the Navel provided more fruit than we could consume. The Tangelo production was fairly consistent. The Navels were the best fruit to eat and they were, of course, the smallest crop. We used the Arizona Sweets primarily for juice.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

In a previous home we planted Navel, Arizona Sweet, Ruby Red Grapefruit and Tangelo. After a few years all except the Navel provided more fruit than we could consume. The Tangelo production was fairly consistent. The Navels were the best fruit to eat and they were, of course, the smallest crop. We used the Arizona Sweets primarily for juice.

Are the Navels off your tree sweet? I always thought they tasted much less sweet than other varieties of oranges. We have an Arizona Sweet(Trovita variety) and the fruit is very sweet but tons of pits.

[stevek64]

LBTRS.....just thought of a very good publication you may find useful that lists the various varieties of citrus that grow in the low desert. Very nice chart on the end showing harvest time frames.

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1001.pdf

It helped us in deciding what we wanted to grow.

[AZBradley]

That's on page 1.

[LBTRS]

stevek64,

Thanks, I had found that yesterday and it is a good resource. I'd still like to hear some first hand knowledge of what others like and don't like.

As you said, I've had a lot of naval oranges from the store that were not sweet and were not enjoyable. I'm hoping to find the best all around orange for an Arizona backyard.

Thanks again!

[LBTRS]

Went out to purchase an orange tree and it didn't go as planned. I called moon valley and asked for the price of a "Arizona Sweet" orange tree. I was quoted $199 for a 24" box and $299 for a 36" box and $100 to have it planted. I decided I'd run over and get a 32" box and have them plant it so was expecting $400 plus tax. Get there and find all their "Arizona Sweet" trees have a moon valley tag on them saying "Arizona Sweet Orange" but say nothing about what type of Arizona Sweet it is, so I started looking for other markings. I found another tag on the same tree, from the original grower, and that tag said Valencia Orange. I walked over to the tent to get clarification and he tells me valencia is an Arizona Sweet and got offended when I said that is not what I've read and what the other nurseries say. He said he was the most knowledgeable person about citrus and valencia is an Arizona Sweet. I told him I didn't want a valencia and I wanted one of the other types of Arizona Sweet and he said there is no way to tell which tree is which.

I had found a beautiful tree that said Arizona Sweet but didn't have a valencia tag and asked what that was and he said if it didn't have a valencia tag it was a Trovita. I asked what the price would be out the door to have it planted and he said $600 plus tax. I told him I was just quoted $400 planted and told him who I spoke to and he said "I can only give you that price if you buy a package of trees". I told him I was quoted that on a single tree and he said he could not do that price so I left.

Called a couple other nurseries and none of them consider the valencia a Arizona Sweet. Unfortunately the only other nursery over here (Elgin) only had two very small Arizona Sweet (Trovita) trees that were only about a foot and a half tall. I called Whitfield over in the east valley and he seemed to have lots of them so I guess I'll be driving over there this weekend.

Had no idea it would be this complicated.

Anyone know any other good nurseries on the west side of town?