Tasteless mandarin (forum)

Julie starts with ...
I have two Imperial mandarins, one in a Bonsai bag, one in the ground. Over summer the one in the bag was fed well - Seasol and Powerfeed approx every few weeks, tea and coffee grounds and a bit of potash.

The bagged one is very productive, best it's ever been, but disappointingly tasteless and not very juicy. The one in ground is much nicer. My soil is Perth hills gravelly loam. Any ideas how I can improve the flavour next year?

Time: 1st July 2016 6:49pm

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About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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Julie says...
Anyone able to help? Even the marmalade I made from the bagged one didn't taste as good as usual.

Time: 10th July 2016 8:28pm

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About the Author Julie
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MNash1 says...
Sounds to me the the one in the bag is getting its feeder roots chemical burnt or water rotted.


Time: 13th July 2016 8:51pm

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About the Author MNash1
Terranora
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allybanana says...
As you have already tried potash and sesol this is my guess.

Imperial is an early season Mandarin. In Eden Nsw some of the fruit have overipend already and gone dry and tastless. As you are likely warmer than us in the Perth hills this could happen even earlier for you. I would sugest picking earlier perhaps May. Also citrus coular is not a reliable indicator of ripness, as cold weather is required to turn them orange/yellow and in warmer climate they can be overripe dry and tastless before they look ripe. I suggest picking greener as well. Imperial is also not a particualy strong tasting or sour fruit and perhaps not that good for jam anyway.

Time: 13th July 2016 9:50pm

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About the Author allybanana
EDEN, NSW
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Julie says...
allybanana, I have made marmalade from the one in ground for years, and it's wonderful! It's the first time I tried it from the bagged one, thinking they may not be so good to eat, but marmalade should be OK.

My mandarins have been ripening later and later - used to be I picked them in May, now it's June and even July. (I am eating them now and they are fine). Same with my limes

A lot of the flavour in marmalade comes from the oil in the skin, rather than from the flesh. I disagree about the Imperial, I find it the best tasting mandarin, though I haven't tried some of the newer varieties. And citrus is picked a bit earlier anyway for jam making, as there is more pectin.

I was shown how to tell if a mandarin is ready to eat by an old orchardist years ago. You watch for the little dimple in the bottom. If it is still flat underneath it is not ripe. I find that works well.

Time: 14th July 2016 9:08pm

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About the Author Julie
Roleystone WA
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