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Satsuma Orange




Habit: Satsuma orange is a very hardy and delicious choice for home gardeners. It gets about 8 to 10 feet tall, making the fruit easy to harvest. But it can also get 8 to 10 feet wide, so be sure to give it plenty of space to spread out. ‘Orange Frost’ is a hybrid cross between a very seedy but cold hardy Changsha tangerine and a very high quality Satsuma. The fruit is very sweet, easy to peel, and only has one or two seeds per fruit. This little tree has more cold hardiness than the regular Satsuma, will tolerate more cold and can be planted in the landscape a bit farther north than other citrus.

Culture: Satsuma has proven to be reliably hardy to zone 8, which includes Central Texas. When the tree is young and getting established, you’ll need to protect it during the winter. That need may continue after the plant is more mature. It needs full-day sun to perform and fruit well. Be sure that the soil has good drainage and don’t plant until after danger of frost has passed. For good growth and a bountiful harvest, water regularly and fertilize monthly during the growing season with organic fertilizer and Garrett Juice.

Uses: This citrus tree works very well in containers.

Problems: As with other citrus trees, Satsuma orange is evergreen and can get bitten by the cold. It’s good that it isn’t grafted so it will come back true if it gets killed to the ground and it has to regrow from the roots. Insect pests sometimes pop up but can be easily repelled in most cases with garlic pepper tea.

Related Q&As on this Subject



Q:  Alas, my dear old satsuma is now producing deformed leaves.
It’s in a pot which I drag indoors each fall. I do feed it Garrett Juice, but maybe not enough - it is getting leaf curl and a weird squiggly thing on some of the undersides of the leaves. Maybe it’s just tired and hungry now after giving me about 3 doz little oranges this year, as usual, year after year for about 20 years! Any help is appreciated!  T. B. Carrollton, TX

A:  The plant is obviously in stress for some reason since the leaf miners are attacking. Also appears to be be some disease trying to get started. Dry organic fertilizer and regular use of Garrett Juice will help but I would also spray with garlic pepper tea. It also helps with leaf miners to apply granulated garlic to the soil surface and water in. Garlic is efficiently systemic and will quickly move through the entire plant. Thanks for the photos.



 


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