PlantFiles: Satsuma Orange
Citrus reticulata var. satsuma

I have successfully grown satsuma orange and key lime trees outside year round here in Houston, but I have a comment. I often see people on this website from colder areas claiming to be able to grow a tropical plant in their area (referring to the area where you enter your zip code and click "Add"). Don't say that you have successfully grown it in your area when you have to bring it inside during the winter. When click that you have successfully grown an orange tree in Gainsville TX, for example, it is misleading to those living in north TX. Texas is a big state. Several plants grown outside year round in Houston and Corpus Christi cannot be grown in Dallas. You should only claim to have successfully grown a plant in your area if you leave in the ground outside year round. I'm not trying to be a big a-hole here, but people come on here trying to figure out what they can successfully grow outside in their area. They need as accurate information as possible.

In northern Texas, it's best to keep these babies in pots and move them inside in October or November when it starts dropping down to 40F at night. I've had one for nearly a year and it's been remarkably easy to grow. It just needs lots of hot sun in the summer, protection from the cold in the winter and regular watering. Basic fruit tree care is about all it really seems to need although several people recommend some citrus tabs for fertilizer.

There is an insect that does particularly like to try to chew off the fruits. It looks like a fat inch worm in white, black and orangy-red and it likes to munch the stems of the leaves. Watch for that little pest, but nothing else has really tried to cause mine problems.

Satsuma Orange trees grow extremely well here in Orange Beach, AL (zone 9a).

I love this tree!! It has been one of the easiest citrus trees that I have ever grown. It blooms and produces fruit profusely.

I keep it outside in the summer and bring it indoors for the winter. It does loose a few leaves when it is first brought in but it recovers quickly and starts putting out new leaves.

These are the largest fruit of the Mandarin family. It is super sweet and very juicy. Fruit ripens early in the season. It is more cold tolerant than many citrus trees, growing as far north as GA and SC.

Is this variety different from Satsuma mandarins? Satsuma mandarins grow all over my area of Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, and I've picked them off of very old trees North of Gainesville, Florida. All of the nurseries around my place near the Suwannee River carry small trees simply labeled "Satsumas" to plant locally in the ground, and all of the locals say that Satsumas do very well here, so I think that the range for Satsumas can be expanded to at least zone 8b, if these are the same trees.

My excellent booklet called "Fruit and Flowering Trees for Florida" says Satsuma mandarins are very hardy down to 18 degrees Farenheit, and are excellent, sweet and seedless.

I plan on planting some Satsumas and Meyer lemons here when I get a sunnier location cleared for them.

We have 3 Satsuma Orange trees that produce the most delicious oranges. The trees are now 4 years old and are covered with fruit, which ripens in November, December, and January. The early spring blooms sometimes are killed by frosts, but then they bloom again. These very sweet and extremely easy to peel fruits have become a neighborhood favorite. At this time there are several hundred fruits on the trees which will be more than we can eat. We do not have well drained soil so I have installed an automatic sump pump to keep the water level at least a foot below the surface. The trees are thriving. The fruit has few seeds, and reach sizes as large as full sized or large Oranges.

Trois