pummelo

Gardener starts with ...
We've just had a taste of a pummelo and found it to be very sweet. Does anyone know where you can buy this tree is Melbourne, or even it is possible for it to grow in Melbourne. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.

Michael says...
Hi There,
I love eating pummelos and I currently have 3 trees with 2 in the ground and 1 in a large pot.They are quite small but the one in the pot is blooming with lot's of flowers right now.
Pummelos are the hardest citrus tree to grow in Australia as our climate is not hot enough for the fruit to turn sweet. You can get fruits but need constant heat all year round to turn the fruits sweet. Regardless I'm still going to try growing my own tree .I got 2 of my trees from Daleys - The Dwarf Nam Roi variety. I tried this variety in Vietnam and it was the best tasting pummelo I ever tried.

Hi Nguyet - I would love to see pictures of your tree when it is in fruits.

Cuong says...
HiJujube and Michael,

I have experienced the same thing with my parents pomelo.

It tastes sweeter if picked and left for sometime before eating it then if you it it straight off the tree.

I think you can have a sweet pomelo in Australia, ours is almost there I think if we change our fertiliser program it will be sweet this year...

Gardener says...
Hi All

Thanks for your input, I will try Gardenworld to see if they have a tree and by the sounds of it, keep it in a pot.

Thank you

JUJUBE FOR SALE IN MELBOURNE says...
Hi Cuong,

Many thanks. My fruits are juicy. I apply epsom salt and potash every year. The only thing I have not done is checking the PH. that is a good point. I will do so soon.

JUJUBE FOR SALE IN MELBOURNE says...
Hi Amanda,

Many thanks for the hints. Much appreciated.

I have some spare rocks around my pond so I am going to remove some and place them underneath the tree.

Also good point about ventilation, I will have to punch lots of holes on the black plastic bags otherwise those fruits will get cooked due to summer heat.

I will certainly apply some Phosphorus too.

It is realy pity that the tree is beautiful and very productive but I have unpleasant taste after eating the fruits.

JUJUBE FOR SALE IN MELBOURNE says...
Hi Michael,

Yours are very healthy. Good luck to the fruiting bit. I hope yours are good to eat.

VLR says...
I don't know about pummelo but I did get a pomegranate tree from Lena Nursery, Wangara last summer for my Dad. It was the only nursery in my area that stocked pomegranate trees at the time. The healthiest plant I could find was still a bit burnt but it's really taken off now. The label said the variety was "Elite" but I think it was a typo and it's actually "Elcite". They only sold ones of that variety. Try calling your local nurseries if Wangara's out of your way. Some of the other nurseries I contacted led me to believe they sometimes have pomegranate trees in but had sold out. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for them to order one in for you. They grow well in Perth.

Damo says...
was there today, he has new stock purchased after the auction last month.

Shaun says...
Hi VLR,
Big W garden centre in Bunbury Forum has a large Pummelo plant with lots of flowers (some small fruits and good amount of leaves) for sale for only $19.95 !!!
There is only 1 plant left ..... you have to be quick !

Shaun says...
Well, with the recent cold nights and hot days in Perth, my Pummelo plant has dropped all its leaves and gone dormant again !!

Pummelo is a very tropical citrus, and loves hot climate.
If you get a sudden cold spell, it can drop its leaves, flowers and fruits and go into dormancy.
I was told to grow Pummelo in a hot green house until it is established, before moving the pot to outdoors.

I thought I could let my small Pummelo plant acclimatise outdoors, but it seems like I was wrong :-|

Jennifer says...
Does anyone know where you can buy pomelo in Brisbane? And when is the pomelo season?

Jennifer

Diana says...
Picture.

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

Matthew says...
I lived in Thailand for 2 years. I ate lots of pomelos there. They were very sweet and very refreshing. The pomelos over there were pink inside.Pink was the more expensive type. In Brisbane they can be sweet with some bitterness.

chris says...
Michael,
Citrus are not the preferred host for QFF, but they'll go for it if there is nothing else around (ie. tomatoes and stone fruit).
Not that I would wait to find out, but given the thick rind and the rind oils, these would kill many eggs and larvae. Citrus are most at risk when ripe fruit are left on the trees. That's the battle I have with my neighbours neglected tree.

Adam T says...
Hi everyone. I planted some yellow pomelo seeds 14 years ago as a child. Most of the seedlings i gave away, and i planted one for myself next to a north facing wall. Today (16/4/2011) as i was picking some limes i spotted something 'sitting' on the bathroom window ledge. Turns out it was a rock-melon sized pomelo and it's not even ripe. I've been patient for a long time and frankly i forgot all about the tree, using the thorny branches to keep the possums from climbing other fruit trees. Today's been a pleasant surprise.

Tips: All i can say is that the plant likes a hot position. Mine is surrounded by 10m2 of pavement and it's directly in front of a north facing wall. Never gets frost, but sometimes gets dew. Planted in shallow sandy loam, over solid mudstone rock that begins at 50cm depth. The plant is happy, as tall as the gutter,incredibly lush and so dense i didn't even spot the fruit. It never gets watered unless there's rain (the pavement collects a lot of water that remains in the shallow soil). Hope this helps. Good luck everyone!

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1

Tim@Moss Vale says...
Can anybody tell me where to get a pomelo tree in NSW. I would prefer a dwarf variety. If not are seeds available.

Mike says...
Pomelos are a bit like grapefruit in that the hotter the climate the sweeter the fruit.I agree that nam roi is a very good type but not quite like the Thai one with a slight pink tinge.I planted a tree a couple of months ago and chose Chandlers Red over Nam Roi even though I haven't tried a chandlers red.Has anyone tasted fruit of this variety?

JK says...
I plannted my Pommelo about 2.5 years back. Got it from Mitre 10. Its about 6 feet tall. With new leaves last 2 springs.. but no flowers yet.. Is something wrong?

Tim@Moss Vale says...
Thanks mike I will try a specialist fruit market to see if they are available. Might try to graft on to a dwarf greapefruit and see what happens.

Tim@Moss Vale says...
Still no luck with locating either pommelo seeds or fruit. Can anybody for the top end send some seeds from their fruit? I will pay postage.

Pom says...
I was trying to find pomelo fruit in Melbourne for some time but noone seems to stock it.
Any ideas as to where could I find it?
Thanks!

Michael says...
Hi Tim,

Pomelo can grow and fruit pretty well in pots .Check out the thread below .I had 8 huge pomelos from my small tree in a pot . The Nam Roi variety from Vietnam is famous for it's sweetness and no seeds .Daley has them as a dwarf variety which i have a few plants . If you want to go for a drive then head down to Canley Vale where there is an Asian nursery that stocks heaps of pomelo especially Nam Roi . They are around $40 - $45 each I think . The nursery is a the corner of Canley Vale road and Phelps St . They stock alot of other Asian plants as well .

https://www.daleysfruit.com.au/forum/fruit-trees-growing-in-pots-successfully/

jakfruit etiquette says...
Looks a lot like pummelo, are you sure it was grown from pummelo seed? Seems to have a lot of small pointy juvenile leaves, an adult fruiting(grafted tree) tree would large rounder leaves.
12 years should have seen it produce some fruit or flowers by now, it looks big enough, but still seems thorny and juvenile in many ways
Not sure what the "citrus pro" told you but most Citrus will fruit ok from seed,some types will be identical to parent, other types will be variable.
There is a chance yours is a crossed seedling, or an off type seedling which may not be a good fruiter.
As it is growing well for you, you may consider grafting some(or all) of the limbs over to Pummelo varieties.
Try posting your question on this Citrus forum,they have members in Texas and grafting advice.
http://citrus.forumup.org/index.php?mforum=citrus

jakfruit etiquette says...
The leaves are big, with big petioles,like pummelo.Are the leaves scented,pummelo are not too strong, slightly perfumy. Another possibility is sour orange, if leaf has earl grey tea scent, or macrophylla, if it is lemon scented? Both these are used as rootstocks in USA
Cutting it back is just going to cause more upright thorny growth
Is your mom in law's tree the same kind of spiky upgight looking shape??

Becky says...
My one pummelo from my dwarf tree has finally turned yellow. I think it was green on the tree for about 2 years ?? there were two fruits on the tree, I accidentally knocked the smaller one off last year. hummm. I wonder if it will be good to eat? or how long I need to leave it on? Its only about 3' high, I planted it as a screen to keep kids off the fence, and have pretty much ignored it, watering it 3 times a season?? please advise. Thanks

jakfruit etiquette says...
A grafted tree will grow, but few cultivars will produce ok fruit. Even the 2 Citrus research stations in Mildura area ( Merbein and Dareton ) grew several known kinds, but most were quite sour in that climate. There are more cold suitable types, not sure if they are here yet.
Oroblanco(sweetie) is a grapefruitXpummelo, pretty close to a white type/sweet GF.

Thithi says...
Hi Linton, i do have a pummelo seedling grown in melbourne. It seem to be quite cold hardy. It could be 5 or 6 year old. My pummelo have not produced any fruit yet. I did not take care of it very much so it is very small and short. But its mother tree was in the backyard of my sister"s neighbor in st. Albans. According to my sister who tried its fruits, the pummelos was sweet. However about 2 year agos, my sister neighbor pummelo tree suddenly died for some unknown reason.
Anyway my pummelo seems to cope with the cold better than the sun.
So long story short, pummelo can be grown and fruit in Melbourne

mcmelb1 says...
On a trip to Qiandaohu, China, I remember there was a pink fleshed pomelo tree with sweet tasting fruit growing on one of the islands.
It gets colder there in winter than we get here in Melbourne!

Fruitylicious1 says...
Hi Tricia,

It's considered normal for most citrus trees to drop 98% of all their blooms and only 2% will ever going to develop as a fruit, but if those 2% is still dropping then it will cause a concern for the gardener. Here are some reasons why all citrus blossoms and fruitlets drop:
1. Improper irrigation - fruit trees in the blooming stage require very special attention in connection with soil moisture - they should never be allowed to stress for moisture but not overwatered. Install an automatic irrigation system for more uniform and consistent watering schedule.
2. High temperature, heavy rain and low humidity - sudden change in temperature and heavy rain during flowering and fruit set also causes blossom and fruit drop. Environmental factors that we cant control. To increase humidity during flowering and fruit set incorporate a mist sprinkler with your irrigation system.
3. Improper or lack of fertilization regime - prior to flowering (late winter) fertilize your fruit tree with citrus fert. If the leaves are yellowing apply epsom salt as well to correct the deficiency. After a month fortify the fruitlets with a sulphate of potash fert with a sprinkling of guano (natural phosphorus). Water soluble is better. Drench the leaves and soil for best result.
Happy Gardening :-)