Blood orange (forum)

Scott starts with ...
I just wondered if anyone knew why my blood oranges, ruby red grapefruit and pink finger limes are lacking the red colouring they should have? They are sweet and juicy but very pale. Could it be the soil (they are all planted in the same area)

Time: 27th June 2019 9:31am

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About the Author Scott
Stokers Siding
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David01 says...
Hi Scott,

Blood orange needs a warm day but cold night to develop the red blood color from the present of Anthocyanins. The Maroon color get better further in the south and none in the north. Cheers

Time: 28th June 2019 11:47am

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Original Post was last edited: 28th June 2019 9:00pm

About the Author David01
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Amanda says...
Too warm where you are perhaps?

Time: 29th June 2019 11:44am

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LESCHENAULT,6233,WA
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Scott says...
Thanks. Yeah maybe its not getting down to the cold temps required.

Time: 29th June 2019 3:10pm

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About the Author Scott
Stokers Siding
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Scott says...
Thanks for your reply. Yeah it appears its just not getting cold enough here at Stokers Siding NSW. We had good colour two years ago.

Time: 29th June 2019 3:11pm

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jakfruit etiquette says...
Its odd because blood orange pigments need cold to develop red colour, but grapefruit need heat to develop red pigments. Also finger limes are local to Nth NSW , (not sure if they naturally occur at Stokers Siding)so you would think finger limes should show correct pigments in that area ??
Perhaps you are on the exact hot/cold boundary for citrus pigments ??
Any other fruit of vegetables show weak pigments ??

Time: 29th June 2019 6:43pm

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vic
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David01 says...
Blood orange has anthocyanins, family of polyphenol pigments which needs cold to develop maroon color while grapefruit pigment has lycopene and β-carotene which needs heat to increase β-carotene level hence more pink or red color. Cheers

Time: 1st July 2019 1:48pm

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jakfruit etiquette says...
David01 says...
Blood orange has anthocyanins, needs cold to develop color while grapefruit has lycopene and β-carotene needs heat to increase, edit version.
Yes thats why its odd for both to be pale,that the heat and cold balance at Stokers knocks out both is maybe unlikely.
You are in the subtropics, do you have strong seasonal breaks ie hot weeks to ripen the grapefruit, frost weeks to finish the blood oranges ? or do the seasons run on into each other ?

Pigments have a background of green, ie brown and black capsicums and tomatoes have green chlorophyll in the ripe fruit, red + green = brown.
Do the trees have nice green leaves, or are they also pale ?
On location, how is the shade over the trees ? if you have heavy forest around and early or late shade, maybe your days are shorter than you think, ie less sun exposure might affect pigment development.
Soil pH and minerals could be a factor, but If the trees are nice and green and
growing well, its hard to say.
Fruit growers use fertilizers to influence colour development.
Also how about the actual varieties you are growing ? I have blood oranges in Vic, and some types dont get good reds every year, depends on the season. How about Ruby Red GF, its been around for a while and growers have gone to other types try to get better colour.

Time: 2nd July 2019 10:14am

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About the Author jakfruit etiquette
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David01 says...
We should not get confused. As blood orange needs number of cold nights in autumn and winter while grapefruit needs heat or number of hot days prefer more than 25c in a year to get good color.
Orange is more cold hardy than grapefruit. Scott may have few combinations as below:
1. a good year either orange or grapefruit to have a good color
2. none for them have good color
3. very rare to have good color for both. Cheers

Time: 4th July 2019 12:11am

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Original Post was last edited: 5th July 2019 12:37am

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